Gasket Design for Large Battery Covers Using Deformable Sections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Molding large gaskets for battery covers in electric or hybrid electric vehicles requires expensive equipment and limits the use of the press due to the large molding footprint, making it economically inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A gasket design featuring corner sections with a wider cross-section and deformable sections that are curved in the molded shape, allowing the gasket to be formed with a smaller molding footprint and maintaining stability in both installed and uninstalled positions, enabling the use of smaller injection machines and reducing capital costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a platen size equal to the gasket is used for molding, then the gasket can be molded with the required size and shape, but the capital cost for the press becomes very high and the use of the press is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is divided into corner sections with wider cross-sections and deformable sections with narrower cross-sections. This segmentation allows the gasket to be molded in a compact deformed shape using smaller equipment, while still achieving the required large assembled size through the deformable sections that expand during installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The gasket design transitions from a two-dimensional flat molded shape to a three-dimensional deformed configuration with curved deformable sections. This dimensional transformation enables the gasket to occupy less space during molding while expanding to the required size when installed, effectively using spatial dimensionality to resolve the size-cost contradiction.
2Reliability
If the gasket is molded in its final large shape, then the sealing function is achieved, but the molding footprint is large requiring expensive equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is pre-formed in a deformed shape with curved deformable sections during molding, rather than in its final expanded configuration. This preliminary action allows the molding process to occur in a compact state, reducing the required molding footprint while the deformable sections are designed to achieve the final sealing configuration during installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The cross-sectional dimensions of different gasket sections are varied, with corner sections having wider cross-sections and deformable sections having narrower cross-sections. This parameter change allows the deformable sections to be compressed during molding and then expand to provide the required sealing function when installed.
3Area of stationary object
If deformable sections with curved shape are used, then the molding footprint is reduced, but the gasket must maintain stability in installed position
Solution Approach 1:
Different sections of the gasket are assigned different properties: corner sections have wider cross-sections for stability and structural support, while deformable sections have narrower cross-sections for flexibility and space efficiency. This local differentiation allows the gasket to be molded in a compact deformed shape while maintaining stability in the installed position through the rigid corner sections.
Data Source
AI summary
A gasket includes a plurality of corner sections each having a cross-section having a width of at least a first dimension. A plurality of deformable sections are disposed between a pair of the plurality of corner sections, each of the plurality of deformable sections having a cross-section having a width less than the first dimension and having a curved shape that is deformable to a straight shape in its installed condition. The deformable sections allow the gasket to be formed with a smaller molding footprint than the assembled gasket shape and the plurality of corner sections have a same angled orientation in its installed and un-installed positions.