Fluid bearing assisted assembly of an exhaust treatment device
AssigneeTenneco Automotive Operating Company Inc.
InventorsAdam J Kotrba, Keith G Olivier
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Apparatus for inserting a substrate surrounded by a compressible mat into a compartment of a housing of an exhaust treatment device includes an insertion member having a bore shaped substantially identically to a shape of an opening to the housing compartment and a fluid bearing generator establishing a compressed fluid bearing at a surface of the bore. The fluid bearing is operative to reduce a coefficient of friction between the compressible mat and a surface of the bore when the substrate/mat combination is moved axially in the bore into the compartment opening.
Claims15
Apparatus for inserting a substrate surrounded by a compressible mat into a compartment of a housing of an exhaust treatment device, the apparatus comprising:
- an insertion member having a bore shaped substantially similarly to a shape of an opening to the housing compartment and a fluid bearing generator establishing a compressed fluid bearing at a surface of the bore operative to reduce a coefficient of friction between the compressible mat and a surface of the bore when the substrate surrounded by the compressible mat is moved within the bore;
- and
- a metering rod for adjustably establishing the fluid bearing only along a portion of the bore carrying the substrate and mat.
Apparatus for inserting a substrate surrounded by a compressible mat into a compartment of a housing of an exhaust treatment device, the apparatus comprising:
- an insertion member having radially moveable segments adapted to engage an outer surface of the mat and compress the mat, and
- a fluid bearing generator operable to establish a compressed fluid bearing between the segments and the mat after the mat has been compressed by the segments, the fluid bearing being operative to reduce a coefficient of friction between the compressible mat and the segments,
- wherein each segment includes an axially extending fluid passage in communication with ports extending through an innermost radial surface of the segment, and
- a metering passage extending substantially parallel to a corresponding fluid passage and carrying an axially translatable metering rod having a wide portion substantially filling the metering passage to block fluid flow through the ports and a narrow portion providing clearance enabling fluid flow through the ports.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.