Positioning Guide Gasket Structure for Large Opening Seals
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gaskets for large openings, such as those used in electric vehicle batteries, are difficult to position between paired members without mounting grooves due to their tendency to return to an initial state, making it challenging to seal effectively.
Innovation Solution
A gasket design featuring a base with a joint having lower bending rigidity in the width direction, incorporating guides with holes for positioning, and protrusions for alignment, allowing easy deformation and stable positioning without mounting grooves.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a large gasket is formed with a folded shape to seal a large opening, then the gasket can be produced without increasing mold area, but the gasket generates force to return to its initial state making it difficult to position in the target sealed region
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is divided into a base portion and a joint portion with different functions. The base portion maintains sealing performance, while the joint portion with lower bending rigidity enables easy deformation and positioning. This segmentation allows the gasket to be both manufacturable in folded shape and easily positionable during installation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the gasket are given different bending rigidities to suit their specific functions. The base portion has higher bending rigidity for stable sealing, while the joint portion has lower bending rigidity for easy deformation and positioning. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between maintainable shape and ease of positioning.
2Reliability
If a gasket is designed with high bending rigidity to maintain its shape, then sealing stability is improved, but the gasket becomes difficult to deform and position in the target sealed region
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is divided into a base portion and a joint portion with different functions. The base portion maintains sealing performance, while the joint portion with lower bending rigidity enables easy deformation and positioning. This segmentation allows the gasket to be both manufacturable in folded shape and easily positionable during installation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the gasket are given different bending rigidities to suit their specific functions. The base portion has higher bending rigidity for stable sealing, while the joint portion has lower bending rigidity for easy deformation and positioning. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between maintainable shape and ease of positioning.
3Ease of operation
If mounting grooves are added to the pair of members to facilitate gasket positioning, then positioning ease is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is designed to be self-positioning through its own structural features (guides with holes and protrusions) rather than requiring external mounting grooves in the paired members. The guides enable the gasket to automatically align and position itself during installation, eliminating the need for additional mounting structures and simplifying the overall device.
4Area of stationary object
If the gasket size is increased to seal larger openings, then sealing coverage is improved, but the gasket becomes more difficult to handle and position
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is divided into a base portion and a joint portion with different functions. The base portion maintains sealing performance, while the joint portion with lower bending rigidity enables easy deformation and positioning. This segmentation allows the gasket to be both manufacturable in folded shape and easily positionable during installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The joint portion is designed with dynamic flexibility through lower bending rigidity, allowing the gasket to adapt its shape during installation. This dynamic characteristic enables large gaskets to be easily deformed and positioned without compromising their overall size and sealing coverage.
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 gasket can be easily positioned and sealed between paired members, ensuring stable sealing properties and accommodating size variations, while facilitating efficient production and transportation.
Implementation Method 1
a bending rigidity of the joint in a width direction being lower than that of the base
Implementation Method 2
the guide includes a hole along a joining direction of the pair of members, and wherein a positioning pin fixed to the pair of members is inserted in the hole
Implementation Method 3
when developed from the initial folded shape, which is at a molding step, into the shape along the circumferential direction of the target sealed region, a gasket produced by molding an elastic material generates force to return to the initial state
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An object of the present invention is to provide a gasket, a planar shape of which can be easily deformed and which can be easily positioned in a space of a target sealed object, and a sealing structure. A gasket (1), which is capable of sealing a loop-shaped target sealed regions (61, 71) between a pair of members (60, 70) combined with each other, includes a base (22) having a shape along a circumferential direction of the target sealed regions (61, 71), a joint (10), a bending rigidity of which in a width direction is lower than that of the base (22), which is connected to the base (22), and a guide (30) for positioning the gasket (1) in the target sealed regions (61, 71), wherein the guide (30) includes a hole (32) along a joining direction of the pair of members (60, 70), and wherein a positioning pin (50) fixed to the pair of members (60, 70) is inserted in the hole (32).