JP5217421B2 - Seal member hermetic test apparatus and seal member hermetic test method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an airtight test apparatus and an airtight test method for a seal member.

  For example, in a fuel cell system mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, a high-pressure gas tank is used as a fuel gas supply source. The high-pressure gas tank has a base at the opening end in the longitudinal direction of the tank body, and is used with a valve or the like connected to the base. An O-ring is attached to the connection portion between the base of the high-pressure gas tank and the valve to ensure airtightness.

  Since the O-ring used in the high-pressure gas tank as described above is required to have very high airtightness, an airtightness test (airtightness test) is performed before mounting. This airtight test is performed, for example, by collecting leaked gas in a liquid, collecting it in a graduated cylinder, and reading the scale of the liquid level of the graduated cylinder visually at regular intervals (see Patent Document 1). ).

JP-A-2005-181141

  However, in the above-described airtight test, the total gas leakage amount per fixed time can be accurately measured, but the time-series gas leakage amount cannot be accurately measured. O-rings have the same amount of gas leakage for a certain period of time, such as when a large amount of gas leaks at the beginning and immediately stops leaking, when it continues to leak for a very long time, or when it starts to leak from the middle, etc. Characteristics may vary. When the time-series characteristics of gas leaks are different, the countermeasures are also different. For this reason, the above-mentioned airtight test is not sufficient as an O-ring airtight test, and it is required to accurately measure a time-series gas leakage amount.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to accurately measure a time-series gas leakage amount of a sealing member such as an O-ring and realize a highly accurate sealing test of the sealing member. It is said.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a sealing member airtightness testing apparatus, a sealing member mounting jig capable of mounting a sealing member between opposing wall surfaces, and a constant temperature housing the sealing member mounting jig. A tank, a gas supply device for supplying gas to a primary side of the seal member of the seal member mounting jig, a gas flow path through which gas leaked from the secondary side of the seal member of the seal member mounting jig, Gas is supplied through a gas flow path, and a liquid storage part capable of delivering an internal liquid according to the amount of the supplied gas, a liquid flow path through which the liquid sent from the liquid storage part flows, and the liquid flow Liquid is supplied through the channel, and the amount of gas leaked from the seal member is calculated from the weight that allows continuous measurement of the weight of the supplied liquid and the weight of the liquid measured by the weight. With arithmetic unit Characterized in that it has a.

  According to the present invention, the time-series gas leakage amount of the seal member can be accurately measured, and a highly accurate airtight test can be realized.

  In the seal member airtightness testing apparatus, the seal member mounting jig includes a cylindrical part and a cylindrical part having a hole into which the cylindrical part is inserted, and is inserted into the hole of the cylindrical part. The sealing member may be mounted between the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion.

  In the cylindrical portion, a gas inflow passage for allowing the gas from the gas supply device to flow into the primary side of the seal member, and a gas leaked from the secondary side of the seal member are allowed to flow out into the gas passage. A gas outflow path may be formed.

  The gas flow path is connected to an upper portion of the liquid storage section, the liquid flow path is inserted into the liquid storage section, and the pressure of the gas flowing into the liquid storage section from the gas flow path You may make it the liquid in a liquid storage part send out to the said liquid flow path.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sealing member hermetic test method, the step of mounting a sealing member between opposing wall surfaces of the sealing member mounting jig, and the sealing member mounting jig housed in a thermostatic bath. Supplying the gas to the primary side of the sealing member, supplying the gas leaked from the secondary side of the sealing member of the sealing member mounting jig to the liquid storage part through the gas flow path, and supplying the liquid storage part A step of supplying the liquid in the liquid storage portion to the scale through the liquid flow path according to the amount of the supplied gas, a step of continuously measuring the weight of the supplied liquid by the scale, and the measurement. And calculating a time-series gas leakage amount in the seal member from the weight of the liquid.

  According to the present invention, the time-series gas leakage amount of the seal member can be accurately measured, so that a highly accurate airtight test can be realized.

  In the hermeticity test method for the seal member, the liquid in the liquid storage container may be sent to the liquid flow path by the pressure of the gas flowing into the liquid storage section through the gas flow path.

  According to the present invention, the time-series gas leakage amount of the seal member can be accurately measured, so that a highly accurate airtight test can be realized. Thereby, the reliability of a sealing member can be improved.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an air tightness test apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, an airtight test apparatus that performs an airtight test of an O-ring as a seal member will be described as an example.

  The hermetic test apparatus 1 includes, for example, a high-pressure gas supply apparatus 10, a thermostatic chamber 12 that houses an O-ring mounting jig 11, a liquid storage container 13 as a liquid storage unit, an electronic weighing unit 14, and a calculation device 15. Yes.

  The high-pressure gas supply device 10 communicates with the O-ring mounting jig 11 in the thermostatic chamber 12 through the high-pressure gas supply path 20 and can supply high-pressure helium gas, for example, to the O-ring mounting jig 11.

  The thermostatic bath 12 has a function of adjusting the internal temperature, and can maintain the inside of the bath at a constant temperature.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the O-ring mounting jig 11 in the thermostat 12 includes a cylindrical portion 30 and a cylindrical portion 32 having a hole 31 into which the cylindrical portion 30 is fitted.

  For example, the hole 31 of the cylindrical portion 32 has a small-diameter portion 31a on the bottom side and a large-diameter portion 31b on the inlet side, and a step portion 31c is formed therebetween. The columnar portion 30 has a small-diameter portion 30a on the distal end side and a large-diameter portion 30b on the rear side so as to conform to the shape of the hole 31. When the columnar part 30 is inserted into the hole 31, the large diameter part 30b of the columnar part 30 is fitted into the large diameter part 31b of the hole 31 without any gap, and gas leakage from this part is prevented. Further, a slight gap is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter portion 30 a of the columnar portion 30 and the inner peripheral surface of the small diameter portion 31 a of the hole 31.

  An annular groove 30c is formed, for example, along the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 30 on the small diameter portion 30a side, and the O-ring 40 can be fitted into the groove 30c. With the O-ring 40 fitted in the groove 30c, the cylindrical portion 30 is fitted into the hole 31 of the cylindrical portion 32, whereby the outer peripheral surface of the opposing cylindrical portion 30 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 32 are The O-ring 40 can be mounted between the two.

  Further, for example, the length of the small-diameter portion 30 a of the cylindrical portion 30 is shorter than the small-diameter portion 31 a of the hole 31, and when the cylindrical portion 30 is fitted into the hole 31, the tip of the cylindrical portion 30 is formed. A space P is formed between the surface and the bottom surface of the hole 31. The tubular portion 32 is formed with a gas inflow passage 32a that communicates with the space P from the outside. A high-pressure gas supply path 20 leading to the high-pressure gas supply apparatus 10 is connected to the gas inflow path 32a. Thereby, the high pressure gas can be supplied from the high pressure gas supply device 10 to the space P, and the high pressure gas can be supplied to the primary side (left side in FIG. 2) of the O-ring 40 between the cylindrical portion 32 and the cylindrical portion 30. .

  The tubular portion 32 is formed with a gas outflow passage 32 b that leads from the small-diameter portion 31 a of the hole 31 to the outer surface of the tubular portion 32. A gas flow path 50 communicating with the liquid storage container 13 outside the thermostat 12 is connected to the gas outflow path 32b. Thereby, the gas leaked to the secondary side (right side in FIG. 2) of the O-ring 40 between the cylindrical portion 32 and the cylindrical portion 30 can flow out to the gas flow path 50.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid storage container 13 has a sealed structure, and water H is stored therein. The gas flow path 50 is connected to the upper part of the liquid storage container 13. A liquid channel 60 is inserted into the liquid storage container 13. Thereby, when the gas leaked from the gas flow path 50 to the liquid storage container 13 is supplied, the liquid level of the water H is pushed by the pressure of the gas, and the water H is sent to the liquid flow path 60. Therefore, in the liquid storage container 13, an amount of water H corresponding to the amount of gas flowing in from the gas channel 50 is sent to the liquid channel 60.

  The liquid flow path 60 leads to above the electron weighing unit 14, and can supply water H to the weighing container 70 on the electron weighing unit 14. The electronic scale 14 can continuously and automatically measure the weight of the water H supplied into the weighing container 70. The electronic scale 14 can output a continuous measurement result of the weight of the water H to the arithmetic device 15.

  The arithmetic unit 15 can calculate a time-series gas leakage amount in the O-ring 40 from a continuous measurement result of the weight of the water H, for example, and graph it. Note that the arithmetic device 15 is a personal computer provided with a display, for example.

  Next, an airtight test method for the O-ring 40 performed by the airtight test apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.

  First, an O-ring 40 that is a device under test is mounted between the outer peripheral surface of the columnar portion 30 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 32 of the O-ring mounting jig 11 as shown in FIG. At this time, the thermostat 12 in which the O-ring mounting jig 11 is accommodated is maintained at, for example, −60 ° C. Next, a high pressure helium gas of about 70 MPa, for example, is supplied from the high pressure gas supply device 10 to the O-ring mounting jig 11. At this time, the gas flows into the space P in the O-ring mounting jig 11 and is further supplied to the primary side (space P side) of the O-ring 40. For example, a high pressure gas is supplied to the O-ring 40 for a predetermined time, and an airtight test of the O-ring 40 is performed for a predetermined time.

  For example, the gas leaked to the secondary side of the O-ring 40 flows to the liquid storage container 13 through the gas flow path 50. In the liquid storage container 13, the water H is pushed by the pressure of the leaked gas, and the pushed water H is sent to the liquid channel 60. The water H sent to the liquid flow path 60 is supplied to the weighing container 70 of the electronic weighing unit 14. In the electronic weighing unit 14, the weight of the water H is continuously measured. A continuous measurement result of the weight of the water H is output to the arithmetic unit 15.

  In the arithmetic unit 15, a time-series gas leakage amount in the O-ring 40 is calculated from a continuous measurement result of the weight of the water H, and is graphed. The calculation of the gas leakage amount can be easily performed by grasping in advance the relationship between the leakage gas inflow amount in the liquid storage container 13 and the water H delivery amount corresponding thereto.

  According to the above embodiment, the amount of gas leaked from the O-ring 40 is converted into the amount of water H, the amount of water H is continuously measured, and the amount of water H is time-series. The amount of leaking gas is calculated. For this reason, the time-series gas leakage amount of the O-ring 40 can be accurately measured, and as a result, a highly accurate airtight test can be performed.

  The O-ring mounting jig 11 has a columnar portion 30 and a cylindrical portion 32 having a hole 31 into which the columnar portion 30 is inserted, and the outer peripheral surface of the columnar portion 30 and the inner periphery of the cylindrical portion 32. Since the O-ring 40 is attached to the surface, the O-ring 40 can be attached easily and appropriately.

  Further, in the cylindrical portion 32, a gas inflow path 32 a for allowing the gas from the high pressure gas supply device 10 to flow into the primary side of the O-ring 40, and a gas leaked from the secondary side of the O-ring 40 into the gas flow path 50. Since the gas outflow passage 32b for the outflow is formed, it is possible to appropriately supply the gas to the O-ring 40 and discharge the leaked gas.

  Further, the gas flow path 50 is connected to the upper part of the liquid storage container 13, and the liquid flow path 60 is inserted into the liquid storage container 13, and the pressure of the gas flowing into the liquid storage container 13 from the gas flow path 50 is Since the water H in the liquid storage container 13 is sent to the liquid flow path 60, the gas amount leaked from the O-ring 40 can be easily and appropriately converted to the water amount.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be made within the scope of the ideas described in the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. It is understood that it belongs.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the seal member is an O-ring, but the present invention can also be applied to an airtight test of other seal members.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the outline of a structure of an airtight test apparatus. It is explanatory drawing of the longitudinal cross-section which shows the outline of a structure of an O-ring mounting jig.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Airtight test apparatus 10 High-pressure gas supply apparatus 11 O-ring mounting jig 12 Constant temperature bath 13 Liquid storage container 14 Electronic scale 15 Arithmetic apparatus 50 Gas flow path 60 Liquid flow path

Claims (6)

An airtight test device for a seal member,
A sealing member mounting jig capable of mounting a sealing member between opposing wall surfaces;
A thermostatic chamber for accommodating the sealing member mounting jig ;
A gas supply device for supplying gas to the primary side of the seal member of the seal member mounting jig;
A gas flow path through which gas leaked from the secondary side of the seal member of the seal member mounting jig,
A gas reservoir through which the gas is supplied, and a liquid reservoir capable of delivering an internal liquid according to the amount of the supplied gas;
A liquid flow path through which the liquid delivered from the liquid reservoir flows;
A liquid is supplied through the liquid channel, and a weight capable of continuously measuring the weight of the supplied liquid;
An airtight test apparatus for a seal member, comprising: an arithmetic unit that calculates a time-series gas leakage amount in the seal member from the weight of the liquid measured by the measurement.   The sealing member mounting jig includes a cylindrical portion and a cylindrical portion having a hole into which the cylindrical portion is inserted, and an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion and a cylinder inserted into the hole of the cylindrical portion. The seal member hermeticity testing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the seal member is mounted between the inner peripheral surface of the shaped portion.   In the cylindrical portion, a gas inflow passage for allowing the gas from the gas supply device to flow into the primary side of the seal member, and a gas leaked from the secondary side of the seal member are allowed to flow out into the gas passage. A gas outflow passage for the seal member according to claim 2, wherein a gas outflow passage is formed.   The gas flow path is connected to an upper portion of the liquid storage section, the liquid flow path is inserted into the liquid storage section, and the pressure of the gas flowing into the liquid storage section from the gas flow path The airtight test apparatus for a seal member according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the liquid in the liquid reservoir is delivered to the liquid flow path. An airtight test method for a seal member,
Mounting a seal member between opposing wall surfaces of the seal member mounting jig;
Supplying gas to the primary side of the seal member of the seal member mounting jig housed in a thermostat ;
Supplying gas leaked from the secondary side of the seal member of the seal member mounting jig to the liquid storage part through the gas flow path;
A step of supplying the liquid in the liquid storage portion to the amount through the liquid flow path according to the amount of gas supplied to the liquid storage portion;
Measuring the weight of the supplied liquid continuously by weighing;
And a step of calculating a time-series gas leakage amount in the seal member from the weight of the liquid measured by the measurement.   6. The seal member airtightness test method according to claim 5, wherein the liquid in the liquid storage container is delivered to the liquid flow path by the pressure of the gas flowing into the liquid storage section through the gas flow path.

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