Knitted Wire Carrier Lockstitch Reinforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing knitted wire carriers for elastomeric weather seals in automotive applications face issues with excess compressibility and elongation, particularly when fitted around tight-radius corners, leading to a loss of conforming profile and requiring additional reinforcement like perforated metal strips that are resource-intensive to produce.
Innovation Solution
A knitted wire carrier with a lockstitch formed from steel wire, which is woven through warp threads to provide compression and expansion resistance, using a serpentine wire weft pattern and polyester warp yarns, and optionally coated with adhesive for stability, allowing for improved bending performance without significant puckering or elongation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional knitted wire carriers without additional reinforcement are used, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the wire carrier experiences excess compressibility and elongation when fitted around tight-radius corners
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines steel wire lockstitch reinforcement with the knitted wire carrier structure to create a composite material system. The lockstitch wire (0.3-0.76mm diameter) is integrated into the knitted fabric during manufacturing, providing compression and expansion resistance while maintaining the flexibility needed for weather seal applications around tight-radius corners.
2Stability of the object's composition
If perforated metal strips are added to reinforce the weather seal, then dimensional stability improves, but the quantity of material and device complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the reinforcement function directly into the knitted wire carrier by incorporating lockstitch wiring during the knitting process. This integration eliminates the need for separate perforated metal strip components and their associated stamping or cutting equipment, reducing both material quantity and manufacturing complexity while maintaining dimensional stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The knitted wire carrier performs its own reinforcement function through the integrated lockstitch wiring, eliminating the need for external reinforcement components. The lockstitch pattern inherently provides the compression and expansion resistance that would otherwise require separate metal strips, allowing the carrier to serve multiple functions simultaneously.
3Strength
If lockstitch wire is added to the knitted carrier, then compression and expansion resistance improves, but the weight and material quantity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the lockstitch wire diameter parameters (0.3-0.76mm) to achieve the necessary compression and expansion resistance while minimizing weight increase. The lockstitch wire diameter is selected based on specific application requirements, allowing adjustment of the strength-to-weight ratio to match the dimensional stability needs of different weather seal applications.
Data Source
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AI summary
This invention provides a knitted wire carrier for use in constructing a (e.g.) automotive weather seal that incorporates a locking stitch formed from a relatively incompressible and expansion-resisting material that passes through at least one of the warp threads adjacent to the wire weft. In an embodiment, the locking stitch constructed from a steel (or another metal) wire that is solid or braided. In other embodiments, the locking stitch can be constructed from fiberglass, monofilament polymer or another similarly performing material. In an embodiment, the lockstitch wire is constructed from approximately 0.5-millimeter diameter steel and the wire carrier is constructed from approximately 0.5-0.91-millimeter diameter steel. The wire lockstitch can be woven through a center warp yarn that is surrounded by other knitted warp yams along the overall weft of the wire carrier. The wire carrier is coated with an adhesive, e.g., latex to maintain the knit in place.