Sealing devices of the type mentioned have been known for a long time as bottle stoppers, the sealing body, which is arranged between the pressure sleeve and the brace, having at cylindrical configuration on its outer circumference. In this case, an eccentric, which is provided with a handle lever, serves for exerting a tensile force upon the tension bolt. Bottle stoppers of this type, however, are unsuitable for industrial purposes where it is important to have accurate and reliable seals.
A corresponding sealing device which can also be employed for industrial purposes is already known from CN000101986120B. The sealing body is in this case of slightly conical form and is inserted into a component orifice which has a corresponding orifice for internal engagement. The sealing body is then compressed in the axial direction by means of a lever mechanism, its diameter being enlarged and a seal with respect to the circumferential margin of the orifice to be closed being achieved as a result. Such at sealing device can be used to only a limited extent for industrial purposes, since, for example in the testing of engines, because of the high proportion of automated processes, increasing use is made of test methods for quality control, such as, for example, leak tests, cold tests or helium tests, which require the sealing off or filling of supply lines or component orifices. In this case, sealing devices are often employed in which the sealing bodies used are made from a relatively soft elastomeric material with a Shore A hardness in the range of 60 to 75. The relatively soft sealing bodies, which are expanded radially by axial pressure forces, for example in order to seal off a bore, have only a short service life, since compression and expansion give rise, within a very short time, to cracks in the overall sealing material which renders the sealing device useless relatively quickly. The consequences of this aging process are, for example in engine manufacture, gradually increasing leak rates, as a result of which failures in the test machines and therefore a considerable production loss may occur.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds