Segmented Gasket Core for Engine Flange Thermal Distortion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gaskets in automobile engine chain chambers face challenges with heat expansion and distortion, leading to compromised seal ability when attached to the engine's flange faces, requiring complex setups with multiple O-rings or sheet-like members that are difficult to handle and maintain.
Innovation Solution
A gasket with a core member featuring an inner seal portion, an outer seal portion, and an easily-deformable portion, where the core member can deform to absorb heat expansion or distortion, maintaining seal ability without requiring additional components or complex installation processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sheet-like seal member is compressed between flange faces, then sealing is achieved, but heat expansion or distortion of the flange causes the base body to fail to follow the deformation, deteriorating seal ability
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is segmented into three functional regions: an inner seal portion, an outer seal portion, and an easily-deformable portion between them. The easily-deformable portion is specifically designed to follow heat expansion or distortion of the flange faces, while the inner and outer seal portions maintain their sealing function. This segmentation allows different parts of the gasket to perform different functions under thermal and mechanical stress.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the gasket have different mechanical properties tailored to their specific functions. The inner and outer seal portions are designed with sufficient rigidity to maintain sealing contact pressure, while the intermediate easily-deformable portion is designed with higher flexibility to accommodate flange deformation. This local differentiation of material properties or structural characteristics optimizes both sealing reliability and adaptability to thermal-mechanical changes.
2Reliability
If multiple O-rings or sheet-like seal members are used to ensure sealing, then seal ability is improved, but device complexity and difficulty of handling increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the functions of multiple separate seal members into a single integrated gasket structure. Instead of using multiple O-rings or separate sheet-like seal members that would require individual installation and positioning, the design combines inner sealing, outer sealing, and deformation accommodation functions into one unified component. This reduces the number of parts, simplifies installation, and eliminates the risk of misalignment between multiple seal elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The single gasket structure performs multiple functions simultaneously: it provides inner sealing to prevent leakage, outer sealing to prevent contamination, and deformation accommodation to follow flange thermal expansion or distortion. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate components for each function, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive sealing performance.
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 gasket effectively maintains seal ability by absorbing heat expansion and distortion, ensuring the inner and outer seal portions remain effective, even under stress from bolt fastening, while being lightweight and easy to produce and handle.
Implementation Method 1
an inner seal portion made of elastic material and formed along an inner circumference of the opening, and an outer seal portion made of elastic material and formed along an outer circumference of the core member
Implementation Method 2
the easily-deformable portion being provided between the inner seal portion and the outer seal portion and being configured to easily deform the core member
Implementation Method 3
the easily-deformable portion being provided between the inner seal portion and the outer seal portion and being configured to easily deform the core member
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
A gasket having a core member having an opening, an inner seal portion made of elastic material and formed along an inner circumference of the opening, an outer seal portion made of elastic material and formed along an outer circumference of the core member. The core member has a seal-forming thin portion and an easily-deformable portion, the seal-forming thin portion being configured to form the inner seal portion at the inner circumference and to form the outer seal portion at the outer circumference, and the easily-deformable portion being provided between the inner seal portion and the outer seal portion and being configured to easily deform the core member.