Elastomer Seal With Variable Shape And Side Strips
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing elastomer seals or gaskets used in assemblies, such as combustion engines, face issues with lateral tipping and pinching due to dimensional dispersions during mass production, leading to instability and imperviousness failures.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating fine, vertically arranged side strips with a curved profile in the cross-section of the elastomer seal or gasket, which extend over two-thirds of its height, provides lateral support and prevents tilting and pinching by acting as additional material supports during clamping, ensuring stability and proper assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the seal uses a continuously variable shape to reduce material quantity, then cost and material usage are reduced, but lateral stability and resistance to tipping are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The seal cross-section is segmented into multiple functional zones: a continuously variable shape portion (reducing material) and discrete lateral support portions (providing stability). This segmentation allows each zone to perform its specific function optimally without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the seal are given different geometric qualities: the central portion has a continuously variable shape for material reduction, while the lateral edges have constant-height support portions for stability. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between material efficiency and structural stability.
2Quantity of substance
If the seal has a continuously variable cross-section, then material quantity is reduced, but manufacturing precision and dimensional consistency become more difficult to control
Solution Approach 1:
The mold design is segmented into different sections corresponding to the seal's functional zones, allowing independent control and optimization of each section's manufacturing parameters. This facilitates precise control over the continuously variable portion while maintaining consistency in the support portions.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal design incorporates parameter changes along its length (continuously variable shape) while maintaining constant parameters in critical stability zones. This selective application of parameter variation allows material reduction where possible while preserving dimensional consistency where required.
3Quantity of substance
If the seal lacks sufficient lateral support, then material quantity is reduced, but pinching between support faces during clamping occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The seal provides localized lateral support at specific positions (through the constant-height support portions) rather than uniformly throughout. This localized support is sufficient to prevent pinching during assembly while allowing material reduction in non-critical areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of providing full lateral support across the entire seal length, the invention provides partial support at strategically located positions. This partial action is sufficient to prevent pinching and ensure assembly reliability without the material cost of complete lateral support.
Data Source
AI summary
An elastomer seal or gasket is to be inserted in a groove produced vertically on a support plane of a part, and tightened or clamped on an additional flat surface, with the seal presenting at least a portion of its cross-section (18, 20) including longitudinally a continuously variable shape, including fine side trips (42) spaced on at least one side and which are arranged vertically.