Filter Housing Interference Fit Seal Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing filter arrangements for fluids, particularly in vehicles, are prone to assembly errors and require skilled personnel due to the need for precise sealing and clamping forces to ensure tightness, making them difficult to install without tools and potentially leaky.
Innovation Solution
A filter arrangement with a circumferential elastomer seal featuring radial sealing lips and a dust lip, designed for a press fit into the housing, which ensures a secure and leak-free connection without additional fastening means, using an interference fit and suitable materials like thermoplastic elastomers for enhanced sealing and ease of assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If additional seals and fastening elements are used to ensure tightness, then sealing reliability is improved, but assembly complexity and difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sealing functions into a single integrated circumferential seal that includes both the radial sealing lip for tightness and the dust lip for particle protection. This merging eliminates the need for separate seals and fastening elements, achieving reliable sealing while simplifying the assembly structure and reducing installation complexity.
2Reliability
If precise clamping force is applied during screwing, then leakage is prevented, but assembly difficulty increases requiring qualified personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The circumferential seal with its elastic polymer material and specific lip geometry is designed to self-adjust during insertion, automatically achieving the optimal sealing contact pressure without requiring external clamping force control. The seal's elasticity allows it to conform to the housing bore, creating a reliable seal while enabling simple tool-free assembly by any person.
3Manufacturing precision
If the seal is made rigid for precise fitting, then sealing accuracy is improved, but vulnerability to damage during installation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from rigid to elastic, using an elastic polymer for the circumferential seal. This elasticity allows the seal to be more tolerant of dimensional variations and installation misalignments while maintaining precise sealing contact, and simultaneously provides damage resistance during handling and installation, eliminating the trade-off between sealing accuracy and damage vulnerability.
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 provides a reliable, tool-free, and leak-free installation of filters, maintaining tightness under mechanical stress and vibration, with leakage rates below 2%, suitable for harsh environments like off-road vehicle cabins.
Implementation Method 1
The sealing lip can be designed as a circumferential elastomeric body, namely as a molded body containing or consisting of an elastic polymer
Implementation Method 2
This press fit ensures secure retention in its mounting position, even under the mechanical stresses encountered in mobile applications
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a filter arrangement (100) comprising a filter (10) and a housing (20) for receiving the filter (10), wherein the filter (10) has a filter frame (1) in which at least one filter element (3) is received, and wherein a circumferential seal (2) with at least one radial sealing lip (2.1) is arranged on the filter frame (1). According to the invention, the filter (10) with its circumferential seal (2) is received in the housing (20) in an interference fit. Advantageously, the filter (10) is securely held in the housing (20) without any additional fastening means and retains its defined position in the housing (20) even when the filter arrangement (100) is subjected to vibrations.