# US 5,348,314 A · Seals with indicia and method of molding seals with indicia to allow inspection after trimming

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- Number: US 5,348,314 A
- Document ID: US5348314A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 08/030,949
- Filed: 1993-03-12
- Granted: 1994-09-20
- Earliest claimed: 1993-03-12
- Assignees: Dana Corporation
- Inventors: Joseph Antonini
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5348314A

## CPC

- F16J 15/328: Manufacturing methods specially adapted for elastic sealings (moulding B29C)
- B26D 7/0006: {Means for guiding the cutter (for hand knives B26B29/06; for band-knives B26D1/54)}
- B29C 33/42: characterised by the shape of the moulding surface, e.g. ribs or grooves
- B29C 37/02: Deburring or deflashing {(thermal deburring in general B23D79/005)}
- B29D 99/0053: {Producing sealings (B29D99/0085 takes precedence)}
- B29L 2031/045: {Bushes therefor}
- B29L 2031/26: Sealing devices, e.g. packaging for pistons or pipe joints
- Y10S 425/047: Seal ring
- F16J: PISTONS {(specially adapted for dampers F16F9/32)}; CYLINDERS; SEALINGS
- B26D: CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING (for growing crops or plants A01D, A01G; for fodder or straw A01F; for bulk butter A01J; for dough A21C; slaughtering A22B; for tobacco, cigars or cigarettes A24; marking-out, perforating or making buttonholes A41H25/00; manufacturing footwear A43D; brushmaking A46D; surgery A61B; disintegrating, mincing or shredding in general B02C; cutting wire, making pins or nails B21F, B21G; of the kind used formetal B23; cutting by abrasive fluid jets B24C5/02; hand-held cutting tools B26B; perforating, cutting-out, stamping-out or punching, or severing by means other than cutting B26F; for wood B27; for stone B28D; working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29; making boxes, cartons, envelopes or bags, of paper or similarly worked materials, e.g. metal foil, B31B; article or web delivery apparatus incorporating cutting or line-perforating devices B65H35/00; for leather or upholstery B68, C14B; for glass C03B; making matches C06F; for peat C10F; for sugar C13B45/00; for textile materials D06H; civil engineering, building, mining, see Section E; for light guides G02B6/25; cutting processed photographic material G03D15/04)
- B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00)
- B29D: PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE (making granules B29B9/00; making preforms B29B11/00)
- B29L: INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
- Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

## 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.

## Claims

### Claim 1

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.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said forming of said seal body comprises the substeps of:
placing an indicia creating pattern within mold assembly to create said first and said indicia; and molding said seal body within said mold assembly.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A method as recited in claim 1, comprising the further step of inspecting said finished seal to confirm that remnant of said first and second indicia remains at each point of said trimming.

### Claim 4

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.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

A trimmed seal as recited in claim 4, wherein a plurality of embossments or indentations extend between said inner and outer boundary of at least one of said indicia.

### Claim 6

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.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

A lip seal as recited in claim 6, wherein said seal body is molded.

### Claim 8

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.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

A method as recited in claim 8, wherein said forming of said seal body comprises the substep of forming an annular embossment or indentation at each said inner and outer boundary of at least one of said first and second indicia.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

A method as recited in claim 8, comprising the further step of forming a plurality of angled segmented embossments or indentations between said inner boundary and said outer boundary of at least one of said first and second indicia.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

A method as recited in claim 8, comprising the further step of extending a plurality of wavy embossments or indentations between said inner boundary and said outer boundary of at least one of said first and second indicia.

### Claim 12

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.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

A part as recited in claim 12, wherein said boundaries of said indicia include an embossment having a height between 0.0005 inches and 0.002 inches and a width of at least 0.003 inches.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

A lip seal as recited in claim 12, wherein embossments or indentions are formed between said boundaries of said indicia.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

A lip seal as recited in claim 14, wherein a plurality of angled embossments or indentions extend between said boundaries of at least one of said indicia.

### Claim 16 (depends on 14)

A lip seal as recited in claim 14, wherein a plurality of wavy shaped embossments or indentions extend between said boundaries of at least one of said indicia.