Captive plastic seal

Claim 2

A seal construction comprising: a viscoelastic mass; resilient wall means for containing said mass in a defined volume, said containing means including edge means defining a peripheral gap additionally exposing at least one peripheral surface of said viscoelastic mass for sealing purposes, the remainder of said containing means being in intimate contact along all of the remaining peripheral surface of said mass; and whereby when said seal construction is disposed adjacent at least one sealing surface to be sealed, said sealing surface forms with said containing means a now completely enclosed volume for said viscoelastic material, said edge means are in contact with the surface to be sealed and upon the application of external pressure to said viscoelastic mass, said viscoelastic mass comes in intimate sealing contact with said surface to be sealed and said resilient wall means are deformed retaining at least a part of its resilience.

Claim 3

The structure according to claim 1 wherein: said containing means includes a first curved imperforate resilient strip and a second curved imperforate resilient strip, each of strips having the same height and terminating in outer peripheral lips forming said edge means, said strips being spaced from one another so that said mass has two exposed surfaces extending across and bridging the space between said lips, said exposed surfaces extending parallel to each other and spaced apart a distance equal to the height of said strips; and there are two surfaces to be sealed, said sealing surfaces being arranged to be brought into intimate sealing contact with said exposed surfaces.

Claim 4

The structures according to claim 2 wherein said strips are continuous and spaced radially from one another.

Claim 5

The structure according to claim 1 wherein said viscoelastic mass is a fluoropolymer.

Claim 6

The structure according to claim 1 wherein said containing means include a movable ram member for exerting pressure on said viscoelastic mass.

Claim 7

The structure according to claim 1 wherein said resilient wall means includes a deformable spring member for exerting pressure on said viscoelastic mass.

Claim 8

A seal construction comprising: a first surface to be sealed; a second surface to be sealed; said surfaces being arranged adjacent one another; a first endless spring strip with one edge positioned on said first surface and its other edge in engagement with said second surface; a second endless spring strip with one edge on said first surface and its other edge in engagement with Said second surface, said first and second strips being radially displaced from one another to form a peripheral gap; a chamber defined by said surfaces and said strips; a plastic mass captivated in said chamber, said mass being in intimate contact with the inner peripheral facing surfaces of each of said strips and forming an exposed surface in said gap parallel to said first and second surfaces and confined by said strip edges, said mass thus entirely filling said chamber; and means including both of said strips for applying force directly on said plastic mass sufficient to make said plastic mass viscous so that it can be pressed, in intimate conformity, into surface voids and irregularities in the surfaces defining said chamber.

Claim 9

A seal construction comprising: a first surface to be sealed; a second surface to be sealed; said surfaces being arranged adjacent one another; a first endless spring strip with one edge positioned on said first surface and its other edge in engagement with said second surface; a second endless spring strip with one edge on said first surface and its other edge in engagement with Said second surface, said first and second strips being radially displaced from one another to form a peripheral gap; a chamber defined by said surfaces and said strips; a plastic mass captivated in said chamber, said mass being in intimate contact with the inner peripheral facing surfaces of each of said strips and forming an exposed surface in said gap parallel to said first and second surfaces and confined by said strip edges, said mass thus entirely filling said chamber; and means including both of said strips for applying force directly on said plastic mass sufficient to make said plastic mass viscous so that it can be pressed, in intimate conformity, into surface voids and irregularities in the surfaces defining said chamber.

Claim 10

The structure according to claim 7 wherein said first strip has a cross section with plural reverse bends between its edges, said first strip including an intermediate reverse bend which projects into said chamber so that its potential energy can be used to augment compression of said plastic mass.

Claim 11

The structure according to claim 7 further comprising means for selectively tightening the seal by adjusting the distance between said surfaces.

Claim 12

A seal construction comprising: a first surface to be sealed including means forming a first seating groove; a second surface to be sealed including means forming a second seating groove, said surfaces being arranged adjacent one another with their respective seating grooves in facing relationship; an endless spring strip having a pair of integrally formed diverging arms, a first arm of which is positioned in said first seating groove and a second arm of which is positioned in said second seating groove; means for connecting the surfaces together; a pair of chambers, one chamber being formed by the walls of said first seating groove and said first arm, the other chamber being formed by the walls of said second seating groove and said second arm; a plastic material placed in and captivated by each of said chambers, said plastic entirely filling its respective chamber; and means for applying force directly on said plastic material sufficient to make said plastic material viscous so that it can be pressed, in intimate conformity, into surface voids and irregularities of the walls of said chambers.

Claim 13

A seal construction comprising: a first surface to be sealed including means forming a first seating groove; a second surface to be sealed including means forming a second seating groove, said surfaces being arranged adjacent one another with their respective seating grooves in facing relationship; an endless spring strip having a pair of integrally formed diverging arms, a first arm of which is positioned in said first seating groove and a second arm of which is positioned in said second seating groove; means for connecting the surfaces together; a pair of chambers, one chamber being formed by the walls of said first seating groove and said first arm, the other chamber being formed by the walls of said second seating groove and said second arm; a plastic material placed in and captivated by each of said chambers, said plastic entirely filling its respective chamber; and means for applying force directly on said plastic material sufficient to make said plastic material viscous so that it can be pressed, in intimate conformity, into surface voids and irregularities of the walls of said chambers.

Claim 14

The structure according to claim 10 further comprising a spacer ring extending between and engaging said arms to stop relative inward movement of said arms with the result that compression stress on said plastic material is increased.

Claim 15

A seal comprising a first endless resilient spring strip; a second endless resilient spring strip spaced from said first strip; each of said strips having the same height and terminating in outer peripheral lips forming spaced surface-contacting edge means with peripheral gaps therebetween; a chamber defined by said strips; a plastic mass captivated in said chamber, said mass being in intimate contact with inner peripheral facing surfaces of said strips and forming exposed surfaces in said gaps parallel to and bridging said lips, said exposed surfaces being spaced apart a distance equal to the height of said strips, said mass entirely filling said chamber; and said strips being compressible whereby said mass becomes viscous and presses the exposed surfaces of the mass into voids and irregularities of surfaces to be sealed.

Claim 16

A seal comprising a first endless resilient spring strip; a second endless resilient spring strip spaced from said first strip; each of said strips having the same height and terminating in outer peripheral lips forming spaced surface-contacting edge means with peripheral gaps therebetween; a chamber defined by said strips; a plastic mass captivated in said chamber, said mass being in intimate contact with inner peripheral facing surfaces of said strips and forming exposed surfaces in said gaps parallel to and bridging said lips, said exposed surfaces being spaced apart a distance equal to the height of said strips, said mass entirely filling said chamber; and said strips being compressible whereby said mass becomes viscous and presses the exposed surfaces of the mass into voids and irregularities of surfaces to be sealed.