Non-Pressure Plate Stone Shield with Energy Absorbing Lugs, and Pushrod Shield for Welded Clevis

A process of assembling together a pushrod that is to pass through an opening in an end wall of an actuator housing and a shield that is to restrict contamination of an interior chamber of the actuator housing through a gap between an edge of the opening and a pushrod outer surface, comprising:

• disposing the pushrod and the shield, which is formed as an annulus with a slit and an enlarged void at a radially outer end of the silt, adjacent to each other;
• and
• joining the shield and the pushrod together by contacting surfaces of the enlarged void with the pushrod outer surface, twisting the shield, and displacing the shield and the pushrod laterally relative to each other until the pushrod resides in a central inner opening of the annulus.

A shield mountable on a pushrod projecting through an opening in an end wall of a fluid pressure operable actuator for reciprocation upon service pressure application or release so as to overlie a gap defined between an edge of the opening and a pushrod outer surface and restrict contamination of an interior chamber of the actuator housing through the gap, the shield comprising:

• a deformable element defining an annulus having a central opening;
• and
• a plurality of circumferentially distributed, radially projecting lugs that receive, absorb, and dissipate lateral loading imposed on the deformable element.