Canted coiled spring and seal
First Claim
1. A continuous, garter-type coiled spring comprising:
- a plurality of coil means, each said coil means being interconnected with one another in a spaced-apart relationship and disposed at a preselected acute angle with a centerline of the coiled spring for causing the coiled spring to exert a force in a loading direction approximately normal to a tangent to the centerline in response to deflection of the coiled spring along said loading direction, said force being generally constant over a preselected range of deflection of the coiled spring along the loading direction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A coiled spring includes a plurality of coils with each of the coils being interconnected with one another in a spaced-apart relationship and disposed in a preselected acute angle with the centerline of the coil spring for causing the coil spring to exert a constant force in a loading direction approximately normal to the centerline of the coiled spring in response to a deflection of the coil spring along the loading direction. When placed in an operative relationship with a sealing material, the resulting coil spring seal enables positive sealing between cooperating parts to prevent passage of fluid therepast, despite small changes in the spacing between the parts which may change due to eccentricity and part dimension, wear, temperature, or pressure effects.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A continuous, garter-type coiled spring comprising:
a plurality of coil means, each said coil means being interconnected with one another in a spaced-apart relationship and disposed at a preselected acute angle with a centerline of the coiled spring for causing the coiled spring to exert a force in a loading direction approximately normal to a tangent to the centerline in response to deflection of the coiled spring along said loading direction, said force being generally constant over a preselected range of deflection of the coiled spring along the loading direction. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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2. A continuous, garter-type coiled spring comprising:
a plurality of coil means, each said coil means being interconnected with one another in a spaced-apart relationship and disposed at a preselected acute angle with a centerline of the coiled spring for causing the coil spring to exert a force in a loading direction approximately normal to a tangent to centerline in response to deflection of the coiled spring along said loading direction, said force increasing at most about 30% as deflection of the coiled spring increases from about 10% to about 30% of the coiled spring height along the loading direction.
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12. A continuous, garter-type coiled spring seal comprising:
a resilient material; and
, a plurality of coil means disposed in an operative relationship with said resilient material for causing the coiled spring to exert a force against said resilient material in a loading direction approximately normal to a tangent to a centerline of the coil means in response to deflection of the coiled spring along said loading direction, each said coil means being interconnected with one another in a spaced-apart relationship and disposed at a preselected acute angle with a centerline of the coiled spring, said force being generally constant over a preselected range of deflection of the coiled spring along the loading direction.- View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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13. A continuous, garter-type coiled spring seal comprising:
a resilient material; and
, a plurality of coil means in an operative relationship with said resilient material for causing the coiled spring to exert a force against said resilient material in a loading direction approximately normal to a tangent to a centerline of the coil means in response to deflection of the coiled spring along said loading direction, each said coil means being interconnected with one another in a spaced-apart relationship and disposed at a preselected acute angle with a centerline of the coiled spring, said force increasing at most about 30% as deflection of the coiled spring increases from about 10% to about 30% of the coiled spring height along the loading direction.
Specification