A fuel cap has a cap main body, a cover with a handle, and a torque mechanism. The torque mechanism includes a torque transmission unit and click units. When the handle is rotated in a closing direction, torque is transmitted to a cantilever spring of the torque mechanism. The cantilever spring is d
A fuel cap has a cap main body, a cover with a handle, and a torque mechanism. The torque mechanism includes a torque transmission unit and click units. When the handle is rotated in a closing direction, torque is transmitted to a cantilever spring of the torque mechanism. The cantilever spring is deformed by rotation of the cover in the closing direction. After the spring is deformed by a predetermined amount, in response to rotation of the cover with respect to the cap main body by at least a preset angle, the click units make a click sound. When the user releases the handle, the spring force of the cantilever spring restores the click units to their initial positions. The cap device has a torque mechanism that has a simple structure and consists of a small number of parts.
대표청구항▼
What is claimed is: 1. A cap device that opens and closes a tank opening and engages with an opening engagement element formed on a periphery of the tank opening, the cap device comprising: a closer that closes the tank opening with air-tight sealing and has a cap engagement element, which is engag
What is claimed is: 1. A cap device that opens and closes a tank opening and engages with an opening engagement element formed on a periphery of the tank opening, the cap device comprising: a closer that closes the tank opening with air-tight sealing and has a cap engagement element, which is engaged with the opening engagement element by rotation of the closer by a preset angle; a handle mechanism that is attached to an upper side of the closer in a rotatable manner to selectively rotate the closer in a closing direction and an opening direction to close and open the tank opening; and a torque mechanism that is provided between the handle mechanism and the closer and selectively transmits a rotational torque in the closing direction and the opening direction to the closer, the torque mechanism including: a click unit having a first click engagement element and a second click engagement element that mates with the first click engagement element, wherein the first click engagement element and the second click engagement element are disengaged and shift from an initial position to a released position to give a click sound, when the handle mechanism and the closer are rotated relative to each other by the preset angle in response to an operation of the handle mechanism in the closing direction; and a torque transmission unit having a first torque engagement element and a second torque engagement element that mates with the first torque engagement element, wherein the torque transmission unit transmits a rotational torque in the closing direction applied to the handle mechanism to the closer via coupling of the first torque engagement element with the second torque engagement element, wherein the first and second torque engagement elements are different from the first and second click engagement elements, respectively, and at least one of the first torque engagement element and the second torque engagement element is a cantilever spring that is elastically deformed by the rotation of the handle mechanism in the closing direction to transmit the rotational torque to the closer while accumulating a spring force, the cantilever spring being configured to apply the accumulated spring force to restore the click unit from the released position to the initial position when the rotational torque applied to the handle mechanism is released. 2. The cap device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the torque mechanism includes a torque plate that is located between the handle mechanism and the closer, the first torque engagement element is a torque transmission rib formed on the handle mechanism, and the second torque engagement element is a cantilever spring that is protruded from the torque plate in an elastically deformable manner to engage with the torque transmission rib and increase the spring force with an increase in degree of elastic deformation, the cantilever spring being configured to be engaged with the torque transmission rib by rotation of the handle mechanism to be deformed and transmit the rotational torque. 3. The cap device in accordance with claim 2, wherein the handle mechanism includes a cover that covers an upper portion of the closer, and a handle that is protruded from a top face of the cover to form a recess and has the torque transmission rib formed on an inner wall, and the cantilever spring is protruded upright in a substantially vertical direction from the torque plate and has an end to be engaged with the torque transmission rib. 4. The cap device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the torque mechanism includes a torque plate that is located between the handle mechanism and the closer, the first click engagement element is a click arm that is formed as a cantilever on the torque plate and has a click engagement projection, and the second click engagement element is a click engagement element formed on the handle mechanism. 5. The cap device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the torque mechanism has a stopper mechanism that stops rotation of the closer to prevent a torque applied to the closer from exceeding a torque limit of closing the tank opening. 6. The cap device in accordance with claim 5, wherein the stopper mechanism includes a stopper protruded from the closer, the stopper being configured to engage with the opening engagement element, thereby stopping rotation of the closer. 7. The cap device in accordance with claim 5, wherein the cantilever spring has a spring constant that increases with an increase in rotational torque applied to the handle mechanism after the stop mechanism works to stop rotation of the closer. 8. The cap device in accordance with claim 7, wherein the torque transmission unit has a restriction member to partially restrict a motion of the cantilever spring, thereby varying the spring constant stepwise. 9. The cap device in accordance with claim 8, wherein the restriction member includes a first step that is formed at a position of pressing the cantilever spring, and a second step that is formed to press the cantilever spring at a position of a greater rotational angle of the handle mechanism than the position of the first step. 10. The cap device in accordance with claim 2, wherein the torque plate is fixed to the closer, and attached to the handle mechanism in a freely rotatable manner. 11. The cap device in accordance with claim 4, wherein the torque plate is fixed to the closer, and attached to the handle mechanism in a freely rotatable manner. 12. A cap device that opens and closes a tank opening and engages with an opening engagement element formed on a periphery of the tank opening, the cap device comprising: a closer that closes the tank opening with air-tight sealing and has a cap engagement element, which is engaged with the opening engagement element by rotation of the closer by a preset angle; a handle mechanism that is attached to an upper side of the closer in a rotatable manner to selectively rotate the closer in a closing direction and an opening direction to close and open the tank opening; and a torque mechanism that is provided between the handle mechanism and the closer and selectively transmits a rotational torque in the closing direction and the opening direction to the closer, wherein the torque mechanism includes: a torque plate that is located between the handle mechanism and the closer; a click unit having a first click engagement element and a second click engagement element that mates with the first click engagement element, wherein the first click engagement element is a click arm that is formed as a cantilever on the torque plate and has a click engagement projection, and the second click engagement element is a click engagement element formed on the handle mechanism, the first click engagement element and the second click engagement element are disengaged and shift from an initial position to a released position to give a click sound, when the handle mechanism and the closer are rotated relative to each other by the preset angle in response to an operation of the handle mechanism in the closing direction; and a torque transmission unit having a first torque engagement element and a second torque engagement element that mates with the first torque engagement element, wherein the torque transmission unit transmits a rotational torque in the closing direction applied to the handle mechanism to the closer via coupling of the first torque engagement element with the second torque engagement element, wherein the first torque engagement element is a torque transmission rib formed on the handle mechanism, and the second torque engagement element is a cantilever spring that is protruded from the torque plate in an elastically deformable manner to engage with the torque transmission rib and increase the spring force with an increase in degree of elastic deformation, wherein the cantilever spring is configured to apply the accumulated spring force to restore the click unit from the released position to the initial position when the rotational torque applied to the handle mechanism is released. 13. The cap device in accordance with claim 12, wherein the handle mechanism includes a cover that covers an upper portion of the closer, and a handle that is protruded from a top face of the cover to form a recess and has the torque transmission rib formed on an inner wall, and the cantilever spring is protruded upright in a substantially vertical direction from the torque plate and has an end to be engaged with the torque transmission rib. 14. The cap device in accordance with claim 12, wherein the torque mechanism has a stopper mechanism that stops rotation of the closer to prevent a torque applied to the closer from exceeding a torque limit of closing the tank opening. 15. The cap device in accordance wit claim 14, wherein the stopper mechanism includes a stopper protruded from the closer, the stopper being configured to engage with the opening engagement element, thereby stopping rotation of the closer. 16. The cap device in accordance with claim 14, wherein the cantilever spring has a spring constant that increases with an increase in rotational torque applied to the handle mechanism after the stop mechanism works to stop rotation of the closer. 17. The cap device in accordance with claim 16, wherein the torque transmission unit has a restriction member to partially restrict a motion of the cantilever spring, thereby varying the spring constant stepwise. 18. The cap device in accordance with claim 17, wherein the restriction member includes a first step that is formed at a position of pressing the cantilever spring, and a second step that is formed to press the cantilever spring at a position of a greater rotational angle of the handle mechanism than the position of the first step. 19. The cap device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the torque plate is fixed to the closer, and attached to the handle mechanism in a freely rotatable manner.
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