Railroad tanker car manway cover seal
View Patent ↗A railroad tanker car 10 with a fluid cargo tank 11 and a manway assembly 12 is disclosed. The manway assembly 12 includes a nozzle 17 having a nozzle sealing surface 24 and a cover 18 having a cover sealing surface 33 . An attachment device 19 supplies a closing force to bias the cover 18 toward the nozzle 17 . A fluid seal 51 prevents egress of fluids from and ingress of contaminants into the tank 11 . The seal 51 includes a cover seal member 54 , a nozzle seal member 55 , and an expander 56 that forces the members 54 and 55 against their respective cover and nozzle sealing surfaces. The fluid seal 51 also includes a compression limiting carrier 52 with integral locating tabs 53 that locates the seal 51 and controls the compression of the elastomeric components of the seal 51.
1. A seal for sealing an opening of a railroad tanker car manway assembly, the opening being surrounded by a generally annular first sealing surface and a longitudinally opposed and spaced apart generally annular second sealing surface, and said seal being interposed between the first and second sealing surfaces, said seal comprising:
a generally annular carrier;
a generally annular seal element attached to an outer peripheral surface of the carrier, the seal element being compressible between the first and the second sealing surfaces to provide a fluid tight seal therebetween, and the carrier being substantially incompressible relative to the seal element; and
and a plurality of locating tabs depending from an inner or outer periphery of the seal, said tabs being registerable with a corresponding inner or outer peripheral surface of the opening to align the seal coaxially therewith.
2. The seal of claim 1 wherein the seal element is formed at least in part of an elastomeric polymeric material such as a natural or synthetic rubber.
3. The seal of claim 1 wherein the carrier is formed of a rigid material such as a metal or plastic.
4. The seal of claim 1 wherein:
the carrier further has opposing first and second compression limiting surfaces each extending in a generally radial direction; and
the seal element extending circumferentially about said outer peripheral surface of the carrier, the seal element further extending axially beyond the first and the second compression limiting surfaces.
5. The seal of any one of claim 1 or 4 , wherein:
the seal element includes a first seal member extending axially beyond said first compression limiting surface, a second seal member extending axially beyond said second compression limiting surface, and a circumferential expander extending along and secured to the outer peripheral surface of the carrier, the carrier being disposed intermediate the first and second seal members, the first and second seal members being secured to the expander, the expander being of elastomeric polymeric material such as a natural or synthetic rubber, and the first and second seal members each being of an elastomeric thermoplastic material.
6. The seal of claim 5 , wherein the first sealing surface is disposed on a cover of a tanker manway assembly, and the second sealing surface is disposed on a nozzle of a tanker manway assembly.
7. The seal of claim 1 wherein the plurality of locating tabs depend from the outer periphery.
8. An assembly comprising:
a railroad tanker car manway nozzle having an opening, the opening being surrounded by a first generally annular sealing surface and having longitudinally extending inner and outer peripheral surfaces;
a cover having a second generally annular sealing surface longitudinally aligned with said nozzle sealing surface;
a generally annular and incompressible carrier;
a generally annular seal element attached to an outer peripheral surface of the carrier, the seal element being compressed between the first and the second sealing surfaces providing a fluid tight seal therebetween; and
a plurality of locating tabs depending longitudinally from an inner or outer periphery of the seal, the tabs being radially aligned with a corresponding inner or outer peripheral surface of the opening and aligning the seal coaxially therewith.
9. The assembly of claim 8 wherein the seal member includes a first elastomeric seal member and a second elastomeric seal member and an elastomeric expander, said seal members each being of a thermoplastic material, said expander being of a thermosetting material, said seal members each being bonded to said expander on longitudinally opposite sides of the expander, and the expander being bonded to the outer peripheral surface of the carrier.
10. The assembly of claim 9 wherein the carrier is of a rigid material such as metal or plastic, and said tabs are integral with said carrier.
11. The assembly of claim 10 wherein:
the carrier further has opposing first and second compression limiting surfaces each extending in a generally radial direction between the inner and outer peripheral surfaces; and
the seal element extending circumferentially about said outer peripheral surface of the carrier, the seal element further extending axially beyond the first and the second compression limiting surfaces.
12. A seal for sealing an opening of a railroad tanker car manway assembly, the opening being surrounded by a generally annular first sealing surface and a longitudinally opposed and spaced apart generally annular second sealing surface, and said seal being interposed between the first and second sealing surfaces, said seal comprising:
a generally annular carrier having an inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface and a plurality of locating tabs depending from one of the inner or outer peripheral surfaces, said tabs being registerable with a corresponding inner or outer peripheral surface of the opening to align the seal coaxially therewith; and
a generally annular seal member attached to the other one of the inner or outer peripheral surfaces of the carrier, the seal member being compressible between the first and the second sealing surfaces to provide a fluid tight seal therebetween,
wherein the seal member includes a first elastomeric seal member and a second elastomeric seal member and an elastomeric expander, said seal members each being of a thermoplastic material, said expander being of a thermosetting material, said seal members each being bonded to said expander on longitudinally opposite sides of the expander, and the expander being bonded to the other one of the inner or outer peripheral surfaces of the carrier.
13. The seal of claim 12 wherein the seal element is formed at least in part of an elastomeric polymeric material such as a natural or synthetic rubber.
14. The seal of claim 12 wherein the carrier is formed of a rigid material such as a metal or plastic.
15. The seal of claim 12 wherein:
the carrier further has opposing first and second compression limiting surfaces each extending in a generally radial direction; and
the seal element extending circumferentially about said one of the inner or outer peripheral surfaces of the carrier, the seal element further extending axially beyond the first and the second compression limiting surfaces.
16. The seal of any one of claim 12 or 15 , wherein:
the seal element includes a first seal member extending axially beyond said first compression limiting surface, a second seal member extending axially beyond said second compression limiting surface, and a circumferential expander extending along and secured to the other one of the inner and outer peripheral surfaces of the carrier, the carrier being disposed intermediate the first and second seal members, the first and second seal members being secured to the expander, the expander being of elastomeric polymeric material such as a natural or synthetic rubber, and the first and second seal members each being of an elastomeric thermoplastic material.
17. The seal of claim 16 , wherein the first sealing surface is disposed on a cover of a tanker manway assembly, and the second sealing surface is disposed on a nozzle of a tanker manway assembly.
18. An assembly comprising:
a railroad tanker car manway nozzle having an opening, the opening being surrounded by a first generally annular sealing surface and having longitudinally extending inner and outer peripheral surfaces;
a cover having a second generally annular sealing surface longitudinally aligned with said nozzle sealing surface;
a generally annular carrier having an inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface and a plurality of locating tabs each depending longitudinally from one of the inner or outer peripheral surfaces, the tabs being radially aligned with a corresponding inner or outer peripheral surface of the opening and aligning the seal coaxially therewith; and
a generally annular seal element attached to the other one of the inner or outer peripheral surfaces of the carrier, the seal element being compressed between the first and the second sealing surfaces providing a fluid tight seal therebetween,
wherein the seal member includes a first elastomeric seal member and a second elastomeric seal member and an elastomeric expander, said seal members each being of a thermoplastic material, said expander being of a thermosetting material, said seal members each being bonded to said expander on longitudinally opposite sides of the expander, and the expander being bonded to the other one of the inner or outer peripheral surfaces of the carrier.
19. The assembly of claim 18 wherein the carrier is of a rigid material such as metal or plastic, and said tabs are integral with said carrier.
20. The assembly of claim 19 wherein:
the carrier further has opposing first and second compression limiting surfaces each extending in a generally radial direction between the inner and outer peripheral surfaces; and
the seal element extending circumferentially about said one of the inner or outer peripheral surfaces of the carrier, the seal element further extending axially beyond the first and the second compression limiting surfaces.