Grid Coupling Seal Assembly for In-Place Hub-Safe Replacement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Grid couplings face limitations in accommodating misalignment, requiring laborious disassembly and realignment for seal replacement and lubrication, which is time-consuming and prone to seal damage during installation.
Innovation Solution
The design includes two housing halves with combined seal members featuring a gasket seal portion and radial seal portions that can be inserted around the rotating group while the housing is removed, allowing for easy assembly and sealing without disassembling the hubs, and the method involves replacing existing seals with new ones while the rotating group remains connected, ensuring a mechanical face seal and sliding radial seal between the housing and cylindrical bearing surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If radial or O-ring seals are used to seal the hub neck to the housing, then sealing is achieved, but hub removal is required for installation and the seal may be damaged during installation
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of installing the seal from the external end of the hub (conventional approach), the seal is installed from the internal cavity side through the opening in the housing. This inversion of the installation direction allows the seal to be installed without removing the hub, eliminating the risk of damage during installation while maintaining sealing integrity.
2Strength
If heated interference fit is used to couple hubs onto rotatable shafts, then secure connection is achieved, but realignment becomes especially time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into two separable halves that can be removed independently. This segmentation allows the housing to be taken off for seal replacement while the hubs remain installed on the shafts, eliminating the need for time-consuming realignment operations while maintaining the secure heated interference fit connection.
3Power
If grid coupling is designed for high torque and vibration damping, then performance is improved, but ability to accommodate misalignment is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The seal installation approach moves from the radial direction (external hub end) to the axial direction (through housing opening). This dimensional change in installation approach allows seal replacement without hub removal, adding operational flexibility to the high-torque grid coupling design.
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
This solution simplifies the seal replacement process, reduces the risk of seal damage, and maintains the lubricant within the coupling, enhancing operational efficiency and longevity by providing a secure seal that withstands misalignment and contamination.
Implementation Method 1
A grid spring element is meshed between the teeth to mechanically interconnect the two hubs
Implementation Method 2
the internal cavity is sealed by at least one gasket seal portion from one of the two combined seals
Implementation Method 3
the at least one radial seal portion is disposed in the channel in sealing and sliding relation between the channel and the cylindrical bearing surface
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for replacing a sealing arrangement of a grid coupling without removing or disturbing a mechanical connection of the coupling with driver and driven shafts connected to the coupling includes providing combined seal members having gasket seal portions that are integrally formed with radial seal portions and that are disposed between portions of the housing and the rotating seal group of the grid coupling.