Safety seals for sealing automotive conduits

Abstract

To provide a safety seal for sealing a conduit in an automobile opened in an ordinary operation, in emergency.SOLUTION: In a safety seal 10, an automobile component 12 includes an opening portion 16 forming a conduit for making a fluid be replaced with environment, and a seal main body as the seal main body 22 of which a volume can be changed according to an operation variable 28. When a value of the operation variable indicates ordinary operation, the seal main body at least partially opens the opening portion, and when the value of the operation variable indicates a state of emergency, it completely closes the opening portion. By the change of the volume of the seal main body passively triggered when the operation variable indicates the emergency state, the automobile component can be effectively protected from damage, and additional risk to the operation safety due to the opening portion can be prevented.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a safety seal that can seal, in an emergency, a conduit within a vehicle that is open during normal operation. [Background technology]

[0002] A radial shaft sealing ring for permanent sealing of relatively rotatable shafts is known from US Pat. No. 5,629,999, in which the radial shaft sealing ring comprises a porous oleophilic coating between two sealing lips, which, in the event of a leak at one of the sealing lips, becomes saturated with liquid and increases the contact pressure between the two adjacent sealing lips due to the associated volume increase.

[0003] Known from US Pat. No. 5,649,999 is a sealing plug for permanently sealing an opening in a body component of an automobile, in which an expanding sealant foams out of the opening to be sealed under the influence of heat and surrounds the edge of the opening, thereby providing a permanent compound.

[0004] There is a continuing need to protect automotive components from damage. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] German Patent Application Publication No. 102008058087 [Patent Document 2] DE 3061675 A1 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a solution that allows for effective protection of motor vehicle components against damage. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to the invention, this object is achieved by a safety seal having the features of the claims. Preferred embodiments of the invention are set out in the dependent claims and in the following description, which in each case may comprise one aspect of the invention individually or in combination.

[0008] One aspect of the invention relates to a safety seal for sealing, in an emergency, a conduit in a motor vehicle that is open during normal operation, the safety seal comprising: a motor vehicle component, the motor vehicle component having an opening that forms a conduit for exchanging fluid with the environment; and a seal body, the volume of which is variable in response to an operating variable, whereby the seal body at least partially opens the opening when a value of the operating variable indicates normal operation and completely blocks the opening when a value of the operating variable indicates an emergency.

[0009] In automotive components, intentional fluid exchange with the environment may be provided through openings, whereby, for example, leaking fluids may be vented or air cooling of housed structural elements of the automotive component may be performed by natural convection. Thus, the conduits provided by the openings allow, for example, gravity-driven and / or convective exchange with the environment. This exchange may help to avoid the accumulation of harmful substances within the automotive component and / or the accumulation of heat within the automotive component, which could cause damage. Protection of the automotive component against damage is already provided with the aid of openings that allow fluid exchange with the environment.

[0010] However, if an adjacent component is defective, fluid may enter through the opening and damage the vehicle component. A defect in the vehicle component may still occur, for example, due to hydraulic oil leaking through the opening and damaging the adjacent component. It has been discovered that an opening that positively impacts operational safety during normal operation can create a situation that negatively impacts operational safety during an emergency. It has also been discovered that such an emergency typically involves a significant change in an operating variable related to the environment of the vehicle component. For example, potential emergency situations in which an opening in an automotive component may negatively impact operational safety are characterized by changes in temperature, pressure, and / or moisture. Therefore, the material of the seal body of the safety seal can be selected so that the seal body can change its volume in response to an operating variable that indicates an emergency. This provides a passive safety system that does not require active activation but rather automatically responds to changing boundary conditions that characterize an emergency. In an emergency, the seal body increases in volume, thereby blocking and sealing the opening, and as a result, the risk to operational safety created by the opening can also be avoided in an emergency. A volume change in the seal body that is passively triggered when operating variables indicate an emergency situation makes it possible to avoid additional risks to operational safety due to openings and thus enables effective protection of automotive components against damage.

[0011] In particular, the seal body is designed such that its volume can be reversibly changed between its volume during normal operation and its volume during an emergency. When the emergency situation no longer exists, the volume of the seal body can decrease, and in particular the seal body can contract again. This avoids permanent sealing of the opening, so that after the emergency situation has ended (e.g., after repair of the defective component that triggered the emergency situation), the opening can be reopened and normal operation can resume. No further repair measures are required to reopen the opening and / or to replace the safety seal.

[0012] The operating variables are preferably temperature, and / or pressure, and / or moisture. Different defects in the components that damage the automotive components typically result in significant changes in such operating variables. In addition, it is relatively easy to select a material that can change volume in response to such operating variables and also meets the requirements for use in an automotive vehicle.

[0013] Particularly preferably, the seal body is made of a material that expands upon an increase in temperature, and / or upon a decrease in pressure, and / or that swells under the influence of moisture. The seal body can be made, for example, of a material with a high thermal expansion coefficient, in which case the material can have a bridged and / or foam-like structure with closed and / or open pores. As a result, the seal body material can expand rapidly when the temperature increases, thereby increasing the volume occupied by the seal body. The seal body can be made, for example, of a material with a bridged and / or foam-like structure and closed and / or open pores that can be easily compressed under pressure, resulting in a low volume occupied by the seal body, and that can expand back to its starting shape when the pressure is decreased, resulting in a high volume occupied by the seal body. The seal body can be made, for example, of a swellable material that can accommodate a corresponding large volume of liquid and swell when moisture increases, allowing the seal body to swell.

[0014] The seal body is particularly provided so that, in an emergency, the seal body contacts the edge of the opening with a clamping force in a circumferential sealing direction, with the edge of the opening being perpendicular to the surface normal of the opening. This creates a self-reinforcing seal between the seal body and the edge of the opening. This prevents unintentional separation of the seal body from the opening. In particular, when the opening is provided in a housing wall of an automotive component, the material of the seal body can protrude from the opening and surround the edge of the opening, thereby achieving a particularly good seal.

[0015] Preferably, during normal operation, the seal body is at least partially disposed within the opening. This allows the seal body to seal a portion of the opening's flow cross-section, which may have correspondingly larger dimensions to provide the desired flow cross-section. Generally, sufficient structural space exists within the housing wall of the automotive component for this purpose. The flow cross-section remaining in the opening is, in particular, annular, preferably toroidal. Given that the seal body already penetrates the opening cross-section of the opening during normal operation, only a small distance must be overcome by the seal body's volumetric change to seal the opening in an emergency. As a result, the safety seal can be correspondingly sensitive and able to seal the opening even to relatively small changes in operating variables.

[0016] In a further embodiment, during normal operation, the entire seal body is spaced apart from the opening along the surface normal of the opening. This allows for a correspondingly small, space-saving opening to be provided, since the flow cross-section of the opening is not compromised by the seal body. In addition, the distance between the seal body and the opening allows for easy adjustment of how sensitive the seal body should be to changes in operating variables. Not all volume changes in the seal body that occur during normal fluctuations in operating variables result in a reduction in the flow cross-section of the opening, and therefore the safety seal can be designed to be somewhat more inert and robust.

[0017] Particularly preferably, the automotive component comprises a housing wall with an opening for receiving a structural element of the automotive component, whereby a separately designed retaining element is attached to the housing wall and a seal body is attached to the retaining element, whereby during normal operation the seal body is positioned along the surface normal of the opening and / or at a distance from the housing wall perpendicular to the surface normal of the opening. This allows the safety seal to be easily retrofitted in automotive components that already have openings. For example, the retaining element can be attached to the outside of the housing wall by welding, soldering, or adhesive bonding.

[0018] In particular, the seal body is made of a material that can swell in the presence of water or organic solvents, and when the moisture content of the water or organic solvent increases, the seal body material swells and can seal the opening, thereby, among other things, preventing such moisture from penetrating into the automotive component.

[0019] The seal body preferably includes a gas enclosed within an inflatable balloon. The gas within the balloon may expand upon an increase in temperature and / or a decrease in pressure, thereby increasing the volume occupied by the balloon and / or seal body. The balloon is preferably covered and / or enveloped by an inflatable material, thereby allowing the seal body to change its volume in response to multiple operating variables, particularly temperature, pressure, and / or moisture. As a result, a safety seal can be simultaneously designed for many different emergency situations.

[0020] The present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings based on preferred exemplary embodiments, whereby the features presented below can both individually and in combination represent aspects of the invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a safety seal during normal operation. [Figure 2] 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the safety seal of FIG. 1 in an emergency; [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a safety seal during normal operation. [Figure 4] 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the safety seal of FIG. 3 in an emergency; [Figure 5] 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of a safety seal during normal operation. [Figure 6] 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the safety seal of FIG. 5 in an emergency; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] The safety seal 10 shown in FIG. 1 may be used with an automotive component 12 of a motor vehicle that communicates with the environment to automatically interrupt, in an emergency, the exchange of gas and / or liquid provided between the automotive component 12 and the environment during normal operation. The automotive component 12 includes, for example, a housing wall 14 that can house structural elements of the automotive component 12. The housing wall 14 of the automotive component 12 includes an opening 16 that forms a conduit for gas and / or liquid. For example, heated air within the automotive component 12 can escape through the opening 16 to allow cooling of the structural elements of the automotive component 12 by natural convection. The opening 16 is formed in the plane of the housing wall 14 and has an opening cross-section with a surface normal 18 extending perpendicularly therefrom. Within a rim 20 that bounds the opening 16 is an annular seal body 22 whose insertion depth is bounded by a collar 24 that axially abuts the housing wall 14.

[0023] If the interference source 26 causes the change in the operating variable 28 to be too great, the seal body 22 may increase its volume to the extent that the opening 16 is blocked and sealed by the seal body 22, as shown in FIG. 2 . As a result of the increase in volume, the seal body 22 may compress the lip 20 with a clamping force, enabling effective sealing of the seal opening 16. For example, if the operating variable 28 is moisture resulting from a water leak from the interference source 26, the water leak may cause the seal body 22 to bulge during such an emergency, so that the water leak cannot penetrate the vehicle component 12. Notably, due to the large free surface of the seal body 22, the moisture that causes the seal body 22 to bulge may evaporate after the emergency ends and normal operation is restored, thereby allowing the seal body 22 to reversibly return to its initial state, as shown in FIG. 1 .

[0024] In the embodiment of the safety seal 10 shown in FIG. 3 (compared to the embodiment of the safety seal 10 shown in FIG. 1 ), the seal body 22 is positioned at a distance along the surface normal 18 of the opening 16. For this purpose, a retaining element 30, designed for example as a metal strip, can be fixed to the surface of the housing wall 14 of the automotive component 12. The retaining element 30, fixed at one end of the housing wall 14, can have a path offset from the housing wall 14 and, at another end, can be connected to the seal body 22 on the side facing the housing wall 14 positioned opposite the opening 16.

[0025] As shown in Figure 4, seal body 22 can expand into opening 16 and seal opening 16 upon a volume increase caused by the influence of operating variable 28. For example, operating variable 28 may be temperature, such that a gas-filled balloon may expand within seal body 22 upon an increase in temperature to seal opening 16 and protect structural elements of automotive component 12 from overheating. If the heat released by interference source 26 in an emergency decreases and normal operation is restored, seal body 22 can reversibly return to its initial state shown in Figure 3.

[0026] In the embodiment of the safety seal 10 shown in Figure 5 (compared to the embodiment of the safety seal 10 shown in Figure 3), the seal body 22 is positioned in the opening 16 at a distance from the edge 20 formed by the housing wall 14 of the automotive component 12. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the opening 16 is also part of a flow cross-section of a channel that is bounded partly by the housing wall 14 of the automotive component 12 and partly by the retaining element 30 and / or the further component 32.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 6, the seal body 22 can seal the opening 16 upon a volume increase caused by the influence of an operating variable 28, thus sealing the cross-sectional flow in the channel. For example, the operating variable 28 is pressure. For example, in an emergency, an interference source 26 can terminate the conveyance of liquid through the channel such that a pressure drop occurs in the channel, which triggers a volume increase of the seal body 22 from a compressed state to an uncompressed state. This allows the seal body 22 to seal the opening 16, thereby preventing venting and / or backflow. When the emergency ends and normal operation is restored, the conveying pressure in the channel can reversibly push and / or compress the seal body 22 back to its initial state, as shown in FIG. 5.

Claims

1. 1. A safety seal for sealing, in an emergency, a conduit in a motor vehicle that is open during normal operation, the safety seal comprising: a motor vehicle component having an opening that forms the conduit for exchanging fluid with the environment; and a seal body, the volume of which can be varied in response to an operating variable, wherein the seal body at least partially opens the opening when a value of the operating variable indicates normal operation, and the seal body increases its volume to completely block the opening when the value of the operating variable indicates an emergency, the operating variable being pressure.

2. 2. The safety seal of claim 1, wherein the seal body is designed such that the volume of the seal body can be reversibly changed between a volume of the seal body during normal operation and a volume of the seal body in an emergency.

3. The safety seal (10) of claim 1, wherein the seal body (22) is made of a material that expands upon a drop in pressure.

4. 2. The safety seal (10) of claim 1, wherein, in an emergency, the seal body (22) circumferentially seals against an edge (20) of the opening (12) with a clamping force, the edge of the opening (12) being perpendicular to a surface normal (18) of the opening (16).

5. The safety seal (10) of claim 1, wherein the seal body (22) is at least partially disposed within the opening (16) during normal operation.

6. 2. The safety seal of claim 1, wherein during normal operation, the entire seal body is spaced apart from the opening along a surface normal to the opening.

7. 2. The safety seal of claim 1, wherein the automotive component comprises a housing wall having the opening for accommodating a structural element of the automotive component, a separately designed retention element is attached to the housing wall, and the seal body is attached to the retention element, such that during normal operation, the seal body is positioned along a surface normal to the opening and / or at a distance from the housing wall perpendicular to the surface normal to the opening.

8. The safety seal (10) of claim 1, wherein the seal body (22) comprises a gas enclosed within an inflatable balloon.

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