Itt Corporation

Delphi Technologies, Inc.

Itt Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc.

John G Panek

Richard L Gottorff

Arthur R Williams

Michael Graney

A cylindrical thin walled tube with a through bore extending its entire axial length between first and second opposed ends is individually mounted in a bore in a fitting, with an end portion of the tube extending outward from a land surface on the fitting. A groove is formed on the exterior of the tube between the first and second ends and receives a seal element which is engageable with the land surface on the fitting. At least one mounting barb is formed on the body, generally adjacent one of the ends of the body, for fixedly mounting the tube in the bore in the fitting. The tube may also be formed with multiple mounting barbs and multiple grooves, each groove receiving a separate seal element. The outwardly extending portion of the tube acts as a male pilot for guiding the precise alignment of a bore in a complimentary fitting into alignment with the bore in the fitting in which the tube is mounted.

Pilot insert seal for a tube fitting

An acceptance tester for a fuel rail seal gland drops a weight to drive a simulated fuel injector dynamically at the opening of a seal gland to be tested, simulating accurately the mechanics of insertion of an injector into the gland on a production line. The force of insertion may be varied by varying the weight to be dropped, the height from which the weight is to be dropped, or both. A &ldquo;pass&rdquo; is indicated when the simulated injector and O-ring are inserted into the gland without damage to the gland or O-ring. A &ldquo;fail&rdquo; is indicated when the simulated injector and O-ring either fail to be inserted into the gland or damage the gland during insertion. A maximum acceptance force for a given combination of gland and fuel injector can easily be determined empirically. A continuous process for plating fuel rails may be readily controlled by testing plated glands at statistically significant intervals, permitting operators to accurately monitor plating thickness inferentially.

Drop tester for a fuel rail seal gland

A unitary assembly of tubing and an end fitting. The end fitting includes a threaded fastener fitting having a tubular bore extending therethrough. A conical transition is coaxially provided to the bore at the thread/hex interface where the bore constricts. The end of the tubing is coaxially impacted, expanded and sized to an external configuration and dimension that achieves an interference fit relative to the tubular bore through the end fitting. The non-expanded end of the tubing is inserted into the larger of the two bores in the end fitting passed the conical transition and through the smaller bore until it experiences interference from the expansion. The interference is overcome by pressing the expansion into the bore in the end fitting until the expansion is completely seated into the end fitting. The expanded tube and end fitting is machined coaxially using a five step tool. The tool machines the inside diameter of the tube where it had been reduced during end forming, swages the expanded tube into the end fitting bore below the hex, machines the female pilot land, machines the O-ring gland, and machines the thread lead on the end fitting.

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Churchville, NY, United States of America

John G Panek