Liquefied petroleum gas tank assembly for vehicle

Disclosed is a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank assembly for a vehicle. A plurality of LPG tanks are communicated one with another through liquid-phase and gas-phase communication pipes and are secured one to another by connection brackets. A plurality of mounting brackets are fastened at one ends thereof to one ends of the plurality of LPG tanks, respectively, and at the other ends thereof to a body of the vehicle, thereby to prevent the connection brackets and the communication pipes from being damaged or broken due to vibration or impact which is generated in or exerted to the vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 The present invention relates to a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank
 assembly for a vehicle, and more particularly, the present invention
 relates to a liquefied petroleum gas tank assembly for a vehicle, which is
 able to solve the following two major problems that conventional LPG tanks
 have. One is induced in the conventional art in association with a height
 of the vehicle body from the ground when it is mounted to the
 undercarriage of a vehicle body. The other is possibility that a passenger
 compartment can be polluted with LPG when disposed in a trunk room.
 2. Description of the Related Art
 In a motor vehicle which uses LPG as fuel, a fuel tank for storing LPG is
 conventionally manufactured in a manner such that it has a cylindrical
 structure while meeting standard requirements. When the LPG tank is
 mounted to a passenger car, it is generally disposed in a trunk room.
 Also, in the case of a bus or a commercial vehicle, the LPG tank is
 secured to the undercarriage of a vehicle body.
 Describing a structure of an LPG tank assembly for a vehicle, as shown in
 FIG. 5, an LPG tank is fabricated by welding a copper plate and a thin
 steel plate with each other to have a thickness on the order of 2.6-3.6
 mm. A fuel charging valve 108, a liquid-phase valve 105 and a gas-phase
 valve 106 are arranged at a side of the LPG tank assembly 101. Also, a
 fuel gauge 107 and other attachments 109 are provided to the LPG tank
 assembly 101.
 However, the conventional LPG tank assembly constructed as mentioned above
 suffers from defects in that, because the LPG tank assembly includes only
 one LPG tank, it is difficult to secure a sufficient amount of LPG which
 can enable the vehicle to run over a predetermined distance. Furthermore,
 in the case that the LPG tank assembly is installed in a limited space
 such as a trunk room, space utilization efficiency in a vehicle is
 deteriorated, and, in the case that the LPG tank assembly is installed on
 the undercarriage of the vehicle body, there exists a possibility that a
 problem is induced in association with a height of the vehicle body from
 the ground.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the
 problems occurring in the related art, and an object of the present
 invention is to provide a liquefied petroleum gas tank assembly for a
 vehicle, which improves mountability of LPG tanks to a vehicle body and at
 the same time, allows a sufficient amount of LPG to be secured.
 In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention,
 there is provided a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank assembly for a
 vehicle, wherein two or three LPG tanks are communicated one with another
 through liquid-phase and gas-phase communication pipes and are secured one
 to another by connection brackets, and mounting brackets are fastened at
 one ends thereof to one ends of the LPG tanks, respectively, and at the
 other ends thereof to a body of the vehicle, thereby to prevent the
 connection brackets and the communication pipes from being damaged or
 broken due to vibration or impact which is generated in or exerted to the
 vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
 Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of
 the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying
 drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used
 throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like
 parts.
 FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an LPG tank assembly for a
 vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. While
 it is illustrated in FIG. 1 that the LPG tank assembly according to this
 embodiment of the present invention includes three LPG tanks, the present
 invention is not limited to this arrangement of the LPG tank assembly.
 Therefore, the LPG tank assembly of the present invention can have a
 multiple tank structure, as occasion demands. In this respect, it is
 preferred that the LPG tank assembly of the present invention includes two
 or three LPG tanks.
 In this embodiment, three LPG tanks 1a, 1b and 1c are arranged parallel one
 to another. The LPG tanks 1a, 1b and 1c are secured one to another by
 connection brackets 2, and are communicated one with another through
 liquid-phase communication pipes 3a and gas-phase communication pipes 3b.
 While it is illustrated in FIG. 1 that three LPG tanks 1a, 1b and 1c are
 arranged parallel one to another, persons skilled in the art will readily
 appreciate that three LPG tanks 1a, 1b and 1c can be arranged
 alternatively in line with another.
 FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating another LPG tank assembly 1 for a
 vehicle, which includes two LPG tanks 1a and 1b, in accordance with
 another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the same
 drawing reference numerals are used to designate the same parts as in the
 first embodiment. As in the first embodiment, the two LPG tanks 1a and 1b
 of this embodiment are secured to each other by connection brackets 2, and
 are communicated with each other through the liquid-phase communication
 pipe 3a and the gas-phase communication pipe 3b.
 Further, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, mounting brackets 9
 are fastened at one ends thereof to one ends of the LPG tanks 1a, 1b and
 1c, respectively, thereby to prevent the connection brackets 2 which
 secure the LPG tanks 1a, 1b and 1c one to another, from being damaged or
 broken due to vibration or impact which is generated in or exerted to the
 vehicle. The other ends of the mounting brackets 9 are fastened to a body
 of the vehicle. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the liquid-phase communication
 pipes 3a are arranged adjacent to lower ends of the LPG tanks, and the
 gas-phase communication pipes 3b are arranged adjacent to upper ends of
 the LPG tanks.
 Moreover, while, in the present invention, the liquid-phase and gas-phase
 communication pipes 3a and 3b have a configuration of a straight pipe or a
 bent pipe, they can have a configuration of a corrugated pipe or be made
 of synthetic rubber to have a predetermined flexibility.
 Further, as in the conventional LPG tank assembly, the LPG tank assembly 1
 of the present invention is structured in a manner such that it has a
 liquid-phase valve 5, a gas-phase valve 6, a fuel charging valve 8, a fuel
 gauge 7, and a solenoid and filter section 4.
 As described above, the LPG tank assembly for a vehicle according to the
 present invention, constructed as mentioned above, provides advantages in
 that, since respective LPG tanks are securely mounted to a body of the
 vehicle, it is possible to prevent the LPG tanks from being damaged or
 broken due to vibration or impact which is generated in or exerted to the
 vehicle as the vehicle runs. Also, because a plurality of LPG tanks are
 disposed in a manner such that they are communicated one with another,
 space utilization efficiency in the vehicle is enhanced, and it is
 possible to secure a sufficient amount of LPG.
 On the other hand, as in the conventional art, since a liquid-phase valve
 and a gas-phase valve which are installed on the LPG tank assembly for a
 vehicle, are respectively connected to a solenoid and filter section, it
 is possible to supply refined LPG to an engine of the vehicle.
 As a result, in the present invention, a plurality of LPG tanks can be
 designed in such a manner as to be arranged in diverse ways. Due to the
 fact that the plurality of LPG tanks can be mounted to the body of the
 vehicle outside a passenger compartment, it is possible to prevent the
 passenger compartment from being polluted with LPG, to solve the problem
 which is induced in association with a height of the vehicle body from the
 ground and to secure a sufficient amount of LPG.
 In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typical
 preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are
 employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not
 for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in
 the following claims.