Multi-Directional Sealing Device for Rotary and Linear Movement Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sealing devices in the beverage and packaging industries are limited in their ability to accommodate rotary movements, which restricts the mobility and functionality of treatment elements within sterile environments, such as those used in bottling and sterilization processes.
Innovation Solution
A sealing device comprising a combination of a bellows and a sliding seal, allowing for relative rotation between movable bodies by a predetermined angle, enabling full mobility and maintaining a seal during spatial movements, including rotary motions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional bellows are used to seal the area between the treatment element and the housing wall, then the sealing function is achieved, but the possibility of movement is very limited and cannot accommodate rotary movements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines a bellows structure with a sliding seal arrangement to create a hybrid sealing system. The bellows provides sealing for linear movements while the sliding seal component enables rotary movements, thus merging two sealing mechanisms to achieve both linear and rotational movement capabilities while maintaining reliable sealing throughout the full range of motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing device incorporates dynamic elements that allow adaptation to different movement types. The sliding seal arrangement includes components that can dynamically adjust to accommodate both linear displacement and rotational movement, transforming the static bellows structure into a dynamic sealing system capable of multi-directional movement compensation.
2Ease of operation
If treatment elements are arranged inside the sterile room to carry out movements, then the treatment functionality is improved, but the risk of contamination increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing device acts as an intermediary element between the sterile interior and non-sterile exterior environments. It allows treatment elements to move freely within the sterile room while maintaining the integrity of the clean room boundary, thus enabling treatment functionality without compromising sterility or increasing contamination risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The bellows structure functions as a flexible sealing membrane that can deform to accommodate movements of treatment elements while maintaining the sterile barrier. This flexible shell allows the treatment element to move within the sterile room without creating openings or breaches in the clean room boundary, thus preserving sterility while enabling operational flexibility.
3Reliability
If drive devices and guide curves are arranged outside the sterile room, then the contamination risk is minimized, but the mobility of treatment elements is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing device serves as an intermediary that decouples the location of drive devices from the movement capabilities of treatment elements. Drive devices can be positioned outside the sterile room for sterility maintenance, while the sealing mechanism transmits and enables full movement freedom for the treatment element inside the sterile room, thus resolving the contradiction between drive location and movement freedom.
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 sealing device ensures effective sealing while allowing for a wide range of movements, including rotation, thereby enhancing the functionality of treatment elements in sterile environments, such as those used in bottling and sterilization processes, and can be applied to various devices in the beverage and packaging industries.
Implementation Method 1
a base body (2) formed from an elastic and gas-tight material and running all the way around in a circumferential direction
Implementation Method 2
a sliding sealing device (20) arranged on the second end section (6) of the sealing device (1)
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
Sealing device (1) for sealing gaps formed between movable bodies (12, 14), wherein the sealing device has a base body (2) made of an elastic and gas-tight material and completely circumferential in a circumferential direction through which a section of the first of the two bodies (12, 14) can be passed, as well as a first end section (4) which can be attached to the second body (14) and a second end section (6) which can be placed against the first movable body (12), wherein the second end section (6) is movable relative to the first end section (4) in a first transverse direction (X) which is at an angle other than 0° to the longitudinal direction (L).According to the invention, a sliding sealing device (20) is arranged on the second end section (6) of the sealing device, which can be applied to the first movable body (12) in such a way that a relative rotation between the first body (12) and the second body (14) is enabled by a predetermined angle.