One-Piece Sealing Dowel for Moisture-Tight Bore Anchoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dowels fail to provide complete sealing and secure fastening in various anchoring grounds, including those with cavities, leading to potential water and moisture intrusion, which can cause damage, especially in wet rooms, and require additional costly sealing measures.
Innovation Solution
A one-piece plastic dowel with a guide channel and sealing rings, designed for injection molding, featuring a rear sealing area that is significantly longer than the anchoring area, with varying sealing ring shapes and volumes, and longitudinal slits for deformability, ensuring effective sealing and anchoring through radial expansion and knot formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a dowel is designed with sealing means for complete bore sealing, then water and moisture protection is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sealing functions into a single integrated dowel component. The rear sealing region with multiple sealing rings (first, second, and third sealing rings at different positions) is merged with the anchoring body and guide channel into one piece, eliminating the need for separate sealing components and reducing overall system complexity while providing complete bore sealing.
Solution Approach 2:
The dowel is segmented into distinct functional regions: a front anchoring region with expansion elements, a rear sealing region with multiple sealing rings at different positions, and a guide channel. This segmentation allows each region to perform its specific function optimally while being manufactured as an integrated one-piece component.
2Ease of manufacture
If a dowel is designed as one-piece for simplified manufacturing, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but adaptability to different anchoring bases is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The one-piece dowel incorporates locally optimized features for different anchoring conditions: expansion elements in the front anchoring region for solid anchoring bases, and a rear sealing region with multiple sealing rings for bases with cavities. The guide channel geometry is also locally adapted to accommodate different screw types and anchoring scenarios, providing versatility within a unified structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The dowel design achieves universality by integrating multiple functions into one component: anchoring (front region with expansion elements), sealing (rear region with three sealing rings), and guidance (central guide channel). This multi-functional design allows the same one-piece dowel to be used in various anchoring bases with and without cavities, eliminating the need for different dowel variants.
3Reliability
If the rear sealing area is made significantly longer, then sealing effectiveness is improved, but the dowel length increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing rings are designed as flexible, radially extensible elements that can deform to seal effectively against the bore wall. This flexibility allows the sealing function to be achieved with compact, space-efficient geometry rather than requiring excessive length, maintaining sealing effectiveness while controlling overall dowel dimensions.
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 dowel provides reliable and secure sealing and anchoring with reduced manufacturing costs, preventing water and moisture intrusion, and facilitating easy installation and deformation for secure fixing in different anchoring conditions.
Implementation Method 1
expansion elements, which are formed on the front anchoring region on the outer side... when the connecting section is expanded, at least part of the sealing section can be moved radially outwards
Implementation Method 2
The material properties of the plastic of the anchor and the geometric design... enable a special and reliable, effective sealing of holes in an anchoring base
Data Source
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AI summary
In a dowel (1) for anchoring a fixing object by means of a screw (4) in a bore in an anchoring base and for sealing the bore, comprising a dowel sleeve (9) with an inner side (11) and an outer side (12), which includes a front anchoring area (21) for anchoring in the anchoring base and a rear sealing area (20) with sealant (26) for sealing the bore with the dowel (1) and the screw (4), circumferential sealing rings (26) are formed on the outer side (10) of the dowel (1) on the rear sealing area (20) in the circumferential direction (34), a longitudinally extending guide channel (19) which is bounded by the inner side (11) of the dowel sleeve (9) for receiving the screw (4), and expansion elements (23).The anchoring area (21) on the outer surface (10) is designed to ensure a complete seal of the bore with the anchor (1) and a screw (4) as the anchoring system (3), while reliably and securely fastening the fixing object in various substrates with and without cavities, and with cost-effective manufacturing of the anchor. This objective is achieved by manufacturing the anchor as a single piece.