Locking Joint Seal with Interlocking Ends
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Solution Overview
Problem
Scarf cut plastic seals tend to lose their cylindrical form due to radial compression, leading to dislocation and deformation, resulting in unintended interference with shafts during installation and leakage issues.
Innovation Solution
A locking joint seal with a ring-shaped body made from PTFE, rubber, or thermal plastic materials, featuring mutually engageable locking features such as hooks at each end to enhance retention and sealing, manufactured using a cutting process that creates a jagged interface for secure engagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a scarf cut plastic seal is used, then the seal can be installed in grooves on rotating or stationary shafts, but the seal loses its cylindrical form due to radial compression and becomes dislocated in the retaining groove
Solution Approach 1:
The seal is divided into two ends with mutually engageable locking features (protrusions and recesses) that interlock to prevent dislocation. This segmentation allows the seal to be installed in grooves while maintaining structural integrity and preventing the dislocation problem that occurs with traditional scarf cut seals.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking features extend in the axial dimension, creating an interlocking mechanism that prevents radial dislocation. By adding this axial locking dimension to the traditional radial sealing function, the seal maintains its cylindrical form while remaining easy to install in grooves.
2Reliability
If a scarf cut plastic seal is used, then the seal can seal shafts against hydraulic fluid passage, but the seal is susceptible to deformation and unintended interference with shafts during installation
Solution Approach 1:
The seal incorporates locking features that segment the ring into two interlocking ends, providing structural support that prevents deformation during installation while maintaining the sealing function. The interlocking mechanism ensures the seal remains stable and does not interfere with shaft insertion.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal is made from composite materials including PTFE, rubber, or thermal plastic materials combined with reinforcing fibers (glass, graphite, or Kevlar). This composite construction provides both the sealing properties needed to prevent hydraulic fluid passage and the structural strength to resist deformation during installation.
3Strength
If a scarf cut plastic seal is used, then the seal can be manufactured with reinforcing fibers and additives, but the seal is often cut by the shaft during shaft installation (cut seal condition)
Solution Approach 1:
The locking features create two interlocking ends that distribute mechanical stresses during shaft installation. This segmentation prevents the concentration of forces that would otherwise cause the shaft to cut through the seal, while still maintaining the structural strength provided by reinforcing fibers.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of composite materials with reinforcing fibers (glass, graphite, or Kevlar) embedded in PTFE, rubber, or thermal plastic matrices provides both the structural strength needed to maintain seal integrity and the resistance to cutting during shaft installation. The composite structure prevents the shaft from cutting through while maintaining flexibility for sealing.
Data Source
AI summary
A locking joint seal includes a ring-shaped body made from poly tetra fluoroethylene and having a first end and a second end. The first and second ends each include mutually engageable first and second locking features. The first locking feature including a first axially extending portion overlapping a second axially extending portion of the second locking feature in an assembled condition.