Injectable nut cap
First Claim
1. A method of forming a seal around an end of a fastener protruding from a structure, a cap comprising a cap body with a cavity;
- a sealing material inlet comprising an opening in the cap body;
three or more ridges protruding from the cap body into the cavity; and
three or more channels between the ridges, the method comprising;
installing the cap body over the end of the fastener so that it is enclosed within the cavity and contacted by the ridges;
injecting sealing material into the cavity via the sealing material inlet so that the sealing material flows along the channels, fills the cavity, contacts the end of the fastener, and contacts the structure; and
curing the sealing material to form the seal;
wherein the cap body and the cavity terminate at an annular rim;
the cap body is installed over the end of the fastener with an annular gap between the annular rim and the structure; and
the sealing material flows from the sealing material inlet to the annular rim and out of the annular gap to form an annular bead in contact with the structure.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The description provides a method of forming a seal around an end of a fastener protruding from a structure. The cap includes a cap body with a cavity; a sealing material inlet comprising an opening in the cap body; three or more ridges protruding from the cap body into the cavity; and three or more channels between the ridges. The method includes: installing the cap body over the end of the fastener so that it is enclosed within the cavity and contacted by the ridges; injecting sealing material into the cavity via the sealing material inlet so that the sealing material flows along the channels, fills the cavity, contacts the end of the fastener, and contacts the structure; and curing the sealing material to form the seal.
21 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A method of forming a seal around an end of a fastener protruding from a structure, a cap comprising a cap body with a cavity;
- a sealing material inlet comprising an opening in the cap body;
three or more ridges protruding from the cap body into the cavity; and
three or more channels between the ridges, the method comprising;installing the cap body over the end of the fastener so that it is enclosed within the cavity and contacted by the ridges; injecting sealing material into the cavity via the sealing material inlet so that the sealing material flows along the channels, fills the cavity, contacts the end of the fastener, and contacts the structure; and curing the sealing material to form the seal; wherein the cap body and the cavity terminate at an annular rim;
the cap body is installed over the end of the fastener with an annular gap between the annular rim and the structure; and
the sealing material flows from the sealing material inlet to the annular rim and out of the annular gap to form an annular bead in contact with the structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
- a sealing material inlet comprising an opening in the cap body;
-
4. A cap for forming a seal around an end of a fastener protruding from a structure, the cap comprising:
-
a cap body with a cavity for receiving the end of the fastener; a sealing material inlet comprising an opening in the cap body that is in fluid communication with the cavity, the opening being arranged to interconnect with a sealing material injection device to provide a flow of curable sealing material from the sealing material inlet into the cavity to contact the end of the fastener in the cavity; three or more ridges protruding from the cap body into the cavity, the ridges being arranged to contact the end of the fastener in the cavity; and three or more channels between the ridges, the channels being arranged to enable the curable sealing material to flow from the sealing material inlet along the channels into contact with the end of the fastener and into contact with the structure, wherein the cap body and cavity terminate at an annular rim lying in a plane, and each ridge extends within the cavity towards the plane of the annular rim then continues to extend through the plane of the annular rim to a protruding inboard end. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A joint comprising:
-
a structure; a fastener passing through the structure with an end of the fastener protruding from the structure; and a cap forming a seal around the end of the fastener, the cap comprising;
a cap body with a cavity receiving the end of the fastener;
a sealing material inlet comprising an opening in the cap body;
three or more ridges protruding from the cap body into the cavity, the ridges contacting the end of the fastener in the cavity;
three or more channels between the ridges; and
a cured sealing material filling the cavity including the channels, the sealing material contacting the end of the fastener and the structure,wherein the cap body and the cavity terminate at an annular rim, the cap body is installed over the end of the fastener with an annular gap between the annular rim and the structure, and the cured sealing material forms an annular bead of sealing material in the annular gap. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
Specification