Patent Description:
Due to recent soaring crude oil prices, developments regarding natural gas vehicles, fuel-cell-powered vehicles and the like that run on liquefied natural gas (hereinafter abbreviated as "LNG"), compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen and the like as alternatives to petroleum are actively advanced. With this, infrastructures for supplying fuel to the above vehicles etc. have been built, and the present applicant proposed an apparatus for effectively filling hydrogen fuel in an in-vehicle tank inz <CIT>.

Cooling natural gas to -<NUM> allows its volume to become six hundredth of volume of that in gaseous state, so that LNG attracts attention in the above alternative fuels as an economic natural resource that can be transported and stored in a large quantity. LNG vehicles that run on the LNG is greatly different from typical vehicles in that the insides of their in-vehicle tanks are constantly maintained -<NUM> or lower.

In addition, shale gas production in the United States of America increases supply of natural gas to drive down the price of the natural gas. With the price reduction of natural gas, a trend of cost saving that utilizes LNG less expensive than light gas oil has been expanding mainly in truckload transportation companies and the like.

Further examples of an apparatus for filling liquefied natural gas in a tank mounted on a vehicle are disclosed in <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT>.

In order to store LNG in liquid state, it is necessary that the inside of the tank is maintained at a low temperature of -<NUM>, therefore, handling of LNG is greatly different from other fuels. In addition, infrastructures for supplying LNG are not built, and LNG vehicles do not become common in Japan, so that it is necessary to take care of users who are unfamiliar with filling LNG.

Then, the object of the present invention is to provide an LNG filling apparatus for safely filling LNG in LNG vehicles.

In order to attain the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a liquefied natural gas filling apparatus with the features of claim <NUM> and another liquefied natural gas filling apparatus with the features of claim <NUM>.

With the liquefied natural gas filling apparatus of claim <NUM>, after natural gas in an in-vehicle tank is recovered, LNG can be filled in the in-vehicle tank. A single hose is used for the recovery and the filling, so that tangle of hoses does not occur. With this, breakage of the hose and leakages of LNG and natural gas can be prevented, and LNG can be safely filled in the in-vehicle tank. And, the gloves mounting part can prevent the operator from forgetting to wear the gloves.

With the liquefied natural gas filling apparatus with the features of claim <NUM>, after natural gas in an in-vehicle tank is recovered via the recovery hose, LNG can be filled in the in-vehicle tank via the filling hose, and the recovery and the filling can be performed by the exclusive hoses separately led from the recovery mechanism and the filling mechanism. And, the gloves mounting part can prevent the operator from forgetting to wear the gloves.

In the above LNG filling apparatus, the recovery hose and the filling hose can be separately led from the housing with these hoses in close proximity to each other. With this, a range capable of filling that is the overlap range between a connectable range of the recovery hose and a connectable range of the filling hose can be enlarged, and a range in front of a setting panel does not really interfere the recovery hose and the filling hose, which maintains a handleability of the setting panel in good condition.

In the above LNG filling apparatus, a backing plate for preventing droplets from falling below a filling pipe in the housing can be mounted. With this, in case that an interval between fillings is long, it is prevented that a pipe and the like positioned on a lower part in the housing become eroded by dropped water that is generated by melting frost attached to the filling pipe, and safety filling of LNG can be continued for a long period of time.

As described above, with the present invention, it becomes possible to safely fill LNG in LNG vehicles.

<FIG> shows an example of a filling facility having an LNG filling apparatus according to the present invention, and the filling facility is provided with a filling apparatus <NUM>, an LNG storage tank <NUM>, a central control board <NUM> and others.

The filling apparatus <NUM> is, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, provided with a housing <NUM>, a recovery mechanism <NUM> for recovering vaporized natural gas from an LNG in an in-vehicle tank, a filling mechanism <NUM> for filling an LNG stored in the LNG storage tank <NUM> to the in-vehicle tank, and a control device <NUM>, installed in the housing <NUM>, for controlling the whole filling apparatus <NUM>.

The recovery mechanism <NUM> is provided with a recovery hose <NUM>, led from the housing <NUM>, having a connector 41a at a tip thereof, a pipe <NUM> for recovery, connected to the recovery hose <NUM>, with a flowmeter <NUM> and a recovery valve <NUM>, and a pipe <NUM> for connecting the pipe <NUM> to an upper portion of the LNG storage tank <NUM>. The flowmeter <NUM> is installed to measure an amount of the natural gas recovered through the recovery hose <NUM>, and has a flow rate pulse transmitter. In addition, to the pipe <NUM> are mounted two pressure gauges <NUM>, <NUM> to monitor pressures in the pipe <NUM>.

The filling mechanism <NUM> is provided with a filling hose <NUM> that is led from the housing <NUM> and has a filling nozzle 51a at a tip thereof; a pipe <NUM> for filling that is connected to the filling hose <NUM> and has a flowmeter <NUM> and a shutoff valve <NUM>; a pipe <NUM> for connecting the pipe <NUM> to a lower portion of the LNG storage tank <NUM>; and a filling pump <NUM> mounted to the pipe <NUM>. These components become <NUM> or lower at a filling operation, so that their surfaces are frosted. The flowmeter <NUM> is installed to measure an amount of LNG filled in the in-vehicle tank via the filling hose <NUM>, and has a flow rate pulse transmitter. The filling pump <NUM> is driven by a motor (not shown). In addition, to the pipe <NUM> are mounted two pressure gauges <NUM>, <NUM> to monitor pressures in the pipe <NUM>.

The recovery hose <NUM> and the filling hose <NUM> are, as shown in <FIG>, led from top-left portions of the housing <NUM> with these hoses in close proximity to each other. With this, as shown in <FIG>, a range R capable of filling that is the overlap range between a connectable range R1 of the recovery hose <NUM> and a connectable range R2 of the filling hose <NUM> can be enlarged as compared to a case that these hoses <NUM>, <NUM> are arranged with these hoses apart from each other as shown in <FIG>. In addition, separately arranging the connector 41a and the filling nozzle 51a on different sides of the housing <NUM> prevents these hoses <NUM>, <NUM> from being intertwined with each other, and a range in front of a display portion <NUM> does not really interfere the recovery hose <NUM> and the filling hose <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the housing <NUM> is further provided with a connector hook <NUM>, a nozzle hook <NUM>, a gloves mounting part <NUM>, a ground wire reeled on a ground reel <NUM>, an air hose reeled on an air hose reel <NUM>, switches <NUM>, <NUM> to <NUM>, the display portion <NUM>, a flame detector <NUM>, a gas detector <NUM>, and a backing plate <NUM>. Making the ground reel <NUM> and the air hose reel <NUM> automatic reeling types prevents the ground wire and the air hose from tangling with the other hoses <NUM>, <NUM>, and storing the ground wire and the air hose except for filling LNG prevents vehicles from catching the wire or the hose and being damaged when moving back and forth.

The connector hook <NUM> is mounted to store the connector 41a attached at a tip of the recovery hose <NUM>. In addition, the nozzle hook <NUM> is mounted to store the filling nozzle 51a attached at a tip of the filling hose <NUM>, and in the nozzle hook <NUM> is arranged a water removal hose 22a of which an end is introduced to an outside of the filling apparatus <NUM>. With the water removal hose 22a, in case that an interval between fillings is long, a water that is generated when a frost attached to the filling pipe 51a melts can be discharged outside, which prevents the filling nozzle 51a from getting dirty.

As described above, the temperature of the filling nozzle 51a becomes low at filling, so that operators perform filling with gloves. Then, above the nozzle hook <NUM> is mounted the gloves mounting part <NUM> for gloves 23a used by the operators (only shown in <FIG>). The gloves mounting part <NUM> positions as shown with the solid lines in case that the gloves 23a are put on the gloves mounting part 23a, and the gloves mounting part <NUM> positions as shown with the dashed line in case that the gloves 23a are not put thereon. The position as shown with the solid lines blocks detaching the filling nozzle 51a, which prevents the operators from forgetting to wear the gloves 23a.

The ground wire is mounted to prevent generation of spark by releasing electricity that is charged on the filling apparatus <NUM> to an outside thereof, and is stored with being reeled on the ground reel <NUM> (the dashed line portion shown in <FIG>). In addition, the air hose is mounted to remove dusts and frosts attached to the filling nozzle 51a before and after filling, in the same manner as the ground wire, the air hose is stored with being reeled on the air hose reel <NUM> (the dashed lines shown in <FIG>). With this, the ground wire, the air hose, the recovery hose <NUM> and the filling hose <NUM> can be prevented from being intertwined with each other, which prevents breakages of these components and leakages of LNG and natural gas due to their breakages.

On the front face of the housing <NUM> are arranged a natural gas recovery starting switch (hereinafter abbreviated as "gas recovery starting switch") <NUM>, LNG filling starting/ending switches (hereinafter abbreviated as "filling starting/ending switches") <NUM>, <NUM>, an emergency stop switch <NUM> and a display selecting switch <NUM>.

The display portion <NUM> is installed on an upper portion of the housing <NUM> to display unit price, filling amount and filling price of LNG. The display selecting switch <NUM> is arranged to switch display settings of the display portion <NUM>, and switches displaying unit price, filling amount and filling price of LNG or displaying unit price, filling amount and filling price of light oil calculated by comparing to LNG in the same calorie. This can inform the operators how much LNG filling is cheaper than light oil fueling, which promotes the sale of LNG.

The flame detector <NUM> and the gas detector <NUM> are installed to detect flame and gas around the filling apparatus <NUM> respectively.

Below the pipe <NUM> of the filling mechanism <NUM> of the housing <NUM> is installed the backing plate <NUM> for preventing droplets from falling (shown in <FIG>), and a fallen water that is generated when a frost attached to the pipe <NUM> melts in case that an interval between the fillings is long can be led to a discharge port <NUM>, which prevents corrosions of the pipe and others that position under the backing plate <NUM> in the housing <NUM>.

The control device <NUM> is installed to control the whole filling apparatus <NUM>, and as shown in <FIG> is provided with a recovery valve driving means <NUM>, a recovered gas counting means <NUM>, a shutoff valve driving means <NUM>, a filling amount counting means <NUM>, an actual filling amount calculation means <NUM> and a display portion driving means <NUM>. In this connection, switches are abbreviated to SWs in <FIG>.

The recovery valve driving means <NUM> opens the recovery valve <NUM> responding to the signal that is inputted from the gas recovery starting switch <NUM>. The recovered gas counting means <NUM> starts count of a recovered amount responding to the signal that is inputted from the gas recovery starting switch <NUM>, and counts the recovered gas amount responding to the signal from the flow rate pulse transmitter of the flowmeter <NUM>.

The shutoff valve driving means <NUM> switches open/close of the shutoff valve <NUM> responding to the signals that are inputted from the filling starting/ending switches <NUM>, <NUM>, and closes the shutoff valve <NUM> responding to the signal that is inputted from the emergency stop switch <NUM>. The filling amount counting means <NUM> starts count of a filling amount responding to the signal that is inputted from the filling starting switch <NUM>, and counts the filling amount responding to the signal from the flow rate pulse transmitter of the flowmeter <NUM>.

To the actual filling amount calculation means <NUM> are inputted the recovered gas amount and the filling amount counted by the recovered gas counting means <NUM> and the filling amount counting means <NUM> respectively, and the means <NUM> converts the inputted recovered gas amount into liquid amount, and calculates an actual filling amount by reducing the converted recovered amount from the filling amount.

The display portion control means <NUM> controls the display portion <NUM> to display the actual filling amount calculated by the actual filling amount calculation means <NUM>.

Returning to <FIG>, the central control board <NUM> is connected to the filling pump <NUM>, the control device <NUM>, the gas detector <NUM> and the flame detector <NUM>. When flames or gases are detected around the filling apparatus by the flame detector <NUM> or the gas detector <NUM>, the central control board <NUM> turns off the filling pump <NUM> in preference to the motion of the control device <NUM>, and outputs the signal for closing the shutoff valve <NUM> to the shutoff valve driving means <NUM> of the control device <NUM>. With this, generation and expansion of a fire disaster can be prevented.

Next, the motion of the filling apparatus <NUM> with the construction described above will be explained while referring <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>. Switches are abbreviated to SWs in <FIG> also.

When a person who performs filling connects the connector 41a of the recovery hose <NUM> to an in-vehicle tank and depresses the gas recovery starting switch <NUM> (in the step S1), the recovery valve <NUM> opens, and the flowmeter <NUM> returns to zero (in the step S2).

In the step S3, whether a flow rate pulse is emitted from the flow rate pulse transmitter of the flowmeter <NUM> or not is judged, when the flow rate pulse is emitted (in the step S3: Yes), in the step S4, whether a flow rate is zero for a predetermined time or not is judged by the flowmeter <NUM>, when the flow rate is not zero (in the step S4: No), the motion is returned to the step S3.

In the step S4, when the flow rate is zero for a predetermined time that is judged by the flowmeter <NUM> (in the step S4: Yes), the recovery valve <NUM> is closed to finish the recovery of natural gas (in the step S5).

After the recovery of natural gas, the person who performs filling detaches the connector 41a of the recovery hose <NUM> from the in-vehicle tank, and attaches the filling nozzle 51a of the filling hose <NUM> to the in-vehicle tank. When the person depresses the filling starting switch <NUM> (in the step S6), the flowmeter <NUM> returns to zero while considering the recovered amount, in other words, the flowmeter <NUM> sets the value that is the recovered amount to which a minas is attached as an initial value before counting, and the filling pump <NUM> turns ON to open the shutoff valve <NUM> (in the step S7).

In the step S8, whether a flow rate pulse is emitted from the flow rate pulse transmitter of the flowmeter <NUM> or not is judged, when the flow rate pulse is emitted (in the step S8: Yes), a counted value is displayed (in the step S9), in the step S10, whether the filling ending switch <NUM> is depressed or not is judged, when the filling ending switch <NUM> is not depressed (in the step S10: No), the motion is returned to the step S8.

On the other hand, in the step S8, when the flow rate pulse is not emitted, in the step S10, whether the filling ending switch <NUM> is depressed or not is judged, when the filling ending switch <NUM> is not depressed (in the step S10: No), the motion is returned to the step S8.

In the step S10, when the filling ending switch <NUM> is depressed (in the step S10: Yes), the filling pump <NUM> is turned off, and the shutoff valve <NUM> is closed (in the step S11) to finish the filling of LNG.

In the above embodiment, the case that the recovery hose <NUM> and the filling hose <NUM> are separately used for the recovery of natural gas and the filling of LNG, but a single hose can be used for both of the recovery and the filling. In such a case, a pipe in communication with the two-way hose is formed into a forked shape, and one pipe is used for the recovery of natural gas, and another pipe is used for the filling of LNG. With this, tangle of hoses does not occur, and the filling of LNG is carried out more safely.

Next, another embodiment of the LNG filling apparatus according to the present invention will be explained with reference to <FIG>.

A filling apparatus <NUM> according to the present embodiment is, as shown in <FIG>, characterized by having a gas recovery ending switch <NUM> on the front face of the housing <NUM> in addition to the gas recovery starting switch <NUM>, and other components are the same as the above embodiment, so that to the same components as the above embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and explanations thereof will be omitted.

As shown in <FIG>, the recovery valve driving means <NUM> switches open/close of the recovery valve <NUM> (shown in <FIG>) responding to the signals that are inputted from the gas recovery starting switch <NUM> and the gas recovery ending switch <NUM>.

Next, the motion of the filling apparatus <NUM> with the construction described above will be explained while referring <FIG>, <FIG>.

When a person who performs filling connects the connector 41a of the recovery hose <NUM> to an in-vehicle tank, and depresses the gas recovery starting switch <NUM> (in the step S11), the recovery valve <NUM> opens, and the flowmeter <NUM> returns to zero (in the step S12).

In the step S13, whether a flow rate pulse is emitted from the flow rate pulse transmitter of the flowmeter <NUM> or not is judged, when the flow rate pulse is emitted (in the step S13: Yes), in the step S14, whether the gas recovery ending switch <NUM> is depressed or not is judged, when the gas recovery ending switch <NUM> is not depressed (in the step S14: No), the motion is returned to the step S13.

On the other hand, in the step S13, when the flow rate pulse is not emitted, in the same manner as the above, in the step S14, whether the gas recovery ending switch <NUM> is depressed or not is judged, when the gas recovery ending switch <NUM> is not depressed (in the step S14: No), the motion is returned to the step S13.

In the step S14, when the gas recovery ending switch <NUM> is depressed (step S14: Yes), the recovery valve <NUM> is closed to finish the recovery of natural gas (in the step S15).

Claim 1:
A liquefied natural gas filling apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>) for filling liquefied natural gas in an in-vehicle tank comprising:
a housing (<NUM>);
a single hose led from said housing (<NUM>);
a recovery mechanism (<NUM>) for recovering natural gas from the in-vehicle tank via said hose;
a filling mechanism (<NUM>) for filling liquefied natural gas in said in-vehicle tank via said hose, wherein the filling mechanism (<NUM>) comprises a filling nozzle (51a) and a filling hose (<NUM>), the filling nozzle (51a) being attached at a tip of the filling hose (<NUM>); and
a nozzle hook (<NUM>) amounted on the housing (<NUM>) to store the filling nozzle (51a);
a gloves mounting part (<NUM>) on which gloves (23a) used by an operator of said liquefied natural gas filling apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>) may be put on, wherein the gloves mounting part (<NUM>) is mounted above the nozzle hook (<NUM>) and is in a first position in case that the gloves (23a) are not put thereon, and is held in a second position in case that the gloves (23a) are put on the gloves mounting part (<NUM>), wherein the gloves mounting part (<NUM>) arranged in the second position blocks detaching the filling nozzle (51a) from the nozzle hook (<NUM>).