Stepped Ball Joint Pipe Clamp for Exhaust Seal
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pipe clamps for vehicle exhaust systems face challenges in providing a fluid-tight seal and high pull-apart strength while accommodating angular misalignment between pipe ends, particularly when the inner surface of the flared end is irregular due to welding, which can disrupt the seal.
Innovation Solution
A ball joint pipe clamp with a band and tightening mechanism that includes a step to accommodate the seam between overlapping balled and flared ends, featuring a circumferential sealing contact with diverging surfaces to ensure a seal away from potential weld irregularities, and optional axial strengthening ribs or beads for increased force and elasticity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the pipe clamp uses a conventional smooth band design, then the manufacturing is simple, but the seal is disrupted by welding irregularities on the flared end inner surface
Solution Approach 1:
The band is designed with different surface profiles at different locations: a stepped inner surface that contacts the flared end away from the weld seam, and a smooth outer surface. This local differentiation allows the sealing function to be optimized independently from the manufacturing simplicity, as the complex stepped profile is only required at the sealing interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The band's inner surface is segmented into distinct steps that create separate functional zones: a first step for sealing contact with the flared end inner surface, and a second step for accommodating the weld seam. This segmentation allows the seal to be positioned away from welding irregularities while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
2Reliability
If the pipe clamp positions the seal close to the weld seam for compact design, then the device size is reduced, but the seal is compromised by welding irregularities
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of positioning the seal axially close to the weld seam, the invention uses the radial dimension by creating a stepped profile that extends radially inward. This allows the seal to be positioned at a different radial level where it contacts the flared end away from the weld seam, effectively using a different dimension to resolve the conflict between seal reliability and compact design.
3Reliability
If the pipe clamp uses a single-radius band design, then the manufacturing precision requirement is lower, but it cannot accommodate the seam between overlapping pipe ends
Solution Approach 1:
The band profile parameters are changed from a single radius to a multi-step profile with different radial positions. This parameter change allows the band to accommodate the seam between overlapping pipe ends while maintaining reasonable manufacturing precision requirements, as the stepped profile can be produced using standard forming processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A pipe clamp that is used over a ball joint formed between a balled end of a first pipe and a flared end of a second pipe. The pipe clamp has a band and a tightening mechanism. The band extends axially from a first edge to a second edge, and extends circumferentially from a first end to a second end. The band has a step formed circumferentially in a body of the band between the first and second edge. The step accommodates a stepped seam that is produced between the balled end and the flared end when they are overlapped with respect to each other. The tightening mechanism draws the first and second ends of the band toward and away from each other in order to respectively tighten and loosen the pipe clamp.