Shrink Boot Sealant Assembly for Wire Bundle Moisture Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shrink boot and sealant assemblies for protecting power cables and connections lack comprehensive strain relief and environmental sealing, particularly in harsh environments like aircraft, where multiple thermal and pressure cycles are common.
Innovation Solution
A cylindrical shrink boot assembly combined with a sealant assembly, featuring a heat or cold shrinkable tube and a tacky, flowable polyurethane gel, provides both stress relief and environmental sealing by forming a sealant structure that adheres to the wires and shrinks to prevent moisture ingress, using a removable inner support and a cylindrical or tape-based sealant configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a shrink boot assembly is used to protect power cables and connections, then mechanical protection is provided, but comprehensive strain relief and environmental sealing are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the shrink boot and sealant into a single integrated assembly where the sealant is contained within the shrink boot. This merging of components provides both mechanical protection and environmental sealing in one unit, resolving the contradiction between improved reliability and reduced device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The assembly uses composite construction with the shrink boot made of heat-shrinkable material and the sealant made of polyurethane or similar sealing material. This composite approach allows each material to contribute its specific properties (mechanical strength from the boot, sealing from the gel) while working together to provide comprehensive protection.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a sealant assembly is added to provide environmental sealing, then moisture protection is improved, but the assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealant is nested within the shrink boot assembly, with the sealant contained inside the boot structure. This nesting arrangement allows the sealant to provide moisture protection while being integrated into the existing boot geometry, minimizing additional complexity rather than adding separate external sealing components.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealant uses a flexible gel material that can conform to the irregular shapes of cable bundles and connectors. This flexible sealing approach provides effective moisture barriers without requiring rigid complex structures, allowing the sealant to adapt to various configurations while maintaining a relatively simple assembly design.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid support structure is used in the shrink boot, then structural stability is improved, but strain relief capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is designed with local quality variations, using rigid elements in areas requiring structural stability (such as the boot body) and more flexible elements in areas requiring strain relief (such as the cable entry regions). This localized differentiation allows the same component to provide both stability and strain relief where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure incorporates dynamic characteristics by using materials or designs that can flex and deform under strain while maintaining overall structural integrity. This allows the support to adapt to cable movements and strain forces rather than being completely rigid, providing both stability and strain relief capability.
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 solution effectively provides strain relief and environmental sealing, maintaining elastomeric properties through thermal and pressure cycles, and is suitable for aircraft applications, offering flame retardancy and resistance to aircraft fluids, ensuring reliable protection for electrical connectors and cables.
Implementation Method 1
The shrinkable tube may be a heat shrink tube
Implementation Method 2
A cylindrical sealant assembly is dimensioned to fit in this annulus, may comprise a support structure and, in some embodiments, a tacky, flowable polyurethane gel
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly to provide a moisture proof or moisture resistant seal about a bundle of wires. The assembly includes a shrink boot, such as a cold shrink boot, and a tacky sealant, such as a polyurethane gel, that will deform and flow under the pressure of a collapsing tube of the shrink boot.