Seal Assembly with Contour Lip for Vehicle Flange
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seal assemblies struggle to conform to the curved or cornered contours of vehicle flanges, making it difficult to achieve a suitable seal.
Innovation Solution
A seal assembly with a body portion having a base and legs that define a mounting channel, a co-extruded sealing lip portion with a notch, and an element molded within the notch, allowing the assembly to be bent to match the flange contour, combined with a molding material to form a contour lip for enhanced sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the seal assembly is made rigid to maintain structural strength, then strength is improved, but the ability to conform to curved or cornered flange contours deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The seal assembly is divided into multiple body portions (first body portion, second body portion, third body portion) that can be independently bent or deformed. Each body portion has legs that can flex to accommodate different contour requirements while maintaining overall structural integrity through the coordinated arrangement of segmented components.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal assembly employs a flexible body portion design where the legs can bend and deform to conform to curved or cornered flange contours. The flexibility is achieved through the geometric configuration and material properties of the body portions, allowing them to adapt to various flange shapes while maintaining sealing capability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the seal assembly is made flexible to conform to flange contours, then adaptability is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing lip is pre-formed with a specific configuration before being integrated into the seal assembly. This preliminary formation of the sealing lip ensures precise geometry is achieved during manufacturing, while the flexible body portions can still be bent and deformed afterward to adapt to different flange contours without compromising the pre-formed sealing lip's precision.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the seal assembly have different properties: the sealing lip portion is designed with high precision and rigidity to ensure accurate sealing contact, while the body portions are designed with flexibility to adapt to contours. This local differentiation of quality allows the assembly to simultaneously achieve manufacturing precision where needed and adaptability where required.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a complex multi-component design is used to achieve contour conformity, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The seal assembly merges multiple body portions (first, second, and third body portions) into a single integrated structure that can collectively conform to complex flange contours. By combining these portions into one unified component rather than separate assemblies, the design achieves contour adaptability while reducing overall device complexity and the number of parts that need to be manufactured and assembled.
Data Source
AI summary
A seal assembly includes a body portion defining a mounting channel for receiving a vehicle flange. A base of the body portion defines an outer surface of the body portion with the outer surface defining a first axis of curvature adapted to correspond with a contour of the flange. The seal assembly further includes a sealing lip portion co-extruded with the body portion and defining a notch having a notch configuration, an element disposed in the notch and pre-formed to have an element configuration corresponding to at least a part of the notch configuration, and a molding material molded to a back surface of the element, secured to the sealing lip portion within the notch, and extending across the notch, with the element and the molding material defining a contour lip portion that in combination with the sealing lip portion defines an external sealing lip of the seal assembly.