Flexible Protective Cap for Tight-Space Hydraulic Connections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hydraulic release devices for motor vehicle friction clutches face challenges in accessing and removing protective caps from tight spaces, particularly in clutch bells, where radial installation space is limited, making assembly and disassembly difficult and sealing ineffective at low pressures.
Innovation Solution
A protective cap with an elastically bendable grip area and a shaft that can fold laterally and tilt, allowing easy handling and secure sealing, featuring a reduced diameter shaft and a head piece with a diameter expansion, made from elastic plastic material, enabling resilient folding and straightening, and ensuring a good seal against low pressures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a protective cap with a thread or side tabs is used, then the sealing is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to inability to access in confined spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The protective cap incorporates a flexible grip area made of elastic plastic material that can bend and deform. This flexibility allows the cap to be manipulated and removed even in confined spaces where rigid gripping tools cannot reach, while still maintaining adequate sealing through the fastening area's sealing means.
2Ease of manufacture
If a protective cap with a thread is used, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to insufficient radial space for screwing
Solution Approach 1:
The protective cap transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic flexible structure. The grip area's elasticity allows it to adapt to the confined radial space during assembly and disassembly, enabling manual manipulation without requiring the radial clearance needed for threaded connections.
3Device complexity
If a protective cap with side tabs is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to difficulty in removal
Solution Approach 1:
The protective cap utilizes changes in material parameters - specifically the elastic properties of the plastic material - to enable removal in confined spaces. The grip area's ability to bend and deform under mechanical resistance and then return to its initial position allows for easy manipulation without complex removal mechanisms.
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
Enables easy assembly and disassembly in confined spaces while maintaining a secure seal against low pressures, facilitating manual or mechanical handling and reducing dismantling forces, with the design allowing for easy access and reattachment of the protective cap.
Implementation Method 1
an elastically bendable, resilient grip area adjoining the fastening area on the side facing away from the connection connection, which grip area can be resiliently folded laterally in the presence of mechanical resistance and can be erected into its initial position when the resistance is removed
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
The invention relates to a protective cap 1 for a fluid-carrying connection V of a hydraulic system, in particular a hydraulically actuated release device for a friction clutch of a motor vehicle, installed in a clutch housing K, wherein the protective cap 1 has at least one fastening area 2 that interacts with the connection V. According to the invention, an elastically bendable, spring-loaded grip area 3 adjoins the fastening area 2 on the side facing away from the connection V, which can be resiliently folded laterally when mechanical resistance is present and can be returned to its initial position when the resistance is removed.