Gasket

Abstract

To provide a gasket capable of solving various problems, such as an increase in a size of a molding facility and securing a mold storage space.SOLUTION: A gasket according to the invention is a gasket 1 that is used by incorporating a gasket body 2 comprising an elastic body into a recessed groove of a sealing part. The gasket body 2 is molded to have a chain shape formed by coupling a plurality of annular parts 3. The molded gasket body 2 is largely expanded and extended so as to be incorporated into the recessed groove 101. The annular part 3 is formed to have an approximately diamond shape in plan view. While the gasket body 2 is incorporated into the recessed groove 101, the annular part 3 elastically comes into pressure contact with the recessed groove 101.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a gasket that is incorporated into a location where sealing (airtightness / liquidtightness) is required. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, in the case of a pneumatic actuator, a gasket made of an elastic material is installed between the housing and the cover to improve sealing performance. Various gaskets are also installed in joint areas of various pipes, or between the carburetor and float chamber of a motorcycle.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses an example in which an elastic ring-shaped gasket is used in an annular recess provided on the joint surface of a pipe. Patent Document 2 proposes a gasket for use in pressure equipment such as pneumatic and hydraulic actuators.

[0004] Generally, this type of elastic gasket is formed in a ring shape with a size (circumferential length) corresponding to the sealing portion into which it is to be incorporated. That is, when the sealing area is large, a gasket of a larger size is prepared to accommodate it.

[0005] Such gaskets are usually formed using a mold. Therefore, molding a large gasket requires a correspondingly large mold, which can lead to various issues, such as increasing the size of the molding equipment and securing space to store the molds. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Utility Model Registration No. 3104291 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-329400 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and its object is to provide a gasket that can solve various problems such as the increase in size of molding equipment and the need to secure mold storage space. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention is a gasket in which a gasket body made of an elastic body is fitted into a recessed groove of a sealing portion, The gasket body is molded into a chain shape with multiple annular portions connected together, The molded gasket body is stretched and fitted into the recessed groove.

[0009] A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that in the first aspect of the present invention, the annular portion is formed in a substantially rhombic shape in plan view.

[0010] The third invention is characterized in that in the first or second invention, the annular portion of the gasket body is elastically pressed against the recessed groove when the gasket body is fitted into the recessed groove. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a gasket that can solve various problems such as the need for larger molding equipment and the need to secure mold storage space. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view showing a gasket according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged plan view of the gasket shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the gasket shown in FIG. 1 in an unfolded state. [Figure 4]FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the state in which the unfolded gasket is being fitted into the recessed groove. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged plan view of the gasket fitted into the recessed groove. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the state in which the gasket is installed in the sealing portion. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged plan view showing another embodiment of a gasket of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that this embodiment is merely an example of the present invention and is not to be construed as being limited thereto in any way, and that design modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention.

[0014] As shown in Figures 4 and 6, in this embodiment, as an example of the present invention, a sealing portion is formed between a rectangular housing (lower member) 100 and a lid body 200 (upper member) of a square actuator, and a gasket 1 is assumed to be incorporated to improve the sealing performance of this sealing portion.

[0015] The gasket 1 has an endless (ring-shaped) gasket body 2. The gasket body 2 is made of an elastic material such as synthetic rubber, and is used by being fitted into a recessed groove 101 formed in a housing 100. The groove 101 is formed to surround the internal space (sealed area) 100a of the housing 100, and by fitting the gasket body 2 into the groove 101 and placing the lid body 200 on the housing 100, the internal space 100a of the housing 100 is sealed.

[0016] The gasket 1 of this embodiment is characterized in that the gasket body 2 is molded to be smaller than the circumferential length of the recessed groove 101, and is expanded greatly when it is used to fit into the recessed groove 101.

[0017] That is, in the gasket 1 of this embodiment, the gasket body 2 is molded into a chain-like shape in which multiple annular portions 3 are connected, and which is formed into an endless continuous ring shape, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. Here, the ring-shaped gasket body 2 is molded to have a circumferential length smaller than that of the recessed groove 101 of the housing 100 into which it is to be incorporated.

[0018] The gasket body 2 thus molded is then stretched to greatly increase its ring diameter (see FIG. 3), and is then fitted into the recessed groove 101 of the housing 100 (see FIG. 4). In this case, the gasket body 2 is an elastic body, so it can be easily stretched and fitted into the recessed groove 101.

[0019] In this embodiment, the annular portion 3 is assumed to be formed in an approximately diamond shape when viewed in a plane, and the opposing corners of adjacent annular portions 3, 3 are connected together by connecting portions 5 to form a chain shape.

[0020] Here, the gasket body 2 has adjacent annular portions 3, 3. Concatenate The region of the connecting portion 5 is formed to be the narrowest, and the other regions are formed to be wider than the region of the connecting portion 5. The shape of the annular member 3 may be other than that of this embodiment, such as a circular shape in plan view or an elliptical shape in plan view, but the approximate diamond shape in plan view as in this embodiment is most suitable.

[0021] The gasket body 2 has a substantially uniform cross-sectional shape around its entire periphery, and in this embodiment, is formed into an oval cross-sectional shape. Although such an oval cross-sectional shape is preferred, the cross-sectional shape is not particularly limited in the present invention as long as it does not impair sealing performance. Furthermore, the thickness (height) dimension of the gasket body 2 is formed to be larger than the groove depth of the seal groove 101 of the housing 100 into which the gasket body 2 is fitted (see FIG. 6). As a result, when the gasket body 2 is fitted into the recessed groove 101 and the lid body 200 is placed over the housing 100 to seal it, the gasket body 2 is crushed within the recessed groove 101, pressing against the housing 100 and the lid body 200 from the inside and reliably sealing the gap between them.

[0022] 1 and 2, the annular portion 3 is molded into a generally diamond shape whose dimension in the width direction L2 is larger than the dimension in the length direction L1 of the gasket body 2. Furthermore, the dimension in the width direction L2 of the annular portion 3 is formed to be larger than the groove width of the recessed groove 101.

[0023] When the gasket body 2 is stretched in its length direction L1, the annular portion 3 elastically deforms so that its dimension in the length direction L1 becomes larger than its dimension in the width direction L2 and its dimension in the width direction L2 becomes smaller than the groove width of the groove 101, and in this state the gasket body 2 is fitted into the groove (see Figure 5). In this case, the annular portion 3 of the gasket body 2 is formed in a substantially diamond shape, so that the gasket body 2 can be easily deformed and smoothly fitted into the recessed groove 101 .

[0024] In this fitted state, the elastic restoring force of the gasket body 2 causes the corners 3a, 3b on both sides of the annular portion 3 to elastically press against the inner wall of the recessed groove 101, thereby stably holding the gasket body 2 within the recessed groove 101. Therefore, after the gasket body 2 is fitted into the recessed groove 101 and before the lid body 200 is placed thereon, there is no risk of the gasket body 2 falling off from the recessed groove 101, and even after the lid body 200 is placed thereon, the gasket body 2 does not collapse and a reliable seal is maintained.

[0025] The gasket 1 of this embodiment is molded by a general molding method (compression molding, transfer molding) using a mold. The mold has a cavity for molding the gasket 1 shown in Fig. 1, and raw rubber material is filled into the cavity and vulcanization molding is performed. In this molding, the annular portion 3, which is approximately diamond-shaped in plan view and described in this embodiment, is not formed by connecting separately formed pieces side by side, but is molded into a ring shape by a cavity in a mold.

[0026] According to the present invention, when molding a gasket using this mold, the mold can be made smaller. That is, as described above, in the gasket 1 according to the present invention, the gasket body 2 is molded into a ring shape that is small relative to the circumferential length of the recessed groove 101, and by stretching and expanding it greatly during assembly, a large gasket 1 that corresponds to the recessed groove 101 can be provided, eliminating the need for large molds and molding equipment. Therefore, the object of the present invention, which is to solve various problems such as the increase in size of molding equipment and the need to secure mold storage space, can be achieved.

[0027] Although the present embodiment shows an example of molding one gasket, it is also possible to simultaneously mold a plurality of gaskets of different sizes in a concentric circle using one mold.

[0028] Other Embodiments FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the gasket 1 according to the present invention. In the gasket 1 of this embodiment, the annular portion 3 of the gasket body 2 is formed in a bellows shape with a plurality of generally diamond-shaped portions connected together. That is, in the embodiment of Figure 7, the connecting portion 5 connecting the three roughly diamond-shaped annular portions 3 in the center of the figure has been removed from the embodiment of Figure 2 (in Figure 7, this removed portion is shown as an open portion 6), and the annular portion 3 is formed in a bellows-like shape, as if the three roughly diamond-shaped portions are connected together.

[0029] A gasket 1 having such a bellows-shaped annular portion 3 has excellent extensibility when the gasket body 2 is stretched and expanded, which has the advantage of making it even easier to fit the gasket body 2 into the groove 101.

[0030] In the gasket 1 of the above embodiment, the gasket body 2 is molded into an endless ring shape, but the present invention can also be applied to a gasket with ends. [Industrial Applicability]

[0031] The present invention can be used for all gaskets made of elastic material that are incorporated into joint areas of pneumatic and hydraulic actuators, various pipes, etc., or between the carburetor and float chamber of a motorcycle, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 1 gasket 2 Gasket body 3 Annular section 5 Connecting part 100 Housing 101 Groove 200 Lid

Claims

1. A gasket in which a gasket body made of an elastic body is fitted into a recessed groove of a sealing part, The gasket body is molded into a chain shape with a plurality of annular portions connected together, A gasket characterized in that the molded gasket body is stretched and fitted into the recessed groove.

2. The gasket according to claim 1, wherein the annular portion is formed in a generally rhombic shape in a plan view.

3. 3. The gasket according to claim 1, wherein the annular portion of the gasket body is elastically pressed against the recessed groove when the gasket body is fitted into the recessed groove.

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