Seal for a joint or juncture – Seal between fixed parts or static contact against... – Contact seal for other than internal combustion engine – or...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-24
2001-05-01
Browne, Lynne H. (Department: 3629)
Seal for a joint or juncture
Seal between fixed parts or static contact against...
Contact seal for other than internal combustion engine, or...
C024S297000, C024S662000, C277S637000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224066
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a bellows-type cover made from elastic material, such as rubber or plastic material, used, for instance, for the protection of universal joints and drive shafts in which a clamping member or members such as hose clamps or shrinkable compression rings are integrated with the bellows-type cover.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Flexible or elastic bellows-type covers usually of accordion-like construction, such as axle boots for universal joints or for drive shafts must be carefully sealed to protect the lubricant. Such bellows-type covers have been used extensively in the automotive industry, for example, with front-wheel drive vehicles. They are normally fastened to the axle stub shafts by means of hose clamps or shrinkable compression rings. A need exists at present on the part of manufacturers of universal joint shafts or drive shafts for bellows-type covers in which clamping members in the form of “Oetiker” hose clamps or “Oetiker” shrinkable compression rings are already integrated into the bellows-type covers. In other words, the manufacturers desire a product in which the clamping members are already integrated at or in the bellows-type covers which favors the automatic assembly of the universal joint or drive shafts in that the bellows-type covers provided with integrated clamping members are available as preassembled parts so as to avoid the need for mounting the clamping members on the bellows-type covers only at the final assembly as is the case today.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Two possibilities exist, in principle, for a clamping member to be integrated into the bellows-type cover which consist of (1) the clamping member vulcanized into the bellows-type cover or (2) a self-holding arrangement for a clamping member adapted to be mounted on the bellows-type cover. Of these two possibilities, the first solution involving the clamping member vulcanized into the bellows-type cover can be disregarded because such an arrangement is practically not feasible with the usual hose clamps presently used as clamping members as also with compression rings used as clamping members. For example, a stepless hose clamp of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,012, which has been used extensively with axle boots in the automotive industry, if vulcanized into the bellows-type cover, would present great difficulty of being tightened by deforming the “Oetiker” ear. The vulcanized-in solution is also unacceptable because of substantial increase in costs. A shrinkable compression ring, vulcanized into the bellows-type cover can no longer be shrunk by means of the presently available tools because these tools are designed to engage during the shrinking operation with the external surface of the compression ring having a predetermined diameter in a form-locking manner in order to reduce the compression ring in its diametric dimension by the application of radial forces. The layer of rubber or plastic material applied over the vulcanized-in shrinkable compression ring formed by the vulcanizing operation prevents a form-locking connection between the compression ring and the compression tool. Equally inappropriate are arguments that vulcanizing-in of the clamping members into the bellows-type covers provides a corrosion protection of the integrated hose clamps or compression rings because these problems can be readily avoided in the present invention by the use of appropriate materials for the clamping devices, such as stainless steel or aluminum. Furthermore, a vulcanizing-in of the clamping members precludes any visual control provided at the clamping member in the installed condition insofar as correct positioning and seating of the clamping member and proper tightening of the clamping member are concerned. Visual inspection of indications relating to manufacturer of the clamping members and/or installation dates would also become impossible. Up to the present, hose clamps used with drive or universal joint shafts have served extensively as information carriers in that dates such as assembly dates or other relevant dates of interest to the manufacturer were integrated into the clamping devices, for example, by stamping. Such visual inspections and controls are possible only as long as the clamping members are freely exposed which is not the case with a vulcanized-in solution.
According to one embodiment of this invention, the preassembled unit consists of a bellows-type cover of rubber or plastic material and of an “Oetiker” shrinkable compression ring or hose clamp of metal, both readily mass-producible items, in which the clamping member, as customary to date, is installed into a groove-shaped recess formed in the external diameter for receiving the clamping member at both ends of the bellows-type cover, i.e., in the small as also in the large outer diameter area of the bellows-type cover. To date, such groove-shaped recesses serve exclusively for the correct guidance of the clamping member in the fully installed condition but are unable to provide any self-retaining function for a preassembled clamping member such as a compression ring integrated into the bellows-type cover.
According to a preferred embodiment of this invention, the groove-shaped recess for the clamping member is of two-tier construction in that it is now provided with at least one, preferably with several, support elements along the circumference thereof which position and hold the compression ring in a selfretaining manner, once placed into the recess prior to tightening or shrinking of the clamping member. The clamping member, such as a compression ring, can now be removed again from the bellows-type cover only with the use of large forces. As a result thereof, the clamping member such as a compression ring which is now automatically retained after being mounted on the bellows-type cover within the groove-shaped recess, now forms an integrated unit with the bellows-type cover for further processing the integrated unit of bellows-type cover and clamping member. The use of support elements offers the advantage of providing a two-tier structure for accommodating the clamping member in which the radially outer position securely but only temporarily holds the clamping member as a part integrated into the bellows-type cover yet permits complete, reliable tightening of the clamping member by releasing the temporary radially outer position in the presence of predetermined tightening forces. The term “clamping member” is used in this application to describe both conventional clamps such as “Oetiker” stepless clamps as presently used with bellows-type covers as also shrinkable compression rings such as “Oetiker” puzzle lock compression rings as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,001,816 and 5,185,908.
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patent: 4413664 (1994-12-01), None
patent: 0545629 (1993-06-01), None
patent: 2287073 (1995-09-01), None
patent: 87/03345 (1987-06-01), None
Binda Greg
Browne Lynne H.
Hans Detiker Maschinen-und Apparate fabrik
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