Underwater Optical Mounting Assembly Without Axial Clamping Screws
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing underwater lighting systems for pools face challenges in cost reduction and increased robustness, particularly concerning mechanical and electrical robustness, serviceability, manufacturability, and water tightness, with complexities arising from cable management and sealing requirements.
Innovation Solution
An underwater optical assembly featuring a tubular wall mount, a housing with a head and stem configuration, and a radial seal that eliminates the need for traditional axial clamping screws, allowing for a smaller, more cost-effective design with improved sealing and reduced complexity, incorporating a cylindrical bore and stem that fits axially with a watertight seal, and accommodating high-power LEDs or cameras with integrated optical elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional axial clamping screws are used to secure seals, then the sealing reliability is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the clamping screws from the traditional sealing mechanism. Instead of using axial clamping screws to secure the seal, the invention uses a radial sealing configuration where the seal is held in place by radial forces from the housing geometry itself, removing the need for additional fastening components and reducing overall device complexity while maintaining sealing reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent inverts the traditional sealing approach by switching from axial clamping (screws pressing along the axis) to radial sealing (seal held by radial forces from the housing). This inversion eliminates the need for complex axial fastening mechanisms while achieving reliable sealing through the radial geometry of the housing and seal interface
2Reliability
If traditional axial clamping screws are used to secure seals, then the sealing reliability is improved, but the assembly size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the clamping screws that would traditionally be required to compress and secure the seal axially. The radial sealing configuration allows the seal to be held in place without these additional components, reducing the overall assembly size and eliminating the space required for axial fastening mechanisms while maintaining adequate sealing reliability
3Illumination intensity
If high power LEDs are used for illumination, then the illumination intensity is improved, but the heat generation and cooling requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the sealing function with the thermal management function in the radial seal configuration. The radial seal structure serves dual purposes: providing watertight sealing while simultaneously acting as a thermal pathway to conduct heat away from the high-power LED, reducing the need for separate cooling mechanisms and effectively managing heat generation
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly, in particular an underwater optical assembly is provided. The assembly comprises a tubular wall mount, a housing and a seal. The wall mount has a cylindrical bore portion and the housing comprises a head and a stem rearwardly protruding from the head along an axis. The head defines a chamber with a window for dry housing an optical device in the chamber and the stem comprising an enclosed channel in fluid communication with the chamber. The stem has a cylindrical stem portion mated to the bore portion. The assembly is configured such that in an assembled configuration the stem portion fits the bore portion in an axial direction, the head is located in front of at least the bore portion of the wall mount, the housing being attached to the wall mount and plugging the wall mount with the seal extending substantially radially between the stem portion and the bore portion sealing the assembly circumferentially watertight. The head has a radial head size and the stem has a radial stem size, wherein the head size is larger than the stem size. The head has one or more circumferential walls forwardly protruding from a substantially radial rear wall, the stem rearwardly protruding from the rear wall. The stem and the one or more circumferential walls each have a thickness in radial direction, defining a rear wall area between a radial outside of the stem and a radial inside of the one or more circumferential walls, wherein the rear wall has, for at least half the radial area a thickness in axial direction that is less than a thickness in radial direction of the circumferential wall, and preferably less than a thickness in radial direction of the stem.