Tank cap with inlet air purification

Abstract

A tank cap for closing a filler neck of a fuel tank for a motor vehicle with a pot-shaped inner closure body, includes a lower pot body and an upper supporting flange, supporting itself on the upper edge of the filler neck and extending outward at a right angle from the pot body, and a cap body, which is placed on the closure body, whereby the tank cap can be loosened from the filler neck by turning the closure body around a rotational axis and ambient air is able to enter through at least one air inlet in the tank cap in the connection piece, circumventing a connection piece seal against a reflux seal.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A tank cap to close a filler neck of a fuel tank for a motor vehicle with a pot-shaped inner closure body, which features a lower pot body and an upper supporting flange, supporting itself on the upper edge of the filler neck and extending outward at a right angle from the pot body, and with a cap body, which is placed on the closure body, whereby the tank cap can be loosened from the filler neck by turning the closure body around a rotational axis and ambient air is able to enter through at least one air inlet in the tank cap in the connection piece, circumventing a connection piece seal against a reflux seal, characterized in that: 
 it features at least one air collection space for the collection and interim storage of the suctioned ambient air, whereby the air inlet is formed by the front inlet openings, which connect the air collection space with the environment, and an overflow possibility, which connects the air collection space with the interior of the filler neck.    
     
     
         2 . The tank cap of  claim 1  characterized in that the air collection space is formed by an annular hollow space surrounding the filler neck.  
     
     
         3 . The tank cap of  claim 2  characterized in that the annular hollow space is arranged in the cap body and connected in terms of flow with the environment via a plurality of passage openings forming the inlet openings.  
     
     
         4 . The tank cap of  claim 3  characterized in that the annular hollow space is formed by a ring groove arranged in the supporting flange, which ring groove along with the underside of the cap body that closes it at the top forms the closed hollow space.  
     
     
         5 . The tank cap of  claim 4  characterized in that an annular recess in the form of a groove is arranged in the support flange to form a target fracture location in addition to the air collection space.  
     
     
         6 . The tank cap of  claim 5  characterized in that the inlet openings infiltrate the annular recess.  
     
     
         7 . The tank cap of  claim 6  characterized in that the overflow possibility is formed by at least one groove-shaped overflow channel in the underside of the cap body.  
     
     
         8 . The tank cap of  claim 7  characterized in that the cap body features a hollow bridge projecting outward to form a hand grip, whereby the overflow channel in the underside of the cap body is formed by the underside of the hollow bridge that is open at least partially at the bottom.  
     
     
         9 . The tank cap of  claim 1  characterized in that the closure body features a ratchet body, via which it is connected unrotatably in the opening rotational direction of the tank cap and in the opposite rotational direction rotatably with the cap body, whereby the ratchet body supports itself with locking teeth on a locking surface on the inner running surface, which features corresponding stop teeth in the area of the locking surface so that the locking teeth engage in an interlocking manner in the opening rotational direction and slide off one another in the opposite direction.  
     
     
         10 . The tank cap of  claim 9  characterized in that the ratchet body is formed by a ring element, which is inserted into the body of the pot, whereby the locking teeth are arranged on the outer surface shell of the ring element and the ring element is connected with the cap body.  
     
     
         11 . The tank cap of  claim 10  characterized in that the cap body is connected rotatably with the closure body, whereby the movement between the cap body and the closure body is delimited by a free travel angle delimited a first limit stop and a second limit stop.  
     
     
         12 . The tank cap of  claim 1  characterized in that the closure body features a lower transverse support and the cap body features an upper transverse support connected rotatably around the rotational axis of the tank cap with the lower transverse support, whereby in the lower transverse support and/or the upper transverse support a contact surface recessed relative to at least one raised outer area is arranged.  
     
     
         13 . The tank cap of  claim 12  characterized in that characterized in that the contact surface is embodied as an even surface in the center area of the lower transverse support and/or the upper transverse support.  
     
     
         14 . The tank cap of  claim 12  characterized in that the lower transverse support and the upper transverse support are designed to be bridge-like, whereby the closure body is embodied as a hollow cylindrical pot and the lower transverse support is fastened with both its ends to the inner surface shell of the closure body.  
     
     
         15 . The tank cap of  claim 14  characterized in that on the lower transverse support a projecting first raised outer area is arranged on one side in the direction of the upper transverse support and a projecting second raised outer area is arranged on the opposite side also in the direction of the upper transverse support, whereby to delimit the free travel angle, the first limit stop is formed by the first raised outer area and the second limit stop is formed by the second raised outer area.  
     
     
         16 . The tank cap of  claim 14  characterized in that the lower transverse support and the upper transverse support each feature a contact surface, whereby the contact surface extends up to the edge on each of one of the sides of the lower transverse support and the upper transverse support, and a raised outer area extending over the plane of the contact surface is arranged on the respective other side.  
     
     
         17 . The tank cap of  claim 12  characterized in that the upper transverse support is connected with the cap body to be a single part.  
     
     
         18 . The tank cap of  claim 12  characterized in that the lower transverse support is connected with the closure body to be a single part.