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US 7,465,040 B2Granted
Labyrinth seal structure with redundant fluid flow paths
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsCraig L. Malik, Rhonda L. Wilson, Benjamin Zoladz, Norman E. Pawlowski
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A labyrinth seal structure includes a gland structure for providing a fluid seal between a first surface and a second surface, and redundant labyrinth fluid flow paths between a first side of the seal structure and a second side of the seal structure.
Claims35
A labyrinth seal structure comprising:
- a gland structure for providing a fluid seal between a first surface and a second surface;
- and
- redundant labyrinth fluid flow paths disposed on each of a first side of the seal structure and a second side of the seal structure, all the flow paths having common terminal points at common central regions of the first side and the second side, and each flow path having different channels on and between the first side and the second side.
A labyrinth seal structure comprising:
- a web portion;
- a gland structure for providing a fluid seal between a first surface and a second surface, said gland structure comprising an inner gland portion and an outer gland portion connected by a region of said web portion, the outer gland portion defining a continuous circumferential gland about an outer periphery of the seal structure;
- and
- a redundant flow path structure allowing redundant fluid communication from a central region on a first side of the seal structure to a central region on a second side of the seal structure through a plurality of different channel pairs on the first side and the second side, each channel pair having a different through hole formed in said region of the web portion between the first side and second side.
1 more element
A method for allowing fluid flow between a fluid conduit having an opening in a first surface and a second surface while protecting the second surface against sudden fluid pressure spikes, comprising:
- sandwiching a gland structure of an elastomeric labyrinth seal structure between the first surface and the second surface under compression to create a fluid seal:
- allowing fluid to flow from the fluid conduit opening in the first surface through redundant labyrinth fluid flow paths between and along a first side of the seal structure and a second side of the seal structure, wherein each of the redundant fluid flow paths includes a channel on the first side, a through hole formed through a web portion of the labyrinth seal structure, and a channel on the second side.
A fluid containment device, comprising:
- a reservoir structure for holding a supply of fluid;
- a sensor port in fluid communication with the reservoir structure;
- a sensor mourned at the sensor port, the sensor including a substrate and a sensor die mounted on the substrate, the sensor die responsive to fluid pressure differentials to generate an electrical sensor signal;
- and
- means for protecting the sensor die against sudden fluid pressure spikes, said means comprising a labyrinth seal structure comprising a gland structure for providing a fluid seal between said sensor port and said substrate;
- and redundant labyrinth fluid flow paths between a first side of the seal structure and a second side of the seal structure.
3 more elements
A pressure sensor device, comprising:
- a substrate having opposed first and second surfaces:
- a pressure sensitive structure attached to said substrate and responsive to a pressure differential between a first fluid pressure applied to the first surface and a second fluid pressure applied to the second surface to provide an electrical sensor signal indicative of said pressure differential, said protection structure comprising a labyrinth seal structure positioned between the sensor and the sensor port, said seal structure including a gland structure for providing a fluid seal, and a redundant labyrinth fluid flow path structure providing redundant flow paths through multiple through holes between a reservoir side of the seal structure and a sensor side of the seal structure.
A labyrinth seal structure comprising:
- a first side and an opposing second side;
- a gland structure disposed on the first side and the second side and adapted to engage a first surface and a second surface to provide a fluid seal therebetween;
- a plurality of redundant labyrinth fluid flow paths disposed on each of the first side and the second side, wherein each one of the labyrinth fluid flow paths is a different first channel on the first side fluidically coupled through a different hole in the labyrinth seal structure to a corresponding different second channel on the second side, and terminates at a first central region of the first side and a second central region of the second side.
A labyrinth seal structure comprising:
- a gland structure for providing a fluid seal in a face seal arrangement between a first surface and a second surface;
- and
- redundant labyrinth fluid flow paths disposed on each of a first side of the seal structure and a second side of the seal structure, wherein each flow path extends from a common center region on the first side, along a first channel on the first side, through a hole in the seal structure to a second channel on the second side, to a common center region on the second side, and wherein the first and second channels and the hole are different for each flow path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.