Process for reinforcing a rigid plastic fuel tank
View Patent ↗Process for reinforcing a plastic fuel tank comprising a wall defining an internal closed volume, according to which a structural member is fixed to the wall of the tank outside the closed volume, in at least two points being located in two different portions of said wall where a deflection induced when the tank is filled with fuel, is low; and said structure having at least one contact point with the tank wall in a portion of said wall where the deflection is high.
1. A process for reinforcing a rigid plastic fuel tank comprising a wall defining an internal closed volume, the process comprising:
fixing a structural member to the wall of the tank outside the closed volume, in at least two fixation points located in two different portions of said wall where a deflection induced when the tank is filled with fuel, is low; and
providing said structural member at least one contact point with the tank wall in a portion of said wall where the deflection is high compared to said low deflection, and
over molding welding areas which are the fixation points of said structural member with a plastic weldable to the tank wall,
wherein the structural member is made of a material which is more rigid than the plastic of the fuel tank.
2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein there are five welding points located respectively substantially in the middle and in four corners of a lower tank wall or of an upper tank wall.
3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the structural member is shaped as a plate or as an assembly of bars or beams that form a frame.
4. A process for reinforcing a rigid plastic fuel tank comprising a wall defining an internal closed volume, the process comprising:
fixing a structural member to the wall of the tank outside the closed volume, in at least two fixation points located in two different portions of said wall where a deflection induced when the tank is filled with fuel, is low; and
providing said structural member at least one contact point with the tank wall in a portion of said wall where the deflection is high compared to said low deflection,
wherein the tank comprises a pinch, and
wherein the structural member is a half shell made of sheet molding compounds (SMC) which is clipped on the pinch.
5. The process according to claim 4 , further comprising:
welding clips on the pinch at fixed locations in space relative to a welding equipment used to weld said clips, and clipping the half shell on these clips.
6. The process according to claim 4 , wherein the at least one contact point is or the contact points are shaped as ribs located on the tank and on the structural member, said ribs having a matching shape and size.
7. The process according to claim 4 , wherein the structural member is shaped as a plate or as an assembly of bars or beams that form a frame.