Patent Application
20080073855
Reference is now made to the accompanying figures depicting aspects of the present invention, in which:
A pocket or recess groove 112 is provided between the sleeve 108 and the housing 102. In this example, the recess groove 112 includes a housing recess groove 114 defined in the inner surface of the housing 102, and a sleeve recess groove 116 defined in the outer surface of the sleeve 108. Both the housing recess groove 114 and the sleeve recess groove 116 are defined at relative longitudinal positions in the housing 102 and the sleeve 108, respectively, which allow them to be axially aligned when the sleeve 108 is properly positioned in the housing 102. The grooves 114 and 116 extend all around the inner and outer circumferences of the housing 102 and the sleeve 108, respectively.
An adhesive 118 is provided in the recess groove 112 and bonds the sleeve 108 to the housing 102. Commercially available adhesives such as Loctite products 222, 242, 271, 290, 609, 620, 680 etc. could for instance be used. The type of adhesive used in the recess groove can be various and the selection of a particular type thereof will appear to those of skill in the art given the present disclosure. Once set, the adhesive 118 provides a solid permanently hardened biscuit that will prevent removal of the sleeve 108 from the housing 102 even if the bond between the sleeve and the housing fails. This design is less sensible to vibration and stress than conventional seal retention designs.
In alternate embodiments, the recess groove can be provided solely in the housing (such as depicted in
Whether a recess groove 112 and its adhesive 118 are used or not, it is typically advantageous that a substantial portion of the outer surface 120 of the sleeve 108 be bonded to the inner surface 122 of the sleeve reception aperture 104. If an adhesive is to be used for this bond, it is typically advantageous that a loose fit be provided between the sleeve 108 and the housing 102 because a tight fit may result in any adhesive applied therebetween to be squeezed out upon assembly of the sleeve 108 with the housing 102. The use of a recess groove 112 therefore permits having a tight fit between the sleeve 108 and the housing 102 at all locations except where the recess groove 112 is located. Typically, the recess groove 112 extends only along a relatively small fraction of the overall length of the sleeve 108.
If a loose fit is used instead of a tight fit, an adhesive bond can be used between the sleeve outer surface 120 and the housing inner surface 122 in addition to the adhesive filling the recess groove 112. As mentioned hereinabove, one advantage which arises when the recess groove 112 is provided as two communicating recess grooves (114 and 116), is that the adhesive forms a hardened biscuit which provides retention even if the bond between the housing 102 and the sleeve 108 fails.
In the example of
It will be noticed that the sleeve 208 in this example optionally has an interference neck 226 at the insertion end 203 thereof. The interference neck 226 is wider than the sleeve main body 228 and provides an additional safety in preventing the sleeve 208 from leaving the housing 202 by the interference neck edge 229 engaging the housing recess groove edge 230.
In
The above description is meant to be exemplary only, and one skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made to the embodiments described without department from the scope of the invention disclosed. For example, various types of housings and sleeves of various dimensions can be used. Further, various positions, sizes and selections of recess grooves can be used. Still other modifications which fall within the scope of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in light of a review of this disclosure, and such modifications are intended to fall within the appended claims.
