Sealing Device with Conical Non-Contact Lips for Muddy Water Deflection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sealing devices for wheel bearings and similar applications fail to prevent muddy water intrusion, leading to reduced sealing performance and potential abrasion, especially when submerged in puddles, due to inadequate design that allows muddy water to reach the oil resisting seal lip.
Innovation Solution
A sealing device with an oil seal and a dust cover featuring external seal lips and non-contact lips formed in conical tubular shapes, along with a labyrinth seal and a muddy water receiving groove, which deflects and redirects intruding muddy water away from the oil resisting seal lip, preventing its entry and maintaining sealing performance without increasing sliding torque.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the number of external seal lips and dust lips is increased to improve muddy water resistance, then the sealing performance against muddy water is improved, but the attaching space of the sealing device is enlarged and the sliding torque is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing device is divided into multiple functional components: an oil seal with an oil resisting seal lip for preventing oil leakage, and a dust cover with external seal lips and dust lips for preventing muddy water intrusion. Each component performs a specific sealing function, allowing the system to achieve comprehensive sealing without requiring excessive overlap or redundancy in any single component.
Solution Approach 2:
The dust cover acts as an intermediary component between the external environment and the oil seal. It includes external seal lips that contact the seal flange section and dust lips that contact the sleeve, creating intermediate sealing barriers that prevent muddy water from reaching the oil resisting seal lip, thereby protecting the primary sealing function without requiring the oil seal itself to be overly complex.
2Reliability
If the number of external seal lips and dust lips is increased to improve muddy water resistance, then the sealing performance against muddy water is improved, but the sliding torque is increased and fuel consumption is deteriorated
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing function is segmented between different components with different contact characteristics. The external seal lips and dust lips are designed to contact only specific sections (seal flange section and sleeve outer peripheral surface) without creating excessive friction on the rotating sleeve, thereby minimizing the increase in sliding torque while still providing effective muddy water protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal lips are designed to contact only specific local sections rather than the entire sleeve surface. The external seal lips contact the seal flange section and the dust lips contact the sleeve outer peripheral surface at designated areas, concentrating the sealing action where needed while minimizing unnecessary friction and sliding torque across the entire interface.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional sealing device structure is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but muddy water can intrude into the oil resisting seal lip when submerged in puddles
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the functions of oil sealing and dust protection into a single integrated assembly. The oil seal and dust cover are combined with the dust cover including external seal lips and dust lips that work together to prevent muddy water intrusion, while the oil resisting seal lip prevents oil leakage. This unified structure achieves comprehensive protection without requiring multiple separate components that would complicate manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The dust cover serves multiple functions: it houses the external seal lips for sealing against the seal flange section, provides dust lips for sealing against the sleeve, and creates a protective barrier against muddy water intrusion. This multi-functional design achieves enhanced muddy water resistance without adding excessive structural complexity, as one component performs multiple sealing and protective roles.
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
Effectively prevents muddy water from entering the oil resisting seal lip, maintaining excellent sealing performance and preventing abrasion, while avoiding increased sliding torque and fuel consumption.
Implementation Method 1
the oil seal and the dust cover are provided with a plurality of non-contact lips which are positioned at an inner peripheral side of the external seal lip... and are loosely inserted to each other
Implementation Method 2
formed in approximately conical tubular shapes becoming larger in diameter toward their ends, and are loosely inserted to each other
Implementation Method 3
a labyrinth seal is formed in an outer side of the external seal lip 24 by making a dust cover 104a extended from a reinforcing ring 104 of the sealing device 100 come close to an outer diameter end section of the seal flange section 204a
Data Source
AI summary
To improve sealing performance, a sealing device comprises an oil seal (10) mounted to a non-rotating housing (2), and a dust cover (20) mounted to a rotating body (5) outside the oil seal (10), one of the oil seal (10) and the dust cover (20) facing each other has an external seal lip (24) slidably in close contact with the other of them (10, 20) outside the slide sections (S1, S2) between the oil seal (10) and the rotating body (5), the oil seal (10) and the dust cover (20) have non-contact lips (16, 25) which are positioned outside the slide sections (S1, S2) and inside the external seal lip (24), have substantially conical tubular shapes becoming larger in diameter toward the tips thereof, and are loosely inserted to each other, and a labyrinth seal (30) is provided at the outer diameter side of the external seal lip (24).