Hooked Radiator End Cap Sealing Without Welding Leaks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing radiator elements face issues with slow and expensive welding processes, material wastage, aesthetic inaccuracies, leaks due to thermal expansion differences, and corrosion from galvanic currents, which compromise tightness and lead to environmental damage.
Innovation Solution
A radiator element with a closing cap that uses a shaped coupling and an elastic membrane for watertight sealing, eliminating the need for welding and preventing direct contact between dissimilar materials, thereby ensuring hermetic sealing and preventing corrosion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If welding is used to attach the cap to the radiator element, then the connection strength is improved, but the manufacturing cost and time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the welding process (thermal/mechanical system) with a mechanical interlocking system consisting of a hooked closing cap that engages with the open end of the radiator element. This mechanical coupling achieves secure attachment without the need for welding operations, thereby eliminating the associated time and cost penalties while maintaining connection strength.
2Strength
If welding is used to attach the cap, then connection strength is improved, but material wastage and aesthetic quality worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical interlocking system eliminates material wastage associated with welding inaccuracies. The hooked cap design allows for precise fitting without excess material removal or welding spatter, thereby reducing material loss while maintaining connection integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The hooked closing cap is designed as a simple, easily manufactured component that can be produced with minimal material waste. The design prioritizes ease of manufacture and material efficiency over the more complex and wasteful welding process.
3Strength
If welding is used to attach the cap, then connection strength is improved, but aesthetic quality and painting accuracy worsen
Solution Approach 1:
By replacing welding with a mechanical interlocking system, the patent eliminates burrs and irregularities on the cap surface. This provides a smooth, uniform surface that is ideal for subsequent painting operations, ensuring high aesthetic quality and painting accuracy without compromising connection strength.
4Ease of manufacture
If a sealing gasket alone is used without welding, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but tightness and reliability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the mechanical interlocking system with a sealing gasket to create a multi-functional closure mechanism. The hooked cap provides structural attachment and positioning, while the gasket ensures hermetic sealing. This combination maintains manufacturing simplicity while significantly enhancing tightness and reliability compared to using a gasket alone.
5Strength
If steel caps are used, then structural robustness is improved, but corrosion resistance worsens due to galvanic currents
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a sealing gasket as an intermediary barrier between the steel cap and the radiator element's internal cavity. This gasket prevents direct contact between the steel cap and water containing debris, thereby eliminating galvanic corrosion and mechanical erosion while allowing the steel cap to maintain its structural robustness.
6Temperature
If aluminium radiator elements are used, then thermal exchange efficiency is improved, but tightness over time worsens due to thermal expansion differences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the mechanical interlocking system with a flexible sealing gasket to create a joint that can accommodate thermal expansion differences between aluminium and steel. The mechanical coupling provides stable positioning while the gasket maintains hermetic sealing despite dimensional changes, ensuring long-term tightness while preserving thermal exchange efficiency.
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 cost-effective, leak-proof, and aesthetically superior closure without welding, ensuring stable and safe hooking, adapting to thermal expansions, and preventing corrosion and mechanical abrasion, thus ensuring reliable operation and environmental safety.
Implementation Method 1
Between the open end (12) and the closing cap (16) there are sealing means (32), in this case consisting of an elastic membrane (36), which can be deformed and compressed so as to ensure the hermetic sealing
Implementation Method 2
over time and with the different thermal expansions between the end of the radiator element (usually made of aluminium to improve the thermal exchange with the external environment) and the cap (usually made of steel since more robust) there may be leakages of liquid
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
A radiator element (4) run through by a heat exchange fluid and provided with an open end (12), the element (4) comprising a closing cap (16) facing and sealed in a watertight manner at said open end (12), wherein the closing cap (16) comprises a closure portion (20) at least partially inserted in said open end (12), and a coupling collar (24) at least partially folded at a front edge (28) of said open end (12), wherein between the open end (12) and the closing cap (16) watertight sealing means- (32) are positioned to ensure the hydraulic sealing of the closing cap (16) on the open end (12). Advantageously, the closing cap (16) is coupled according to a shaped coupling at the open end (12), the sealing means (32) comprise, integrally therewith, a membrane (36) delimited by a perimetral lip (40), wherein the membrane (36) faces the closure portion (20) of the closing cap (16)., and the raised perimeter (40) which constitutes a perimetral thickening of said membrane (36), said perimetral lip (40) being influenced in compression between the closing cap (16) and the open end (12) and forming the hydraulic seal of the closing cap (16).