US2376593A

US2376593A - Design of bezel sealing for pressureproof cases

Info

Publication number: US2376593A
Application number: US505695A
Authority: US
Inventors: James S Hellen
Original assignee: Bendix Aviation Corp
Current assignee: Bendix Aviation Corp
Priority date: 1943-10-09
Filing date: 1943-10-09
Publication date: 1945-05-22
Anticipated expiration: 1962-05-22

Description

y 22, 19 5 J. s. HELLEN 2,376,593

DESIGN OF BEZEL SEALING FOR PRESSURE PROOF CASES Filed Oct. 9, 1945 ATTUENEY IN VEN TOR.

Patented May 22, 1945* DESIGN or BEZEL SEALI'NG roa PRESSURE- PROOF CASES James S. HellemRamsey, N. J.,as signor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, Teterboro, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application Qctoberil, 1943, Serial No. 505,695 (01.220-46) 1 5 Claim.

,The present invention .relates to casing seals and more particularly toseals for closures, instrument bezels or the like and methods for makingsuchseals. f r

Heretofore, for example, in the production of marine, aircraft instruments and the like, it has been the practice to provide a rib around the surface rim of the cover, bezel or the like adapted to compress a packing ring or interfitwithin a cooperating groove on the facing surface rim of the casing body. Such arrangements, see Figure 1 of the drawing for an example, are the cause of much trouble when producing seals for casings of shapes other than cylindrical, because in making tight seals between the cover rim and opposing casing rim, it is necessary to machine down the facing rim surfaces of the cover and body to obtain a tight joint. Whileit is not as difiicult to face down a round cover rim on either side of the upstanding rib on a turning lathe or the like, it is practically impossible to accurately face down a square-rectangular or non-cylindrical body on each side of such rib by machine.

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to eliminate the foregoing bottleneck in the production of fluid tight casing seals, so that other than cylindrically shaped casing parts may be produced by machine.

Another object is to provide a novel fluid tight seal for casings, whereby all opposed parts may be machined flush, so as to more efficiently cooperate with the other elements of the seal.

Another object is to provide a novel seal for pressure proof cases or the like comprising a novel packing distributor member designed from, and flush with a part of the cover or case.

Another object is to provide a novel bezel seal or the like for casings including a plurality of cooperating grooves adapted to receive a sealing medium and a cooperating sealing medium distributor countersunk in the surface rim of the bezel defined by said grooves.

Another object is to provide a novel method for producing seals between casing closures for casings of irregular shapes and also to provide a method adapted to speed up production of cylindrical shapes as well.

The above and other object and advantages of the present invention will appear more fully hereinafter from a consideration ofthe detailed description which follows, taken together with the accompanying drawing wherein two embodiments of the invention are illustrated. It is to be expressly understood, howeventhat the drawing is for the purpose of illustration only and is not designed as a definition of the limits of the invention. Reference for this latter purpose should be had to the appended claim. r

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views, I t

Figure 1 is a section view, broken away, representative of the prior art.

Figure 2 is a section view, broken away, of one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section view taken through one form of pressure proof casing produced according to the present invention, showing the closure fastened by bolt means.

- Figure 4 is a section view, broken away, of the casing sealed together.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of another form of easing, wherein the cover is hinged to the casing body.

More specifically, with reference to the above figures, numeral lfl'represents a casing body, and 12 a cover for the same.

For example, the case may be one such as is used in the aircraft accessory art in connection with altimeters, airspeed indicators or the like, wherein it is desirable to have pressure proof or fluid tight cases. The'novel sealing structure for providing a fluid tight casing by the present invention, comprises a machined level surface rim H on cover l2, which cover may have first been cast by any suitable method, so as to have formed in the said surface rim II a pair of spaced substantially parallel grooves l3 and Id.

In casting grooves 13 and H! in such spaced relation, an intervening rib I5 equal in height to the depth of the grooves is provided. Rib l5, therefore, is flush with the rim surface I I, which surface may now be machined and faced down level by turning, milling or disc grinding.

The casing body It may also be cast by any suitable method, so as to have within its rim surface it a groove IT. The groove I! is made of a relatively greater width than either groove I 3 or M, but is of less width than the overall width of grooves l3, M and rib [5, for the purpose hereinafter described. V

Within roove Il may be mounted a sealing medium, such as gasket IS. The gasket l8, as better shown in Figure 2, is relatively thicker than the depth of groove l1, so as to extend above the rim surface [6 of the casing body H], which rim surface has likewise been machined level to cooperate with the opposing rim surface H of the cover H.

The cover (2 may now be secured to the casing body H) by any suitable means, such as hinge l9 and latch 20, shown in Figure 5, or by lugs 2| and bolts 22, as shown in Figure 3. When the cover is closed as in Figure 4, pressure is applied to the same, so that the cooperating machined rim surfaces II and I6 fit together, whereby rib I5 presses centrally against the top of gasket or packing l8 and distributes the same by compressing the gasket materially centrally to each side and into the grooves l3 and I4 of the cover l2.

There is thus provided a novel seal and method of forming the same for cylindrical or non-cylindrical bodies by first providing accurately machined contacting surfaces on the cover and cas ing body with cooperating groovemeans to receive a suitable sealing medium, which is flowed, compressed or otherwise distributed to effect a fusion of the medium between the several grooves for a fluid tight seal by a built in distributor rib machined ofi flush simultaneously with the machining of the contracting rim surfaces.

While only'two embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, other changes and modifications which w'iil now appear to those skilled in the art, may be made without departing from the scopeof the present invention. Reference is, therefore, to be had to the appended claim for a definition of the limits of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

In an instrument casing having a flange portion with a fiat outer surface, said flange defining an opening and a cover therefor having a flange with a fiat mating surface and means to press the flanges together in registry, the readily manufacturable sealing .means which comprise a grooved portion of generally rectangular section in one surface, a. belt of sealing material shaped to fit into the groove and also of generally rectangular section with a height greater than the depth of the groove so that a portion projects therefrom, and a pair of matching grooved portions in the race of the other flange disposed with their outer edges extending beyond those of the first men- .tioned groove and with a rib between the matching gq'o'oves shaped to compress the sealing material without projecting beyond the surface of its flange, the sealing material having a compressed volume of less than the total fcombined volumes of the grooves, whereby the surfaces of the mating flanges may be forced together with the sealing means then effective,

JAMES S. HELLEN.