Interlocking Seal Segments for Accurate Caulking Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rubber-to-metal seals face issues with significant material distortion during caulking, leading to positioning hole inaccuracies and jamming, which complicates assembly and increases waste, making the manufacturing process inefficient and costly.
Innovation Solution
A seal design featuring interlocking engagement elements and sacrificial through-holes that minimize material displacement during caulking, ensuring precise positioning holes and easy removal from tools, using holding punches to stabilize segments without distortion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If adjacent segments are caulked together to form a seal, then the segments are connected and form a complete sealing structure, but significant material distortion occurs causing positioning hole inaccuracies and potential jamming
Solution Approach 1:
Positioning holes are created in the metal support layers before the caulking process. These pre-formed positioning holes serve as guides for positioning pins during subsequent assembly operations, ensuring that even after caulking-induced distortion, the segments can be accurately repositioned using the positioning pins as references.
Solution Approach 2:
Positioning pins act as intermediaries between the segmented metal support layers and the housing. The positioning pins engage with the positioning holes in the support layers and corresponding positioning features in the housing, mediating the connection and ensuring accurate positioning despite any distortion that may occur during caulking.
2Loss of substance
If individual segments are punched to reduce waste, then punching waste is minimized and segments are easily transported, but the segments require assembly and joining steps that can cause distortion
Solution Approach 1:
The metal support layer is divided into multiple separate segments that can be individually punched with minimal waste. Each segment is manufactured separately and then assembled with elastomer sealing elements to form complete seals. This segmentation allows for efficient material utilization during punching while enabling modular assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
Adjacent metal support layer segments are caulked together to form a complete, continuous metal support structure. This merging of segments creates the full sealing surface while allowing each segment to be efficiently manufactured separately with minimal punching waste.
3Manufacturing precision
If positioning holes are provided with high tolerances to account for distortion, then positioning accuracy is maintained, but the manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning holes and positioning pins create a feedback mechanism where any distortion or dimensional variation in the caulked segments is compensated for during assembly. The positioning pins engage with the positioning holes and self-adjust to the actual positions, providing feedback that allows the seal to be correctly positioned despite manufacturing variations.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a seal (1) for sealing a gap in a housing, in particular a battery housing, which extends at least partially around an interior space of the housing, wherein the seal comprises at least one sealing layer, wherein the sealing layer comprises at least two segments (10, 20) which are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of the sealing layer and are connected to each other at a connection point (2), wherein the two segments (10, 20) have interlocking engagement elements (11a, 11b, 11c, 21a, 21b, 21c) at the connection point (2) which are connected or connectable to each other, and one or both of which the segments (10, 20) have a positioning hole (12, 22) and a through-opening (13, 23) at the connection point (2) which are arranged behind the engagement element of the respective other segment. The present invention further relates to a method for manufacturing a seal.