Spring-Loaded Bellows Sealing for Safer Vehicle Box Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing sealing systems for vehicles, particularly railway vehicles, are hazardous and complex to install due to the need for fastening flanges or clamps under load, which requires lifting the box and limited space, making the process dangerous and time-consuming.
Innovation Solution
A sealing system with a compression spring that automatically presses the bellows ends against the openings, eliminating the need for fasteners that require lifting, by using a compression spring to hold the bellows in place between the box and the vehicle body, ensuring safe and easy assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flanges or clamps are used to fasten the bellows ends, then the sealing system can be securely fastened to the body and box, but the installation becomes dangerous and complex requiring access to openings under lifted load
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the flanges or clamps from the sealing system, replacing them with a bellows that is directly fastened to the box and body without requiring additional fastening components. This extraction eliminates the dangerous fastening operation under lifted load while maintaining sealing effectiveness through the bellows' inherent flexibility and sealing capability
Solution Approach 2:
The bellows is designed to be self-fastening through its structural integration with the box and body, eliminating the need for operator intervention to install flanges or clamps. The bellows automatically maintains sealing contact through its flexible structure that adapts to the openings, making the system self-sufficient and removing the hazardous manual fastening step
2Reliability
If flanges or clamps are used to fasten the bellows ends, then the sealing system can be securely fastened, but the installation becomes time-consuming due to limited space and complex fastening procedures
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the flanges or clamps and their associated fastening mechanisms, the patent dramatically simplifies the assembly process. The bellows can be directly installed and fastened in fewer steps, reducing assembly time and increasing productivity without compromising the sealing effectiveness that would have been provided by the removed components
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of fastening rigid flanges or clamps to secure the bellows, the patent inverts the approach by designing the bellows itself to be the primary fastening element. The flexible bellows structure naturally maintains contact and sealing between the box and body, eliminating the need for additional fastening operations and significantly speeding up assembly
3Ease of operation
If the box is lifted to provide access to openings for fastening, then the bellows can be fastened, but the installation becomes dangerous under lifted load
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the requirement to lift the box by eliminating the need for flanges or clamps that would necessitate such positioning. The simplified bellows fastening system can be installed with the box in a lower, safer position, removing the hazardous lifted-load condition while still providing adequate access to the openings through the reduced complexity of the fastening operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the bellows and fastening system in advance to require minimal positioning and access during installation. By pre-configuring the bellows structure and fastening mechanism, the system eliminates the need to lift the box to dangerous heights, as the preliminary design already accommodates safe installation conditions with adequate operator access
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
This solution provides a safer and more efficient sealing system that reduces the risk of injury and complexity during installation, enhancing the sealing effectiveness and tolerating minor misalignments or defects in the openings, while reducing manufacturing costs by simplifying the assembly process.
Implementation Method 1
a compression spring extending along an axis and having two ends, each end of the compression spring acting on one of the two ends of the bellows so that the compression spring moves the two ends of the bellows apart, along the axis
Data Source
AI summary
A sealing system can be mounted between a body of a vehicle and a box fastened to the body. The body and the box include a first opening and a second opening, respectively, opposite each other. The sealing system surrounds the passage and includes a bellows having a first end in contact with the body so as to surround the first opening, and a second end in contact with the box so as to surround the second opening. The sealing system comprises a compression spring. Each end of the spring acts on one of the two ends of the bellows so that the spring moves the two ends of the bellows away from each other.