Vacuum Cleaner U-Shaped Casing Seal for Stable Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vacuum cleaners face challenges in assembling the blower chamber seals due to the instability of H-shaped or U-shaped seals, which can tilt or buckle, leading to ineffective sealing and increased manufacturing costs and installation efforts.
Innovation Solution
A vacuum cleaner design featuring a U-shaped seal with a closed ring profile, where the lower housing part has a U-shaped receptacle and the upper part is designed with sealing flanges made from a combination of rigid and elastic plastic components, allowing for precise fitting and easier assembly, including the use of sealing lips and chamfers for improved alignment and reduced friction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If an H-shaped rigid seal is used, then the seal maintains dimensional stability, but the housing parts with sealing flanges can quickly tilt during assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The seal's cross-sectional shape is changed from H-shaped to U-shaped, which fundamentally alters how the seal interacts with the housing parts. The U-shaped profile with sealing flanges at the open end allows the seal to engage with recesses in the housing parts, preventing tilting while maintaining dimensional stability throughout assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The U-shaped seal design creates a balanced engagement geometry where the sealing flanges contact the housing parts at multiple points simultaneously. This equipotential contact distribution prevents rotational movement (tilting) by ensuring uniform force distribution across the sealing interface.
2Adaptability or versatility
If an elastic seal is used, then the seal can accommodate assembly variations, but the seal can easily bend or buckle during blind assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The seal incorporates localized rigid sealing flanges at the open end of the U-shaped profile, while the body of the seal can remain elastic. This local quality differentiation allows the sealing flanges to maintain stability during blind assembly, preventing buckling, while the elastic body still accommodates assembly variations through controlled deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal is designed as a composite structure combining elastic material properties with rigid geometric features (U-shaped profile with flat sealing flanges). This composite design integrates the advantages of both elastic seals (adaptability) and rigid seals (stability) into a single component that resists buckling during assembly.
3Ease of manufacture
If multiple housing parts are used to form the blower chamber, then the housing can be modularly assembled, but the manufacturing cost and installation effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The U-shaped seal with integrated sealing flanges combines multiple sealing functions into a single component that interfaces with multiple housing parts. This merging of sealing functions reduces the total number of separate sealing components needed, thereby reducing manufacturing cost and installation effort while maintaining modular housing assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The U-shaped seal serves multiple functions simultaneously: it seals between housing parts, provides positioning features through its sealing flanges, and prevents tilting during assembly. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional specialized components, simplifying the overall housing assembly.
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 facilitates easier and automated assembly of housing parts, ensures effective sealing, reduces performance losses, and maintains the sealing effect during operation, while minimizing contamination and design gaps.
Implementation Method 1
the sealing flanges being at least partially formed from the soft component
Implementation Method 2
The sealing lips also make it possible for air to remain between the seal and the inner wall of the U-shaped receptacle even when the housing parts are in the assembled state
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The vacuum cleaner has a housing comprising two housing parts, where former housing part is formed as housing lower part (14) and the latter housing part is formed as housing upper part (16). A sealing (24) is arranged between the two housing parts. The sealing is designed as U-shaped profile in cross-section. The housing lower part has a U-shaped receiver (28) for the sealing and the housing upper part in an edge area (26), in which the housing upper part is combined with the housing lower part. The sealing is formed partially from a rigid plastic-hard component.