Abstract:
A vehicle having a passenger compartment, an engine arranged at a front end thereof, and a fuel tank arranged under a rear seat and the passenger compartment comprising a canister and an exhaust pipe receiving exhaust gas from the engine and outputting the exhaust gas, wherein the canister and the exhaust pipe are positioned in respective recessed accommodating portions, one of the respective recessed accommodating portions is located between the fuel tank and the engine, and below the passenger compartment.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a vehicle canister arranging structure in which a fuel tank, a canister and an exhaust pipe are arranged under a floor panel constituting a floor surface of a passenger compartment.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    A canister arranging structure is known in which a fuel tank is provided under a floor surface of an automobile with a canister being provided in a corner location of the fuel tank for example, refer to Japanese Published Patent Application JP-A-11-62726 (page 3, FIG. 1) (U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,708).  
           [0005]    The related art will be described in detail by referring to FIG. 1 in JP-A-11-62726 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,708).  
           [0006]    [0006]FIG. 8 is a plan view of the conventional vehicle canister arranging structure. Note that the reference numerals are renewed.  
           [0007]    A conventional vehicle canister arranging structure  100  is such that a fuel tank  102  is provided under a floor panel constituting a floor surface of a vehicle  101 , a recessed accommodating portion  103  is formed in a front right-hand side corner location of the fuel tank  102 , and a canister  104  is accommodated in the recessed accommodating portion  103 .  
           [0008]    Furthermore, an expansion chamber  106  is provided at a middle of the length of an exhaust pipe  105 , and a muffler is provided in the vicinity of a rear end of the exhaust pipe  105 .  
           [0009]    With the vehicle canister arranging structure  100  described in the JP-A-11-62726 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,708), however, the recessed accommodating portion  103  needs to be formed in the front right-hand side corner location of the fuel tank  102  for installing the canister  104 .  
           [0010]    Thus, the recessed accommodating portion  103  must be formed in the fuel tank  102  and this arranging structure makes the configuration of the fuel tank  102  complicate and makes it difficult to secure a large fuel tank capacity.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    Then, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle canister arranging structure which allows an appropriate arrangement of a canister, which can provide a simple fuel tank configuration and which can secure a large fuel tank capacity.  
           [0012]    With a view to attaining the object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a vehicle having a passenger compartment, an engine arranged at a front end thereof, and a fuel tank arranged under a rear seat and the passenger compartment comprising a canister and an exhaust pipe receiving exhaust gas from the engine and outputting the exhaust gas, wherein the canister and the exhaust pipe are positioned in respective recessed accommodating portions, one of the respective recessed accommodating portions is located between the fuel tank and the engine, and below the passenger compartment.  
           [0013]    Here, in the passenger compartment, a space under the driver&#39;s seat and a space under the front passenger seat are areas which are usually left as they are. In addition, in particular, with an FF vehicle (a front engine, front drive vehicle), a space situated between the driver&#39;s seat and the front passenger seat and in the vicinity of the floor panel is also an area that is usually left as it is.  
           [0014]    Then, according to the present invention, a vehicle having a reservoir at a first end there of, an engine at a second end thereof, and a passenger compartment between the first end and the second end comprising a canister that receives fuel at the reservoir and supplying fuel to the engine, and an exhaust pipe receiving exhaust gas from the engine and outputting the exhaust gas to the second end of the vehicle, wherein the canister and the exhaust pipe are positioned in respective recessed accommodating portions, one of the respective recessed accommodating portions is located between the first end and the second end, and below the passenger compartment.  
           [0015]    The recessed accommodating portions are located beneath at least one of the first seat, the second seat, and a space between the first and the second seat. The first seat is a driver&#39;s seat, and the second seat is front passenger&#39;s seat.  
           [0016]    By this canister arranging structure, the areas which are usually left as they can be utilized effectively so as to form the recessed accommodating portion for accommodating part of the exhaust pipe and the canister. Thus, part of the exhaust pipe and the canister can be accommodated without deteriorating the riding comfort within the passenger compartment.  
           [0017]    Furthermore, by accommodating the canister in the recessed accommodating portion, the necessity is obviated of forming the recessed accommodating portion for accommodating the canister in the fuel tank, which is inherent in the related art.  
           [0018]    According to a second aspect of the present invention, the expansion chamber is arranged close to the canister by accommodating the expansion chamber and the canister in at least one of said recessed accommodating portions, so that heat from the exhaust gas in the exhaust pipe is transferred to the canister.  
           [0019]    Here, an adsorbent (as an example, activated charcoal granules) is housed in the interior of the canister, so that fuel vapor resulting in the fuel tank from evaporation of fuel when the engine is stopped is adsorbed to the activated charcoal granules, and when the engine is operating under a driving condition, the fuel vapor so adsorbed to the activated charcoal granules is released from the charcoal granules for supply to the engine.  
           [0020]    Incidentally, in order to release fuel vapor from activated charcoal granules with good efficiency, it is preferable to keep activated charcoal granules at a certain temperature. Then, according to the second aspect of the present invention, by forming part of the exhaust pipe into the expansion chamber, the expansion chamber can be arranged in the vicinity of the canister. Since the outside diameter of an outer circumference of the expansion chamber is large, a large outer circumferential area can be secured.  
           [0021]    Due to this, the heat of exhaust gases flowing through the exhaust pipe can be dissipated from the outer circumference of the expansion chamber with good efficiency, and the heat so dissipated can be conducted to the canister, whereby since activated charcoal granules within the canister can be kept at a certain temperature, fuel vapor can be released from the activated charcoal granules with good efficiency when the engine is operating under a driving condition. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0022]    [0022]FIG. 1 is an explanatory drawing of a vehicle provided with a vehicle canister arranging structure (a first embodiment) according to the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line  2 - 2  of FIG. 1;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3 is a plan view of the vehicle provided with the vehicle canister arranging structure (the first embodiment) according to the present invention.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4A shows the conventional example of the vehicle canister arranging structure;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 4B shows the first embodiment of vehicle canister arranging structure of the present invention.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a vehicle provided with a vehicle canister arranging structure (a second embodiment) according to the present invention.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a vehicle provided with a vehicle canister arranging structure (a third embodiment) according to the present invention.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a vehicle provided with a vehicle canister arranging structure (a fourth embodiment) according to the present invention.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a conventional vehicle canister arranging structure. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0031]    Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings. Here “front”, “rear”, “left” and “right” indicate directions as viewed from the driver. Note that the drawings are viewed in a direction in which reference numerals are oriented.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 1 is an explanatory drawing of a vehicle having a vehicle canister arranging structure (a first embodiment) according to the present invention.  
         [0033]    In the following description, the first end is rear of the vehicle and the second end is front of the vehicle. The reservoir is arranged under the rear seat. The exhaust pipe constitutes an expansion chamber.  
         [0034]    A vehicle  10  is such that a front seat  13  including a driver&#39;s seat  14  and a front passenger seat  15  (refer to FIG. 2) and a rear seat  16  are provided in a passenger compartment  11  above a floor panel  12  which constitutes a floor surface of the passenger compartment  11 , an engine  18  is installed in an engine compartment  17  situated in front of the passenger compartment  11 , and a fuel tank  19 , a canister  20  and an exhaust pipe  21  are arranged under the floor panel  12 . Note that reference numeral  25  denotes a front wheel and reference numeral  26  denoting a rear wheel.  
         [0035]    Hereinafter, an arranging structure of the canister  20 , i.e., a vehicle canister arranging structure  30  will be described.  
         [0036]    In the vehicle canister arranging structure  30 , a driver&#39;s seat location  31  on the floor panel  12  is expanded toward the passenger compartment  11  so as to be formed into a rectangular shape as viewed from the top to thereby constitute a first recessed accommodating portion  32 , so that the canister  20  is accommodated in this first recessed accommodating portion  32 . In addition, a front passenger seat location  34  on the floor panel  12  shown in FIG. 2 is expanded toward the passenger compartment  11  so as to be formed into a rectangular shape as viewed from the top to thereby constitute a second recessed accommodating portion  35 , so that an expansion chamber  22  which constitutes part of the exhaust pipe  21  is accommodated in the second recessed accommodating chamber  35 .  
         [0037]    Additionally, on the floor panel  12 , a location  37  which corresponds to the rear seat  16  and a portion rearward thereof are expanded toward the passenger compartment  11  so as to form a recessed fuel tank accommodating portion  38 , so that the fuel tank  19  is accommodated in this recessed fuel tank accommodating portion  38 , and a muffler  23  of the exhaust pipe  21  is also accommodated therein.  
         [0038]    Note that the expansion chamber  22  is such as to reduce the level of exhaust noise.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line  2 - 2  of FIG. 1.  
         [0040]    Side portions  12   a ,  12   b  of the floor panel  12  are welded to side sills  40 ,  41 , respectively, and the driver&#39;s seat location  31  on the floor panel  12  is expanded toward the passenger compartment  11  so as to be formed into the rectangular shape to thereby constitute the first recessed accommodating portion  32 , and the front passenger seat location  34  on the floor panel  12  is expanded toward the passenger compartment  11  so as to be formed into the rectangular shape to thereby constitute the second recessed accommodating portion  35 .  
         [0041]    The first recessed accommodating portion  32  is formed into substantially the rectangular recessed portion, as viewed from the top, by inclined sidewalls  43 ,  43  on both sides, inclined front and rear walls  44 ,  45  (refer to FIG. 1 with respect to the inclined front wall  44  and the inclined rear wall  45 ) and a ceiling surface  46 .  
         [0042]    The second recessed accommodating portion  35  is formed into substantially the rectangular recessed portion, as viewed from the top, by inclined sidewalls  47 ,  47  on both sides, inclined front and rear walls  48  (an inclined front wall is not shown) and a ceiling surface  49 .  
         [0043]    The canister  20  and the expansion chamber  22  constituting part of the exhaust pipe  21  are accommodated in the first and second recessed accommodating portions  32 ,  35 , respectively.  
         [0044]    Here, in the passenger compartment  11 , a space  51  under the driver&#39;s seat  14 , a space  52  under the front passenger seat  15  and a space  53  in the vicinity of the floor panel  12  between the driver&#39;s seat  14  and the front passenger seat  15  are usually left as they are and constitute relatively useless areas.  
         [0045]    The first and second recessed accommodating portions  32 ,  35  for accommodating the canister  20  and the expansion chamber  22  are determined to be formed by making effective use of the space  51  under the driver&#39;s seat  14 , the space  52  under the front passenger seat  15  and the space  53  in the vicinity of the floor panel  12  between the driver&#39;s seat  14  and the front passenger seat  15  which are usually left as they are.  
         [0046]    Consequently, the canister  20  and the expansion chamber  22  can be accommodated without deteriorating the riding comfort in the passenger compartment  11 .  
         [0047]    In addition, an adsorbent (as an example, activated charcoal granules) is housed in the interior of the canister  20 , so that fuel vapor resulting from evaporation of fuel in the fuel tank  19  (refer to FIG. 1) is adsorbed to the activated charcoal granules when the engine  18  (refer to FIG. 1) is stopped, whereas when the engine  18  is operating under a driving condition, fuel vapor is released from the activated charcoal granules for supply to the engine  18 .  
         [0048]    The expansion chamber  22  can be arranged relatively close to the canister  20  by accommodating the canister  20  and the expansion chamber  22  in the first and second recessed accommodating portions  32 ,  35 , respectively. Since the outside diameter of an outer circumference  22   a  of the expansion chamber  22  is large, a large area can be secured on the outer circumference  22   a.    
         [0049]    Due to this, the heat of exhaust gases flowing through the exhaust pipe  21  can be dissipated from the outer circumference  22   a  of the expansion chamber  22  with good efficiency, and the heat so dissipated can be conducted to the canister  20 .  
         [0050]    Since the activated charcoal granules inside the canister  20  can be kept a certain temperature by this construction, fuel vapor can be released from the activated charcoal granules with good efficiency when the engine  18  is operating under a driving condition.  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 3 is a plan view of a vehicle provided with the vehicle canister arranging structure (the first embodiment) according to the present invention.  
         [0052]    The recessed fuel tank accommodating portion  38  (refer to FIG. 1) is formed under the rear seat  16 , and the fuel tank  19  and the muffler  23  are accommodated in the recessed fuel tank accommodating portion  38 . In addition, the first recessed accommodating portion  32  (refer to FIG. 1) is formed under the driver&#39;s seat  14 , and the canister  20  is accommodated in the first recessed accommodating portion  32 . Furthermore, the second recessed accommodating portion  35  (refer to FIG. 2) is formed under the front passenger seat  15 , and the expansion chamber  22  of the exhaust pipe  21  is accommodated in the second recessed accommodating portion  35 .  
         [0053]    Thus, by arranging the canister  20  under the driver&#39;s seat  14 , the necessity is obviated of forming the recessed accommodating portion in the fuel tank  19  for accommodating the canister  20 , which is inherent in the related art.  
         [0054]    Due to this, the configuration of the fuel tank  19  can be simplified substantially to the rectangular shape, and a large capacity can be secured for the fuel tank  19 .  
         [0055]    [0055]FIG. 4 shows explanatory drawings for comparing the vehicle canister arranging structure (the first embodiment) according to the present invention with the conventional vehicle canister arranging structure, in which FIG. 4A shows the comparison example, whereas FIG. 4B shows the embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0056]    In FIG. 4A, since the canister  104  is arranged in the front right-hand side corner location of the fuel tank  102 , the recessed accommodating portion  103  needs to be formed in the front right-hand side corner location of the fuel tank  102 .  
         [0057]    Thus, since the recessed accommodating portion  103  needs to be formed in the fuel tank  102 , the configuration of the fuel tank  102  becomes complicated, and it becomes difficult to secure a large capacity for the fuel tank  102 .  
         [0058]    Furthermore, since the canister  104  is arranged in the vicinity of the fuel tank  102 , a piping lay of pipeline connecting the canister  104  with the fuel tank  102  becomes complicated.  
         [0059]    In FIG. 4B, by arranging the canister  20  under the driver&#39;s seat  14 , the necessity is obviated of forming the recessed accommodating portion for accommodating the canister  20  in the fuel tank  19 , which is inherent in the related art.  
         [0060]    Due to this, the configuration of the fuel tank  19  can be simplified substantially to the rectangular shape, and a large capacity can be secured for the fuel tank  19 .  
         [0061]    Furthermore, since the canister  20  can be spaced relatively far away from the fuel tank  19 , a pipeline  55  for connecting the canister  20  with the fuel tank  19  can be laid out substantially straight, whereby the piping layout can be simplified.  
         [0062]    Next, second to fourth embodiments will be described based on FIGS.  5  to  7 . Note that in the second to fourth embodiments, like reference numerals are given to like constituent components to those described in the first embodiment.  
         [0063]    [0063]FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a vehicle provided with a vehicle canister arranging structure (a second embodiment) according to the present invention.  
         [0064]    A vehicle canister arranging structure  60  according to a second embodiment of the present invention is such that a front passenger seat location  34  of a floor panel  12  is expanded toward a passenger compartment  11  so as to be formed substantially into a rectangular shape as viewed from the top to thereby constitute a second recessed accommodating portion  35 , so that an expansion chamber  22  constituting part of an exhaust pipe  21  is accommodated in the second recessed accommodating portion  35  so formed, and an intermediate location  61  of the floor panel  12  which corresponds to a space between the driver&#39;s seat  14  and the front passenger seat  15  is expanded toward the passenger compartment  11  so as to be formed substantially into a rectangular shape to thereby constitute a third recessed accommodating portion  62 , so that a canister  20  is accommodated in the third recessed accommodating portion  62 .  
         [0065]    Here, in an FF vehicle, since a drive shaft (not shown) for transmitting the rotation of the engine  18  to the rear wheel  26 , which are both shown in FIG. 1, a space  53  can be secured at the intermediate location  61  which corresponds to the space between the driver&#39;s seat  14  and the front passenger seat  15 . Consequently, the canister  20  can be accommodated by making use of the space  53 .  
         [0066]    According to the vehicle canister arranging structure  60 , an advantage similar to that of the first embodiment can be obtained.  
         [0067]    [0067]FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a vehicle provided with a vehicle canister arranging structure (a third embodiment) according to the present invention.  
         [0068]    A vehicle canister arranging structure  70  according to a third embodiment of the present invention is such that, of a floor panel  12 , any two locations selected from a driver&#39;s seat location  31 , a front passenger seat location  34 , and an intermediate location  61  which corresponds to a space between the driver&#39;s seat  14  and the front passenger seat  15 , as an example thereof, the front passenger seat location  34  and the intermediate location  61  are expanded together toward a passenger compartment  11  so as to constitute a fourth recessed accommodating portion  72 , so that a canister  20  and an expansion chamber  22  constituting part of an exhaust pipe  21  are accommodated in the fourth recessed accommodating portion  72 .  
         [0069]    According to the vehicle canister arranging structure  70  of the third embodiment, an advantage similar to that of the first embodiment can be obtained.  
         [0070]    [0070]FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a vehicle provided with a vehicle canister arranging structure (a fourth embodiment) according to the present invention.  
         [0071]    A vehicle canister arranging structure  80  according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is such that a driver&#39;s seat location  31  of a floor panel  12  is expanded toward a passenger compartment  11  so as to constitute a fifth recessed accommodating portion  82 , so that a canister  20  and an expansion chamber  22  constituting part of an exhaust pipe  21  are accommodated in the fifth recessed accommodating portion  82 .  
         [0072]    According to the vehicle canister arranging structure  80  of the fourth embodiment, an advantage similar to that of the first embodiment can be obtained.  
         [0073]    Note that while, in the first embodiment, the expansion chamber  22  is described as an example of part of the exhaust pipe  21  which is to be accommodated in the recessed accommodating portion, any other locations of the exhaust pipe can be accommodated therein.  
         [0074]    While there has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made therein without departing from the present invention, and it is aimed, therefore, to cover in the appended claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.  
         [0075]    The present invention exhibits the following advantages from the structures described heretofore.  
         [0076]    According to the first aspect of the present invention, the floor panel is expanded toward to the passenger compartment on the location under the driver&#39;s seat, the location under the front passenger&#39;s seat and the location between the driver&#39;s seat and the front passenger&#39;s seat, or any two locations selected from the locations, so as to make recessed accommodating portions in which accommodate the canister and part of the exhaust pipe.  
         [0077]    By this canister arranging structure, the areas which are usually left as they can be utilized effectively so as to form the recessed accommodating portion for accommodating part of the exhaust pipe and the canister. Thus, part of the exhaust pipe and the canister can be accommodated without deteriorating the riding comfort within the passenger compartment.  
         [0078]    Furthermore, by accommodating the canister in the recessed accommodating portion, the necessity is obviated of forming the recessed accommodating portion for accommodating the canister in the fuel tank, which is inherent in the related art. Due to this, the configuration of the fuel tank can be simplified, and a large capacity can be secured for the furl tank.  
         [0079]    According to the second and the third aspect of the present invention, the expansion chamber can be arranged in the vicinity of the canister by forming part of the exhaust pipe into the expansion chamber. Since the outside diameter of the outer circumference of the expansion chamber is large, a large outer circumferential area can be secured.  
         [0080]    Due to this, the heat of exhaust gases flowing through the exhaust pipe can be dissipated from the outer circumference of the expansion chamber with good efficiency, and the heat so dissipated can be conducted to the canister.  
         [0081]    Since this allows the activated charcoal granules within the canister to be kept at a certain temperature, fuel vapor can be released from the activated charcoal granules with good efficiency when the engine is operating under a driving condition.