Seal member and seal component

Abstract

To provide a seal member capable of restraining the occurrence of mutual dislocation of mutual butting end surfaces of seal parts.SOLUTION: The seal member A includes a plurality of seal components 10, the adjacent seal components 10 are connected to each other by abutting end portions thereof against each other, the seal member A is used so as to be interposed between a first member 1 and a second member 2, an engaging convex portion 31 made of an elastic material is provided on one abutting end surface 20 in an abutting portion 5, an engaging concave portion 32 engaging with the engaging convex portion 31 is provided on the other abutting end surface 20, and the engaging convex portion 31 and the engaging concave portion 32 are provided such that outer edges thereof are disposed inside a peripheral edge 21 of the abutting end surface 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a seal member made up of a plurality of seal parts and the seal parts used therein. [Background technology]

[0002] Various sealing members have been proposed in the past, each made up of a plurality of sealing parts, with adjacent sealing parts connected by butting their ends together. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a sealing member in which one of the butting end faces of the adjacent sealing parts is provided with an engaging protrusion, and the other butting end face of the butting area is provided with an engaging recess that engages with the engaging protrusion. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] US 2023 / 96973 A1 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the case of Patent Document 1, the engaging protrusion and engaging recess are provided corresponding to one corner of the mating end faces, that is, the engaging recess has a portion of its peripheral wall that opens to the side, so the mating end faces are prone to shifting sideways relative to each other.

[0005] For example, if such a seal member is installed in a seal accommodating space between two components arranged above and below so that it is subjected to pressure from above and below, if there is excess space on the side of the seal accommodating space, which is perpendicular to the pressing direction of the two components, there is a risk that the butting end faces will shift sideways.

[0006] The present invention has been proposed in consideration of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a seal member and a seal part that can suppress the occurrence of mutual misalignment between the mating end faces of the seal parts. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the sealing member of the present invention is a sealing member that consists of a plurality of sealing parts, in which adjacent sealing parts are connected by butting their ends together, and is used to be interposed between a first member and a second member that are combined in a direction perpendicular to the butt direction, and is characterized in that an engaging protrusion made of an elastic material is provided on one of the butt end faces at the butt joint, and an engaging recess that engages with the engaging protrusion is provided on the other butt end face at the butt joint, and the engaging protrusion and the engaging recess are arranged so that their outer edges are positioned inside the periphery of the butt end faces. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] Since the seal member of the present invention has the above-described configuration, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of misalignment between the mating end faces of the seal components. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view common to seal members according to first to third embodiments of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1(a) is a schematic perspective view common to the seal parts used in the seal members according to the first and second embodiments, and FIG. 1(b) is a partial front view of the seal part. [Figure 3] 1A is a schematic perspective view of a main part of a sealing component including one butt end face, FIG. 1B is a schematic perspective view of a main part of a sealing component including the other butt end face, and FIG. 1C is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of the main part showing the butt state of the sealing component. [Figure 4] 1(a) and 1(b) are schematic plan views of the mating end faces of the sealing parts. [Figure 5] 2A and 2B are schematic vertical cross-sectional views of the sealing member according to the first embodiment, where (a) and (b) are cross-sectional views taken along the line XX in FIG. 1, and (c) and (d) are cross-sectional views taken along the line YY in FIG. [Figure 6] 1A is a schematic exploded vertical cross-sectional view of a main part including a butted portion of another example of the sealing member according to the first embodiment, and FIGS. 1B to 1D are schematic end views showing one of the butted end faces of the sealing members according to three other examples. [Figure 7] 1A is a schematic perspective view of a main part of a sealing component including one butt end face, and FIG. [Figure 8] 1(a) and 1(b) are schematic vertical cross-sectional views of the main parts showing the butted state. [Figure 9] 1(a) and 1(b) are schematic vertical cross-sectional views of a sealing member according to a second embodiment, taken along the line XX in FIG. [Figure 10] 10(a) to 10(c) are explanatory views of other examples of the seal member according to the second embodiment, each showing a schematic plan view of a main portion of one of the seal components at the butted portion of the seal member according to three other examples. [Figure 11] 10(a) to 10(d) are explanatory views of other examples of the sealing member according to the second embodiment, and are end views showing one of the butted end surfaces of the sealing members according to four other examples. [Figure 12] 10(a) is a schematic perspective view common to seal parts used in a seal member according to a third embodiment, and FIG. 10(b) is a partial front view of the seal part. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the basic configuration of the sealing member A according to the embodiment will be described.

[0011] As shown in Figures 1, 3, 7 and 12, the sealing member A is made up of a plurality of sealing parts 10, with adjacent sealing parts 10 connected by butting their ends together, and is used by being interposed between a first member 1 and a second member 2 that are combined in a direction perpendicular to the butting direction D.

[0012] An engaging protrusion 31 made of an elastic material is provided on one of the butted end faces 20 in the butted portion 5, and an engaging recess 32 that engages with the engaging protrusion 31 is provided on the other butted end face 20 in the butted portion 5. The engaging protrusion 31 and the engaging recess 32 are provided so that their outer edges are located inside the peripheral edge 21 of the butted end face 20.

[0013] Here, the butt joint portion 5 refers to the area near the end of each of the adjacent sealing parts 10, and includes the butt joint end faces 20, the engaging protrusions 31 and engaging recesses 32 provided on those faces, and the groove end portions 13 and protrusions 14 (described later) provided on the back side of the butt joint end faces 20.

[0014] Next, details of the sealing member A according to the embodiment will be described. First, the sealing member A according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0015] 1 is a schematic plan view common to the sealing member A according to the first to third embodiments. This plan view shows a state in which a first member 1 is disposed on the upper side, a second member 2 is disposed on the lower side, and the sealing member is disposed therebetween. In this drawing, the first member 1 is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

[0016] As shown in Fig. 1, the second member 2 has a flat surface 2a that is rectangular in plan view. The first member 1 has an annular flange portion 1a that follows the periphery of the first member 1 in plan view. The first member 1 and the second member 2 are assembled so that the flange portion 1a and the flat surface 2a abut against each other, as shown in Fig. 5, which will be described later.

[0017] There are various examples of combinations of the first member 1 and the second member 2, such as a combination where one is a heat exchanger cover of an internal combustion engine and the other is a heat exchanger, or a combination where one is a cylinder block and the other is an oil pan.

[0018] The first member 1 has an opening 1f that opens to the second member 2 side. As shown in Fig. 1, the flange portion 1a is formed so as to surround the opening 1f. The flange portion 1a is provided with a groove portion 1b that opens to the second member 2 side and accommodates the seal member A. The groove portion 1b extends along the circumferential direction of the flange portion 1a and is formed in a substantially rectangular ring shape with four rounded corners in plan view (viewed in the groove depth direction).

[0019] The groove portion 1b is defined by a groove bottom 1c that is approximately parallel to the surface that abuts the flat surface 2a of the flange portion 1a and groove walls 1d on both sides in the groove width direction, and has an approximately square groove shape when viewed in the groove length direction.

[0020] An enlarged width portion 1e is provided midway in the groove length direction of the groove portion 1b, widening the groove width direction. As shown in Fig. 1, the enlarged width portion 1e is provided in a generally rectangular shape in a plan view. The enlarged width portion 1e is formed so as to be able to accommodate the connecting portion 40 of the sealing part 10. In the illustrated example, two enlarged width portions 1e are provided in the groove portion 1b.

[0021] A plurality of insertion holes 1g, 2b, through which fasteners such as bolts (not shown) are inserted, are provided at intervals along the length direction of the groove portion 1b on the periphery of each of the first member 1 and the second member 2. The insertion holes 1g, 2b of the first member 1 and the second member 2 are provided at approximately the same positions on the first member 1 and the second member 2 so as to communicate with each other when the first member 1 and the second member 2 are combined.

[0022] The seal member A is assembled into the seal accommodating space 3 formed between the groove portion 1b of the first member 1 and the second member 2. The assembled state of the seal member will be described later with reference to FIG.

[0023] 1, the seal member A according to this embodiment is annular, and is formed by combining two U-shaped seal parts 10. Each seal part 10 has two open ends, and the open ends of the seal parts 10 are butted together to form the seal member A in an annular shape.

[0024] The butt direction D is the direction of the arrow in Figure 1, and with this plan view as the reference, the first member 1 is arranged on the upper side in the vertical direction perpendicular to the butt direction D, and the second member 2 is arranged on the lower side (see Figure 5). Also, other orthogonal directions perpendicular to the butt direction D will be referred to as lateral directions below.

[0025] The seal component 10 is made of an elastic material, such as rubber or a soft synthetic resin material. The seal component 10 comprises a band-shaped, generally U-shaped seal body 11 in plan view, an engaging portion 30 disposed on the end face of the open end, and a connecting portion 40 disposed on both sides of each open end of the seal body 11. In this specification and claims, the end faces of the open ends are referred to as butt end faces 20.

[0026] The seal main body 11 is a portion that exhibits a sealing function by being sandwiched between the first member 1 and the second member 2 from above and below, with its upper surface portion serving as a first compression portion 11a and its lower surface portion serving as a second compression portion 11b. A recessed groove 12 is formed in the upper surface of the first compression portion 11a and the lower surface of the second compression portion 11b along the extension direction of the seal main body 11. The first compression portion 11a and the second compression portion 11b are portions that directly receive pressure from the first member 1 and the second member 2.

[0027] 2(a) and 2(b), the engaging portion 30 is a portion provided at the open end of the seal body 11 for engaging with an adjacent seal component 10 between the mating end faces 20. In order to butt and engage the ends of adjacent seal components 10, the engaging portion 30 of one seal component 10 has an engaging protrusion 31 on the mating end face 20, and the engaging portion 30 of the other seal component 10 has an engaging recess 32 on the mating end face 20.

[0028] The engaging protrusions 31 and the engaging recesses 32 may have any shape as long as they can be engaged with each other, and in the illustrated example, the engaging protrusions 31 are conical in shape, and the engaging recesses 32 are conical recesses, and two of each are provided, as shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b). Note that Figure 2(b) shows only one seal component 10 having an engaging protrusion 31, and the other seal component 10 is not shown.

[0029] An engaging protrusion 31 and an engaging recess 32 are formed at positions facing each other on both mating end faces 20 of adjacent seal parts 10. Both the engaging protrusion 31 and the engaging recess 32 are provided inside the peripheral edge 21 of the mating end faces 20.

[0030] Here, the peripheral edge 21 of the butted end face 20 is an edge portion that defines the outline of the butted end face 20, but since the butted end face 20 is formed flush with the end face of the connecting portion 43 of the connecting portion 40 that is connected laterally to the butted portion 5, part of the peripheral edge 21 is shown by a two-dot chain line in Figures 2(b), 3(a)(b), and 5(a)(b). The same applies to Figures 7(a)(b), 9(a)(b), and 12(b) that relate to other embodiments.

[0031] In the example of Figures 2 and 3, two engaging protrusions 31 aligned in the vertical direction are formed on one of the butting end faces 20, and two engaging recesses 32 aligned in the vertical direction are formed on the other butting end face 20, and when both butting end faces 20 are butted together, the engaging protrusions 31 and the engaging recesses 32 engage with each other (see Figures 3(a)(b)(c)).

[0032] In addition, the engaging portion 30 of one butt end face 20 may include a mixture of both engaging protrusions 31 and engaging recesses 32, for example, one butt end face 20 may be provided with engaging protrusions 31 and engaging recesses 32 in that order from top to bottom, and the other butt end face 20 may be provided with engaging recesses 32 and engaging protrusions 31 in that order from top to bottom.

[0033] Furthermore, a continuous U-shaped groove 12 is formed on each of the upper and lower surfaces of the seal body 11. The groove 12 does not open to the end side (the butting end face 20), and a groove terminal end 13 is formed on the back side of the butting end face 20.

[0034] Furthermore, protrusions 14 that protrude upward and downward are formed on the butt end faces 20 of the upper and lower groove termination portions 13. Specifically, the upper protrusion 14 protrudes toward the first member 1, and the lower protrusion 14 protrudes toward the second member 2. The upper protrusion 14 is inclined upward, and the lower protrusion 14 is inclined downward. As shown in FIG. 3 , the surface of the protrusion 14 facing the butt direction D forms part of the butt end face 20.

[0035] Next, the connection structure between the seal parts 10 will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 4. The connection structure between the seal parts 10 is carried out by connecting portions 40 provided on both sides of the butted portion 5.

[0036] As shown in Figure 2(a), the connecting portion 40 is a component for connecting to adjacent sealing parts 10 in the butting direction D. One butting region 5 of the sealing parts 10 is provided with a pair of mating protrusions 41 that spread out like wings for connecting to the adjacent sealing part 10, and the other butting region 5 is provided with a pair of mating recesses 42 for connecting to the adjacent sealing part 10. In this example, since the sealing member A is made up of two sealing parts 10, the connecting portions 40 of both sealing parts 10 may be arranged in the same order as shown in Figure 2(a).

[0037] The mating protrusion 41 has a cylindrical projection 41b provided in the center of a square base portion 41a, while the mating recess 42 has a round hole 42b opened in the center of a square base portion 42a.

[0038] As shown in Figure 4(a), corresponding to one butt joint portion 5, the connecting portion 40 of one seal part 10 has a set of mating protrusions 41, and the connecting portion 40 of the other seal part 10 has a set of mating recesses 42.

[0039] As shown in Figures 4(a) and (b), when the engaging convex portion 31 and the engaging concave portion 32 engage at the butt joint portion 5, the protrusion 41b of the engaging convex portion 41 is fitted into the round hole 42b of the engaging concave portion 42 from below, thereby connecting the two sealing parts 10.

[0040] The sealing member A is formed by connecting and engaging the sealing parts 10 together as described above, and when in use, is disposed between the first member 1 and the second member 2 as shown in Fig. 5. Figs. 5(a) to 5(d) are longitudinal cross-sectional views showing the manner in which the sealing member A is used when disposed between the first member 1 and the second member 2.

[0041] Groove 1b formed on the underside of the first member 1 constitutes a seal accommodating space 3 formed in cooperation with the second member 2. In the area of ​​the seal part 10 excluding the butt joint area 5, widened portion 1e of groove 1b has a width dimension corresponding to the width dimension of seal main body 11, and has a wide shape that can accommodate connecting portion 40 (fitting protrusion 41, fitting recess 42) arranged on the side of the butt joint area 5.

[0042] Furthermore, when not elastically deformed, the seal body 11 is accommodated so as to protrude from the opening of the groove 1b (see FIG. 5(c)). Note that, since the protrusions 14 are arranged on the top and bottom of the butt joint portion 5, when not elastically deformed, the bottom end of the butt joint end face 20 protrudes further than the opening of the groove 1b (widened portion 1e) (see FIG. 5(a)).

[0043] As shown in Figure 5(d), when the seal member A is placed in the groove portion 1b, the first member 1 and the second member 2 press against each other, come into contact, and close the groove portion 1b, and the seal main body portion 11 is compressed between the first compression portion 11a and the second compression portion 11b, and is slightly stretched laterally due to this compression.

[0044] 5(b), when the groove portion 1b is closed by pressure from the first member 1 and the second member 2 at the butted end surface 20, the first compressed portion 11a and the second compressed portion 11b are compressed in the same manner as the seal body 11. When the compressed state is reached, the connecting portion 40, which is in a fitted state, is also subjected to pressure from the first member 1 and the second member 2 (see FIG. 5(b)).

[0045] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5(b), the engaging protrusion 31 and engaging recess 32 provided as the engaging portion 30 at the butting end surface 20 (the butting end surface 20 for the engaging recess 32 is not shown in Figure 5) are compressed by pressure and become flattened.

[0046] In this way, by assembling the seal member A into the seal accommodating space 3 (the groove portion 1b of the first member 1), the seal member A exhibits its sealing properties.

[0047] According to this seal member A, adjacent seal parts 10 have an engagement structure with engagement protrusions 31 and engagement recesses 32, making it difficult for misalignment to occur between the mating end faces 20. In particular, because the engagement parts 30 are formed within the periphery 21 of the mating end faces 20, there is almost no possibility that the engagement protrusions 31 will shift up and down or to the side from the engagement recesses 32 in an engaged state, i.e., there is almost no possibility that misalignment will occur between the mating end faces 20. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in sealing performance due to the use of multiple seal parts 10.

[0048] Furthermore, since the seal parts 10 have an engagement structure, it is easy to align the butted portions 5 when connecting the seal parts 10 together, improving the ease of assembly and work efficiency.

[0049] Furthermore, if there is no engagement portion 30 on the butt end face 20, if there is a vertical misalignment in the butt state before compression, when the sealing member A is assembled and pressed from above and below, the already occurring misalignment will be maintained, and this misalignment may further worsen the butt state, resulting in the risk of so-called co-misalignment.

[0050] However, since the present seal component 10 has an engagement structure at the mating end faces 20, misalignment is unlikely to occur in the first place when the components are mated, and it is natural that misalignment can also be prevented.

[0051] Furthermore, since the sealing parts 10 are connected and fixed together by the connecting portion 40, the strength of the connection between the two sealing parts 10 is guaranteed. However, if the mating end faces 20 are not engaged with each other, even if the sealing parts 10 are connected by the connecting portion 40, lateral displacement between the mating end faces 20 is likely to occur due to the expansion and contraction of the elastic material.

[0052] In the first place, the connecting portions 40 are arranged on both sides of the butt joint portion 5, and the seal accommodating space 3 has a widened portion 1e formed in the groove portion 1b near the butt joint portion 5, so the butt joint end faces 20 are in an environment where they are likely to come off from each other.

[0053] However, since it has an engagement structure between the engagement protrusion 31 and the engagement recess 32, it is possible to suppress misalignment caused by providing the connecting portion 40 on the side and forming the elastic material long on the side, and by extending the seal accommodating space 3 on the side to accommodate the connecting portion 40, thereby widening the space in which the butting portion 5 can move sideways.

[0054] Furthermore, since the seal part 10 has groove end portions 13 above and below the butt portion 5, the entire seal body 11 in the vertical direction is more susceptible to the average impact of pressure than the portion provided with the groove 12. If the groove is formed all the way to the end, the degree of compression between the upper and lower groove bottom portions 12a (see FIG. 2(b)) is smaller than the degree of compression of the wall portions 12b on both sides of the groove 12.

[0055] In this way, the seal body 11 is likely to be compressed evenly throughout in the vertical direction at the butting portion 5, and the engaging portion 30 provided on the butting end face 20 is also likely to be compressed as shown in Figures 5(a) and 5(b). In particular, because the engaging recess 32 includes a recessed space, material from the surrounding area escapes into the recessed space, increasing the engaging force (gripping force) between the engaging recess 32 and the engaging protrusion 31, making it easier to maintain the engaged state.

[0056] Furthermore, protrusions 14 are formed at the butting portions 5, and end faces 14a of the protrusions 14 become part of the butting end faces 20, which allows the butting end faces 20 to be larger, thereby increasing the mutual butting force between the sealing parts 10. In other words, the protrusions 14 can also reduce the gap between the butting end faces 20 at the upper and lower ends of the two members. Furthermore, because the area of ​​the butting end faces 20 can be increased, it is easy to form the engaging protrusions 31 and engaging recesses 32.

[0057] Furthermore, the protrusion 14 is easily tilted in the butting direction D by the pressure of the first member 1 and the second member 2, which makes it difficult for gaps to form on the surface between the butting end faces 20, especially at the top and bottom, thereby further improving sealing performance.

[0058] Next, another example in which the shape and number of the engaging portions 30 (engaging protrusions 31, engaging recesses 32) are different from those in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6(a) to 6(d).

[0059] 6(a), the engaging protrusion 31 is substantially hemispherical, and the engaging recess 32 is a hemispherical recess that engages with the engaging protrusion 31. Note that the shape as viewed from the butting direction D may be a polygonal shape such as a triangle or a rectangle.

[0060] The number of engaging portions 30 may be one as shown in Fig. 6(b), or may be three or more as shown in Fig. 6(d). Furthermore, even if there are two engaging portions 30, they may be arranged side by side as shown in Fig. 6(c), unlike the arrangement shown in Fig. 2. Various other arrangements may also be adopted.

[0061] Increasing the number of engaging portions 30 not only ensures a stable engaging force, but also prevents misalignment due to lateral rotation of the sealing components 10 relative to one another. Furthermore, when there is only one engaging portion 30, errors in the relative positional relationship that would occur if multiple engaging portions 30 were provided are unlikely to occur, and rotational misalignment can also be prevented by making the engaging portion polygonal. Furthermore, when there is only one engaging portion 30, the effect of improving the degree of adhesion of the flat portions of the butting end faces 20 other than the engaging portion 30 can be expected.

[0062] Next, a sealing member A according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 7 to 11. The overall arrangement of the sealing member A is the same as that shown in Figure 1.

[0063] The sealing member A according to this embodiment is based on the sealing member A according to the first embodiment, and is configured by adding an air vent passage 50. Note that the same components as those in the sealing part 10 of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0064] Specifically, an air vent passage 50 is provided on the mating end surface 20 of the seal member A, connecting from the peripheral edge 21 to at least one of the engaging protrusion 31 and the engaging recess 32. In the example of Figures 7(a) and 7(b), the air vent passage 50 is formed on the mating end surface 20 that has the engaging protrusion 31. An air outlet 51 that leads to the outside is formed at the end of the air vent passage 50 on the peripheral edge 21 side.

[0065] In the illustrated example, two air vent passages 50 are formed in the butt end surface 20 having the engaging protrusion 31: one connecting the upper engaging protrusion 31 and the edge 21a on the first compressed section side, and the other connecting the lower engaging protrusion 31 and the edge 21b on the second compressed section side. Note that in the example of Figure 7, no air vent passage 50 is formed in the butt end surface 20 having the engaging recess 32.

[0066] As shown in Figure 8(a), by butting the end faces 20 of two such seal components 10 together, the air outlet 51 is open to the outside at the periphery 21. Therefore, when the engaging portions 30 are engaged with each other, air contained in the engaging recesses 32 escapes through the air vent path 50 and the air outlet 51, which prevents the engagement from becoming unstable with air trapped inside. As a result, there is no need to perform a separate air venting operation, and the number of work steps can be reduced.

[0067] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 8(b), when an air vent passage 50 is provided on the mating end surface 20 having the engagement recess 32, the air venting effect is exerted in the same manner as in Figure 8(a), improving the efficiency of the assembly work.

[0068] 9(a) and 9(b) are longitudinal cross-sectional views showing a usage state when the sealing member A (sealing component 10) shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 is disposed between the first member 1 and the second member 2. As shown in Fig. 9, when the sealing member A is used, the air vent path 50 is compressed by pressure from above and below, and the air outlet 51 is blocked, but this does not pose any particular problem because air has already been vented.

[0069] Next, another example of the air vent passage 50 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10(a) to 10(c) and 11(a) to 11(d).

[0070] The examples in Figure 9 are three examples of the shape of the air vent channel 50. The one in Figure 10(a) is an angular groove in cross section, the one in Figure 10(b) is a semicircular groove in cross section, and the one in Figure 10(c) is a triangular groove in cross section. Also, as shown in Figure 10(a), the groove width may be various dimensions, and as shown in Figures 10(b) and 10(c), it may be a deep groove with a semicircular or triangular bottom. Various other shapes can also be used as the air vent channel 50.

[0071] The examples in Figure 11 show different numbers of engaging portions 30, and corresponding air vent passages are formed. Figure 11(a) has one engaging portion 30, Figure 11(b) has two side-by-side engaging portions 30, and Figures 11(c) and (d) have seven engaging portions 30.

[0072] In Figure 11(a), one air vent passage 50 is provided corresponding to one engagement portion 30, connecting the engagement protrusion 31 and the edge 21a on the first compression portion side, and in Figure 11(b), one air vent passage 50 is provided between one engagement protrusion 31 and the edge 21a on the first compression portion side, and another air vent passage 50 is provided between the other engagement protrusion 31 and the edge 21b on the second compression portion side.

[0073] 11(c) has a shared passage 52 (shared air vent passage) formed corresponding to the multiple engaging portions 30 on one butt end surface 20. Specifically, for the five upper engaging protrusions 31, the individual air vent passages 50 merge into the shared passage 52 directed toward the edge 21a on the first compression portion side, and for the two lower engaging protrusions 31, the individual air vent passages 50 merge into the shared passage 52 directed toward the edge 21b on the second compression portion side.

[0074] In addition, in the case of FIG. 11(d), seven engaging protrusions 31 are formed with individual air vent passages 50 so that they do not intersect with other air vent passages 50 and are connected to different edges.

[0075] Since the air vent path 50 is for releasing air when the engaging convex portion 31 and the engaging concave portion 32 are engaged, an air outlet 51 is required to allow air to escape to the outside of the peripheral edge 21 when the sealing parts 10 are butted together. Therefore, when the butted end faces 20 are flush with the connecting portion 43 of the coupling part 40, it goes without saying that it is desirable for the air vent path 50 to be formed so as to extend to the connecting portion 43 and to open into the air outlet 51 (see the two-dot chain line in Figure 11(d)).

[0076] In addition, in the case of Figure 11(d), the air vent path 50 is connected to edges other than the edge 21a on the first compression section side and the edge 21b on the second compression section side, so there is almost no risk of it being blocked by pressure like the edge 21a on the first compression section side or the edge 21b on the second compression section side, and the air venting action continues even when pressed between the first member 1 and the second member 2.

[0077] Although the above describes an example in which the air vent passage 50 is formed in the butted end faces 20 having the engaging protrusions 31, the air vent passage 50 may also be formed in the butted end faces 20 having the engaging recesses 32. The air vent passages 50 may also be formed at the same positions on both butted end faces 20 so that they overlap when butted together.

[0078] Furthermore, for example, if two upper and lower engaging protrusions 31 are provided on one butt end face 20 and two upper and lower engaging recesses 32 are provided on the other butt end face 20, the air vent path 500 may be formed on one butt end face 20 so as to connect to the upper engaging protrusion 31, and the air vent path 50 may be formed on the other butt end face 20 so as to connect to the lower engaging recess 32.

[0079] In this way, the air vent passage 50 only needs to be formed so as to connect from the engaging portion 30, that is, from either the engaging protrusion 31 or the corresponding engaging recess 32, to the peripheral edge 21 of the butting end face 20, and various routes and numbers of air vent passages 50 can be adopted depending on the arrangement position and number of the engaging portions 30.

[0080] The above has illustrated and explained the sealing member A of the first embodiment in which the sealing part 10 has a groove terminal end portion 13 and a protrusion portion 14, and the sealing member A of the second embodiment in which the sealing part 10 has an air vent channel 50, but the sealing member A of the present invention may also be one in which the sealing part 10 does not have any of the groove terminal end portion 13, the protrusion portion 14, or the air vent channel 50.

[0081] Specifically, there is a sealing member A according to a third embodiment shown in Fig. 12. As shown in Figs. 12(a) and 12(b), the butting portion 5 of the sealing part 10 does not have a groove end portion 13 or a protrusion 14, so the grooves 12 provided on the top and bottom are open to the butting end surface 20. The overall arrangement of the sealing member A is generally the same as that shown in Fig. 1.

[0082] 2 and 7, the sealing part 10 is provided with the engaging portion 30 on the mating end face 20, so that misalignment between the mating end faces 20 is unlikely to occur. In particular, the engaging protrusion 31 and the engaging recess 32 are each formed within the periphery 21 of the mating end face 20, so that there is almost no possibility that the engaging protrusion 31 will be displaced up, down, or to the side from the engaging recess 32 when engaged.

[0083] Alternatively, the sealing part 10 may have a configuration in which an air vent channel 50 is added to the butt end face 20 of the sealing part 10 shown in Fig. 12. In the case of this sealing part 10, the recessed grooves 12 open to the butt end face 20, so the air vent channel 50 may be formed so as to communicate with the groove bottom 12a of the adjacent recessed groove 12 (see Fig. 12(b)). Because the engaging portion 30 is close to the periphery 21 of the butt end face 20 (the edge corresponding to the groove bottom 12a), the work can be carried out quickly when the air vent channel 50 is separately machined after the main body is molded.

[0084] The sealing component 10 described above may be integrally molded in a molding die (not shown), but is not limited to this. For example, the engaging protrusion 31 may be formed by attaching another member later, the engaging recess 32 may be formed by cutting, and the groove end 13 may be formed by filling the groove 12.

[0085] The sealing member A and the sealing component 10 according to the various embodiments described above are merely examples, and other configurations are also acceptable. It goes without saying that the overall shapes of the sealing member A and the sealing component 10 can be appropriately changed as a design matter. [Explanation of symbols]

[0086] 1 First member 2 Second member 3 Seal storage space 5. Joint D. Butt direction A sealing material 10 Sealing parts 11 Seal body 11a First compression section 11b Second compression section 12 Groove 12a Groove bottom 12b Wall section 13 Groove end 14 Protrusion 14a End face 20 Butt end face 21 Periphery 21a Edge on the first compressed portion side 21b Edge on the second compressed portion side 30 Engagement portion 31 Engagement protrusion 32 Engagement recess 40 Connection part 41 mating protrusion 41a Circuit board 42 Fitting recess 42a Board section 43 Continuous section 50 Air vent passage 51 Air outlet 52 Shared path

Claims

1. A seal member is comprised of a plurality of seal parts, each of which is connected by butting its end portions against each other, and is used to be interposed between a first member and a second member which are combined in a direction perpendicular to the butting direction, an engaging protrusion made of an elastic material is provided on one of the butted end surfaces of the butted portion, and an engaging recess that engages with the engaging protrusion is provided on the other of the butted end surfaces of the butted portion, The sealing member is characterized in that the engaging protrusion and the engaging recess are provided so that their outer edges are disposed inside the peripheral edges of the mating end faces.

2. In claim 1, the sealing component is configured to be pressed by the first member and the second member, A sealing member, characterized in that a continuous recessed groove is formed along the abutting direction on each of the two surfaces of the sealing component that are pressed by the first member and the second member.

3. In claim 2, A sealing member characterized in that a groove end portion is formed on the back side of the butted end faces.

4. In claim 3, A sealing member characterized in that a protrusion protruding in the pressing direction of the first member and the second member is provided at the end of the sealing part on the side of the butting end face, and the surface of the protrusion facing the butting direction forms part of the butting end face.

5. In claim 1 or 2, The sealing member is characterized in that an air vent passage is provided on the butted end surfaces, the air vent passage extending from the periphery to at least one of the engaging protrusion and the engaging recess.

6. In claim 5, The sealing member is characterized in that the air vent passage includes a shared passage corresponding to a plurality of combinations of the engaging protrusions and the engaging recesses.

7. In claim 1 or 2, A seal member characterized in that one of the adjacent seal parts is provided with a mating convex portion and the other is provided with a mating concave portion near the butted portion.

8. A sealing part used in the sealing member according to claim 1 or 2.

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