Rolling Bearing Sealing Device with Elastomer Lips
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rolling bearings in the food processing industry experience early wear due to frequent washes with low-surface-tension detergents, and existing sealing solutions with high interference contacting lips increase friction and wear, rather than improving sealing efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A sealing device for rolling bearings featuring a metal sheet annular shields and elastomer gaskets with non-contacting, elastically deformable sealing lips and channels that prevent detergent ingress and facilitate rapid evacuation, using a combination of annular shields, gaskets, and labyrinth seals to manage liquid detergent during washing operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sealing lips with high interference contact are used to improve sealing action, then sealing efficiency is improved, but friction increases and wear of the contacting lips increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing device is divided into two separate shields (first shield constrained to outer ring, second shield constrained to inner ring) with separate sealing gaskets and lips. This segmentation allows each sealing lip to operate independently with optimized contact characteristics, reducing overall friction while maintaining sealing efficiency through the distributed sealing arrangement.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing lips are made entirely of elastomer material without rigid cores or armatures, creating flexible thin-film structures. This flexibility allows the lips to conform to the bearing rings while maintaining light contact pressure, improving sealing action without the high friction and wear associated with rigid-supported lips.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the sealing lips are made more compliant to reduce friction, then wear is reduced, but sealing action against pressurized detergent jets deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The elastomer sealing lips are designed to be dynamically responsive to external pressures. When subjected to pressurized detergent jets, the lips deform elastically to maintain contact with the bearing rings, automatically adjusting their sealing force in response to varying pressure conditions without requiring rigid structural support.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing device combines metal shields (for structural strength and constraint) with elastomer gaskets and lips (for flexible sealing). This composite construction allows the rigid shields to provide structural integrity while the flexible elastomer lips provide adaptive sealing action, achieving both low wear and effective sealing against pressurized jets.
3Ease of manufacture
If frequent washes with pressurized detergent jets are performed to maintain hygiene, then cleanliness is improved, but wear of the sealing lips and rolling bearing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing lips are designed as replaceable elastomer components that can withstand repeated exposure to pressurized detergent jets. While the lips will eventually wear, their elastomer construction and replaceable nature allow for cost-effective replacement rather than replacing the entire bearing assembly, enabling frequent washing cycles while managing component lifespan.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing device changes the contact parameters between the sealing lips and bearing rings by using elastomer material with appropriate durometer and cross-sectional geometry. This allows the lips to maintain effective sealing under wash conditions while operating at lower contact pressures that reduce wear rates, extending bearing lifespan despite frequent washing.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively prevents external contaminants from reaching the sealing lips while allowing rapid detergent evacuation, reducing wear and friction, thus extending the lifespan of the rolling bearings without increasing energy consumption.
Implementation Method 1
the annular lip 12 is elastically deformable, because it is completely free from a rigid core/armature such as that constituted by the shield 6, and is shaped to be adapted to bend, in use, towards the first shield 5 and, consequently, towards and against the outer ring 3, when the shield 6 and the respective lip 12 are reached by an external bias directed towards the bearing 2, in the case in point when the shield 6 is struck by a jet G of liquid
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~5
AI summary
A sealing device (1) including a first annular shield (5) fixable to a first bearing ring (3), a second annular shield (6) facing the first and fixable to a second bearing ring (4); an annular sliding sealing lip (10) of the first shield cooperating with the second ring; and at least a first and a second annular non contacting sealing lips (12, 13) of the second shield; the first non contacting lip (12) includes a first portion (15), which extends in projection, and a second end (16), which extends axially and radially projecting from the first portion (15) and is tapered towards a free end (17) thereof in use axially away from the first ring (3) but which come into contact with it axially when the first annular lip (12) is bent towards the first shield (5); the second non contacting lip (13) extends axially projecting from the first shield (6) from the same side as the second portion (16) of the first lip and beyond it and forms towards the first lip (12) an annular collecting channel (18) of possible contaminants which pass beyond the first annular lip.