Seal for a joint or juncture – Seal between relatively movable parts – Relatively rotatable radially extending sealing face member
Patent
1992-03-02
1994-05-10
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
Seal for a joint or juncture
Seal between relatively movable parts
Relatively rotatable radially extending sealing face member
277227, F17J 1512
Patent
active
053101979
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
1. Technical Field
This invention relates to gaskets, and more particularly relates to the structure for securingly retaining a sealing element or fire ring to the body of a gasket having the grommet or fire ring positioned in a aperture of the body.
2. Background Art
There are a variety of head gaskets known in the prior art. Head gaskets generally are made of relatively thin, generally flat bodies which define a plurality of apertures, including oil and water bores and combustion openings.
The sealing of an internal combustion engine is a complex and difficult matter. High temperatures and pressure which are localized and which vary across the surface of the gasket between the block and the head require differing treatments at different areas, and usually require the use of sealing aids such as grommets, elastomeric seals, armoring and the like. As an example, in high compression engines operating at high temperatures and high pressures, it has been a practice for a number of years to provide head gaskets with armoring adjacent the cylinder or combination openings to seal the combustion openings and to protect the remainder of the gasket from the effects of the high temperature and pressure. Early armor covered the entire gasket surface as well as the edges of the combustion openings. More recently, the armor has been used to embrace only the edges of the gasket body adjacent the combustion openings to seal the head and block around the combustion opening.
Frequently, the gasket body itself is made of thin elastomeric bonded sheets laminated to a central metallic core. In such gaskets the armoring has generally been comprised of a U-shaped annulus which overlies the periphery of the main gasket body adjacent the combustion opening and which encloses one or more wire rings. An example of such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,336 issued to Daniel E. Czernik et al on May 25, 1982, The U-shaped annulus extends to the periphery of the combustion opening in the body and is retained by a plurality of tabs which overlap the peripheral edge of the gasket body supporting the armoring within the combustion opening.
In another U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,236 issued to Keiichi Tsuchihashi et al on Aug. 12, 1986 a head gasket is disclosed in which a grommet is generally U-shaped in cross-section. The grommet has spaced ends at least one of which is bent inwardly to engage a bore wall of the gasket to securely hold the grommet in place within a gasket opening.
The above-listed patents disclose a U-shaped flange for attaching a solid ring to a gasket body. The thin walled U-shaped flange may become destroyed or burnt through by the high temperatures and high combustion pressures within the combustion chamber of an engine. Thus, a leak path is created from the combustion chamber and the remainder of the gasket is no longer protected from the high temperatures and high pressures. Another problem which is sometimes evident in this type of construction is that the heat from the combustion chamber is transmitted through the thin walled U-shaped flange into the gasket material. When this occurs, the heat causes laminated elastomeric bonded sheet material to harden reducing the sealing characteristics of the material and eventual failure of the heat gasket.
In an attempt to alleviate the heat transferring problem and the failure of the thin walled U-shaped flange described above, U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,539 issued to John W. Baldacci on Mar. 15, 1983 discloses a multilayer gasket main body defining water and oil apertures and a combustion opening and a fire ring is supported in the combustion opening. The fire ring is supported in the combustion opening by individual U-shaped tabs. The tabs are bonded to the annulus of the fire ring by a spot-weld or adhesive mass and supports the annulus in the combustion opening.
Another problem which has been defined when using the above-described head gasket designs is that the thin walled steel flange holding the combustion seal or wire ring in place during assembly abs
REFERENCES:
patent: 2359118 (1944-09-01), Johnston
patent: 2580546 (1952-01-01), Hobson, Jr.
patent: 3207644 (1965-09-01), Hobson, Jr. et al.
patent: 3565449 (1971-02-01), Ascencio et al.
patent: 4331336 (1982-05-01), Czernik
patent: 4376539 (1983-03-01), Baldacci
patent: 4465287 (1984-08-01), Binde et al.
patent: 4480844 (1984-11-01), Kozerski
patent: 4605236 (1986-08-01), Tsuchihashi et al.
patent: 4635949 (1987-01-01), Lucas
patent: 4659410 (1987-04-01), McDowell et al.
Webster's New World Dictionary, Simon and Schuster, Inc New York, N.Y., 1988, p. 1368.
Bruch Cynthia F.
Craig Mark W.
Geyer Dale E.
Lipski Lynette M.
McHugh Roger A.
Cain Larry G.
Caterpillar Inc.
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
DePumpo D.
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