Fluid Energy Machine Housing Sealing Arrangement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sealing arrangements in fluid energy machines require more radial installation space than desired, especially when dealing with hazardous fluids, as they rely on larger radial offsets to accommodate monitoring and sealing mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A sealing arrangement that utilizes three seals (first, second, and third seals) with corresponding grooves in the housing cover and annular insert, connected to a monitoring line to detect leaks, allowing for a radially inward relocation of the monitored intermediate space and reducing the overall radial installation space required.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sealing arrangement with monitored intermediate chamber is provided between two seals, then leakage monitoring capability is improved, but radial installation space increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent relocates the monitored intermediate space from a radial arrangement to an axial arrangement. The intermediate space is formed between the housing cover, housing casing, and annular insert, extending axially rather than radially. This dimensional change allows the sealing arrangement to maintain comprehensive leakage monitoring capability while significantly reducing the radial installation space required, as the monitoring function is achieved through axial positioning rather than radial extension.
Solution Approach 2:
The annular insert is positioned within the housing and works in conjunction with the housing cover and housing casing to form the sealed intermediate space. The insert essentially nests within the existing housing structure, creating the monitored space without requiring additional radial clearance. This nested configuration allows the sealing arrangement to be integrated into the existing radial dimensions while achieving the monitoring function through axial arrangement.
2Reliability
If radial offset is increased to accommodate sealing arrangement, then sealing reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the need for large radial offsets by transitioning to an axial arrangement of the sealing components. The intermediate sealed space extends axially between the housing cover, housing casing, and annular insert rather than radially. This dimensional change simplifies the overall device structure by removing the requirement for complex radial offset calculations and accommodations, while maintaining comprehensive sealing reliability through the axial sealing configuration.
3Area of stationary object
If axial offset is utilized to achieve intermediate space, then radial installation space is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The annular insert is designed to nest within the housing structure, with its axial positioning creating the sealed intermediate space. The insert features sealing surfaces that mate with the housing cover and housing casing, forming the monitored space through precise axial alignment. This nested design achieves the space-saving axial arrangement while distributing the precision requirements across standardized mating surfaces, making the manufacturing precision achievable through conventional machining practices.
Data Source
AI summary
A housing of a fluid energy machine which extends along a longitudinal axis, includes a housing casing which extends axially, a housing cover for closing off a housing opening axially on the face side of the housing casing, an annular insert which extends in the housing in a circumferential direction and which bears against the housing casing and against the housing cover, a first seal between the housing cover and the housing casing. To save radial installation space, a second seal is between the housing casing and the annular insert, and a third seal is between the housing cover and the annular insert.