Claims
- 1. An apparatus for sealing between a closure and a body such as a door and door frame of a vehicle, comprising:
- a deflatable sealing member for resilient interference engagement between said closure and said body;
- vacuum source means in he form of a bellows actuatable by resilient memory to form a vacuum when connected to said deflatable sealing member; means for mounting said bellows at one end to one of said closure or said body and including an opposite, relatively displaceable end for actuating said bellows to condition said bellows for actuation by resilient memory;
- means for connecting said relatively displaceable end of said bellows to the other of said closure or said body to contract said bellows for actuation by resilient memory only during opening of said closure, said bellows being expanded by resilient memory during closing of said closure; and
- a flow control circuit connected o said bellows including first valve means operable to open said bellows to atmosphere during contraction of said bellows, second valve means operable to connect said sealing means to said bellows during actuation by resilient memory to deflate said sealing member to a reduced cross section only during closing of said closure so as to allow passage of air from inside the vehicle past said sealing member to substantially reduce closing effort and eliminate compression shock, and adjustable bleed valve means having an adjustable bleed port directly continuously connecting said bellows with atmosphere, said bleed port being adjustable to a size that assuredly allows said bellows to overcome air flowing from the atmosphere through said bleed port into said bellows during contracture so as to effect the deflation of said sealing member but also assuredly allow the internal pressure of said sealing member to fully return to atmospheric pressure and expand said sealing member by resilient memory to full cross section after closing of said closure so as to provide firm sealing engagement with the desired resilient interference between said closure and said body in various sealing installations having different air bleed requirements.
- 2. An apparatus for sealing between a closure and a body such as a door and door frame of a vehicle, comprising:
- a deflatable sealing member for resilient interference engagement between said closure and said body;
- vacuum source means in the form of a bellows connected to said deflatable sealing member; means for mounting an end of said bellows to one of said closure or said body, said bellows having an opposite, relatively displaceable end for actuating said bellows remote from the other of said closure or said body;
- means for remotely connecting said relatively displaceable end of said bellows to the other of said closure or said body, said connecting means including a cable extending through said mounting end of said bellows and flexible for actuating said bellows to reduce the volume thereof only during opening of said closure, said bellows being actuatable by resilient memory and the slackening of said cable only during closing of said closure to create a vacuum, means being provided on said mounting end for sealingly engaging said cable; and
- flow control means including an exhaust check value connected to said bellows and openable upon opening of said closure to reduce the volume of said bellows in response to actuation by said cable and an intake check value connected to said bellows and openable during closing of said closure in response to actuation of said bellows by said resilient memory to admit atmospheric air into said bellows, a flow line connected between said intake check valve and said deflatable sealing member, and adjustable bleed valve means having a bleed port of variable size directly continuously connecting said bellows with atmosphere for assuring said sealing member is deflated to a reduced cross section only during closing of said closure by a vacuum in the bellows and through said intake check valve and for assuring that the internal pressure of said sealing member is allowed to fully return to ambient pressure after closing by flow of ambient air through said bleed port, whereby passage of air is allowed from inside the vehicle past said sealing member o substantially reduce closing effort and eliminate compression shock and said sealing member expands by resilient memory to full cross section after closing if said closure so as to provide firm sealing engagement with the desired resilient interference between said closure and said body.
- 3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said bleed port is in said mounting end of said bellows.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/380,421 filed July 17, 1989.
US Referenced Citations (16)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0008525 |
Jan 1984 |
JPX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
380421 |
Jul 1989 |
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