Sealing Grommet with Conical Push-Through Area
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Inserting sealing grommets into wall openings often requires high forces due to high frictional forces, making the process difficult and costly.
Innovation Solution
A sealing grommet design featuring a grommet body with a conical push-through area and an auxiliary element having a low-friction sliding surface, which facilitates insertion by reducing frictional forces through a conical geometry and sliding area with a coefficient of friction less than 0.6, allowing easier assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a sealing grommet is inserted directly into a wall opening, then the sealing function is achieved, but high assembly forces are required due to high frictional forces
Solution Approach 1:
A conical push-through area is introduced as an intermediary element between the grommet body and the wall opening. This push-through area has a smaller diameter than the grommet body, allowing it to be inserted first with lower forces, and then the grommet body follows through the opening after the push-through area has created a path.
Solution Approach 2:
The grommet is segmented into two functional parts: a push-through area with smaller diameter designed for insertion, and a grommet body with larger diameter designed for sealing. This segmentation allows the insertion function and sealing function to be performed by different geometric portions of the same component.
2Reliability
If the grommet body has a large diameter for effective sealing, then the sealing performance is improved, but the insertion difficulty increases due to high frictional forces
Solution Approach 1:
The solution transitions from a single-diameter design to a two-diameter design along the axial dimension. The push-through area has a smaller diameter optimized for insertion, while the grommet body has a larger diameter optimized for sealing. This dimensional variation along the insertion axis resolves the contradiction between sealing effectiveness and insertion ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The push-through area acts as a mediator that facilitates the insertion of the larger grommet body. By having a smaller diameter, it reduces frictional forces during insertion and creates a path through the wall opening, enabling the larger sealing surface of the grommet body to be installed without excessive forces.
3Device complexity
If a conventional grommet design is used, then the structure is simple, but high assembly forces are required and the process becomes costly
Solution Approach 1:
The grommet is divided into a push-through area and a grommet body, creating a more complex geometry that enables easier assembly. While the structural complexity increases slightly, the assembly process becomes more efficient due to reduced insertion forces and simpler assembly operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The diameter parameter is varied along the axial direction of the grommet, creating a tapered or stepped geometry. This parameter change from a uniform diameter to a variable diameter allows the push-through area to have smaller dimensions for easier insertion, while the grommet body maintains larger dimensions for effective sealing.
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 design significantly reduces the assembly forces required for inserting the sealing grommet, making the process easier and less expensive, while maintaining effective sealing.
Implementation Method 1
an auxiliary element having a low-friction sliding surface, which facilitates insertion by reducing frictional forces through a conical geometry and sliding area with a coefficient of friction less than 0.6
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a sealing grommet (2) for a sealed feedthrough of a strand-shaped element through a wall (22), in particular for a cable feedthrough for the motor vehicle sector, which is configured for insertion in the installation direction (M) in an opening bordered by the wall (22) having a predetermined opening width (DÖ1) and comprises a grommet body (4) having a push-through region (DB) extending in the installation direction (M), which is fed through the opening in the installation direction (M) during installation, so as to engage same behind the wall (22) in the installed state, wherein an auxiliary element (6) facilitating the insertion in the opening is further provided with a circumferential-side sliding region comprising at least one sliding surface (16), and wherein the at least one sliding surface (16) lies, at least partially, on a circumferential-side surface of the push-through region (DB).