V-Shaped HVAC Housing Seal for Fluid-Tight Vehicle Feedthroughs
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Solution Overview
Problem
The technically complicated mounting of sealing devices between air-conditioning device housings and partition walls in motor vehicles poses challenges in achieving high sealing requirements, particularly in forming fluid-tight feedthroughs to prevent moisture ingress.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a frame-like seal with an elastically deformable V-shaped sealing body is arranged between housing and partition wall apertures, allowing the sealing body to fold over and create a fluid-tight connection without needing to be pulled through the wall aperture, reducing mounting effort and enhancing sealing properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional seal is used between the air-conditioning device housing and the partition wall, then the sealing function is achieved, but the mounting process becomes technically complicated and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing body is made from an elastically deformable material that can be deformed during mounting and then recovers its shape to create the seal. The V-shaped profile with a foldable transition allows the seal to be compressed during installation and then expand to contact both the housing and partition wall, achieving reliable sealing while simplifying the mounting process.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing body incorporates a dynamic folding mechanism at its transition. During mounting, the seal is deformed and the transition is folded towards one aperture. Upon compression between the housing and partition wall, the transition automatically unfolds and contacts both surfaces, creating the seal without complex manual intervention.
2Ease of manufacture
If a traditional seal is pulled through the wall aperture during mounting, then the seal is installed, but the mounting effort increases and the process becomes more complicated
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of pulling the seal through the aperture from one side to the other, the invention inverts the approach by inserting the seal into one aperture and having it fold towards that same aperture during compression. This eliminates the need to pull the seal through the wall, significantly reducing mounting effort and time.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing body's transition automatically folds towards the aperture during the compression process between the housing and partition wall. This self-folding mechanism eliminates the need for manual manipulation or pulling tools, allowing the seal to position itself correctly without additional mounting effort.
3Ease of operation
If the sealing body is made elastically deformable to enable folding, then the mounting is simplified, but the sealing precision must be maintained under deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing body utilizes elastic deformation as a temporary state during mounting, not as a permanent condition. The material is deformed to enable insertion and folding, then recovers its original shape under compression to create the precise seal. This parameter change from deformed to recovered state allows both easy mounting and precise sealing.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastically deformable material provides a cushioning effect during the mounting process, absorbing the deformation stresses and then recovering to create the seal. This prior cushioning capability protects the sealing precision by allowing temporary deformation without permanent damage or loss of sealing 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 method simplifies the mounting process while achieving superior sealing properties, ensuring a fluid-tight feedthrough that prevents moisture ingress, thus reducing the effort required for sealing and improving the reliability of the seal.
Implementation Method 1
a part of the V-shaped sealing body, which forms the transition between the two V-legs of the sealing body and with a contact portion lies against the partition wall, folds over towards the aperture provided in the partition wall
Data Source
AI summary
A method for mounting a sealing device between a housing of an air-conditioning installation and a partition wall present in the motor vehicle, includes the following measures (a) arranging the housing and the partition wall relative to one another so that a housing aperture present in the housing and a wall aperture present in the partition wall are positioned adjacently to one another, (b) arranging a sealing device having a frame-shaped sealing body formed as profile part, which in profile is formed substantially V-shaped with a first and second leg, between the two apertures, (c) reducing a distance between the two apertures by moving the housing towards the partition wall until a transition connecting the legs with one another folds over towards the wall aperture or away from the same.