Patent ID: 9162564
Filing Date: 2015-10-20
Classification: B60K,F02M,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A fuel tank comprising an upper-half tank body and a lower-half tank body which are made from bowl-shaped steel plates and which integrally include an upper flange and a lower flange in their peripheral edges, respectively, the upper and lower flanges being superposed on and liquid-tightly connected to each other, wherein the upper and lower flanges and a support plate flange, which is formed in a peripheral edge portion of a bowl-shaped bottom supporting plate arranged to cover a bottom surface of the lower-half tank body, are connected together by crimping into a roll shape to form an annular thick-walled connection in which an end portion of the upper flange laterally abuts and directly contacts an end portion of the lower flange and an end portion of the support plate flange, and the lower flange laterally abuts and directly contacts the end portion of the support plate flange; wherein annular reinforcing ribs leading to opposite sides of the connection are formed in the upper-half and lower-half tank bodies; wherein the steel plate of at least the upper-half tank body is a colored steel plate having an outwardly exposed surface; wherein the annular thick-walled connection is formed such that tip edges of the end portions of the upper flange, the lower flange, and the support plate flange are not exposed to an outside of the connection; and wherein each of the annular reinforcing ribs is defined by an annular step rising from an outer surface of each of the upper-half tank body and the lower-half tank body.