Seals with indicia and method of molding seals with indicia to allow inspection after trimming
AssigneeDana Corporation
InventorJoseph Antonini
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Indicia creating patterns are placed in a mold assembly used for making seals. The molded seal body includes trimming entry surface indicia and trimming exit surface indicia to provide visual targets to use when setting up equipment to trim a waste portion from the finished seal . The indicia are sized such that a seal is considered properly trimmed if a portion, but not the entirety of the entry surface indicia and exit surface indicia remain on the finished seal at each point of trimming around the circumference of the seal body. Thus, one can quickly determine if a seal is properly trimmed.
Claims16
A method for making a trimmed seal comprising the steps of:
- forming a seal body having first indicia on a trimming entry surface and second indicia on a trimming exit surface, each of said indicia including an inner boundary and an outer boundary;
- preparing said seal body by positioning a cutting element with respect to said first indicia and said second indicia of said seal body;
- and
- cutting between said inner and outer boundaries of said first and second indicia to separate a waste portion from said seal body, leaving a finished seal.
A trimmed lip seal formed by the process of:
- forming a seal body having first indicia on a first indicia on a trimming entry surface and second indicia on a trimming exit surface, each of said indicia including an inner boundary and an outer boundary representing an acceptable trimming path;
- preparing said seal body by positioning a cutting element with respect to said first and second indicia of said seal body, said cutting element guided to be between said inner and outer boundary of both said first and second indicia;
- and
- cutting between said first and second indicia to separate a waste portion from said seal body, leaving a finished seal wherein said trimmed lip seal includes a remnant, but not the entirety of said first or second indicia.
A lip seal comprising:
- a seal body having a first indicia on a trimming entry surface and a second indicia on a trimming exit surface, wherein each said indicia includes an inner boundary and an outer boundary, a spacing between said inner boundary and said outer boundary representing an acceptable trimming path to separate a waste portion from said seal body.
A method for making a trimmed seal comprising the steps of:
- forming a seal body having first indicia on a first surface and second indicia on a second surface;
- preparing said seal body by positioning a cutting element with respect to said first indicia and said second indicia of said seal body;
- cutting between said first and second indicia to separate a waste portion from said seal body, leaving a finished seal;
- determining a range for said first and said second indicia that results in acceptable tolerances for said finished seal;
- spacing an inner boundary and an outer boundary of said first and second indicia to correspond to said range;
- and
- guiding a cutting element along a path between said inner and outer boundary of said first and second indicia.
A lip seal comprising:
- a seal body having a first indicia on a trimming entry surface and a second indicia on a trimming exit surface, said indicia dimensioned such that they can be used as a visual indicator of a trimmed seal within acceptable tolerances, wherein each of said indicia includes an inner boundary and an outer boundary, a spacing between said inner boundary and said outer boundary representing an acceptable trimming path to separate a waste portion from said seal body such that said seal body has acceptable tolerances, said seal body including a remnant, but not the entirety of said first and second indicia at each point of said trimming path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.