Food-Grade Shaft Support Seal with Lip-Protecting Cover Coupling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing support assemblies for movable shafts in the food industry fail to provide effective sealing during washing procedures due to the deformation of the sealing lip during mounting, allowing fluid to penetrate and potentially leading to bacterial contamination.
Innovation Solution
The support assembly incorporates radially inner projections with a different cross-section on the cover, which allow for a larger opening during axial coupling and prevent deformation of the sealing lip, ensuring a better fluid seal by engaging with the casing's annular groove and projections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional force fit mounting is used to couple the cover to the casing, then the mounting process is simple, but the sealing lip deforms radially outward during mounting causing poor sealing performance
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling portion is segmented into multiple functional elements: an annular groove for axial guidance, bayonet teeth for rotational locking, and radially inner projections for sealing lip support. This segmentation allows each element to perform its specific function without interfering with others, enabling simple mounting while maintaining sealing integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function is moved from a radial sealing mechanism to an axial sealing mechanism. The radially inner projections extend axially into the annular groove, creating an axial sealing interface that prevents radial deformation of the sealing lip during mounting, thus maintaining sealing performance without complicating the mounting process.
2Reliability
If the cover is tightly coupled to the casing to ensure sealing, then sealing performance improves, but the sealing lip deforms and creates gaps for fluid penetration
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing function is localized to specific regions: the annular groove provides axial guidance and positioning, while the radially inner projections provide localized radial support to the sealing lip. This localized quality ensures sealing integrity without requiring tight coupling across the entire interface, preventing fluid penetration while avoiding sealing lip deformation.
3Productivity
If the coupling portion allows easy assembly, then manufacturing efficiency increases, but the sealing lip cannot maintain its shape during mounting
Solution Approach 1:
The annular groove and radially inner projections are pre-configured in the coupling portion to automatically guide and support the sealing lip during the mounting process. This preliminary action ensures the sealing lip maintains its correct geometry from the start of assembly, enabling easy assembly while preserving sealing lip precision throughout the mounting process.
Data Source
AI summary
A support assembly for a movable shaft includes a bearing unit that receives the shaft, a casing, and a cover. The cover includes an annular coupling portion extending towards a radially external lateral surface of the casing. The annular coupling portion has circumferentially spaced teeth projecting from a radially inside surface thereof. The lateral surface includes an annular seat that receives the teeth. The annular seat includes an annular groove axially spaced with respect to a front edge of the casing that defines an opening of the casing and is connected to axial grooves that interrupt radially at least part of the front edge of the casing. A bottom wall of the annular groove has depressions alternating with projections offset with the axial grooves. The annular coupling portion includes radially internal projections that engage with the lateral surface of the casing along portions free of axial grooves.