Seal removal apparatus

[0001] This invention was made with Government support. The government has certain rights in this invention.

[0002] Seals are often used to seal structures, such as scaling an aircraft door to a door frame. It is sometimes necessary to remove one or more portions of the seal to conduct maintenance. One of the existing methods to remove a seal is for a maintenance user to roll back the seal from the door and/or doorframe using only his or her fingers. However, this may be straining to the user, may be timely which may lead to increased costs, may be difficult, may damage the seals or the adhesive holding the seals, and/or may lead to other types of problems.

[0003] A seal removing device and/or method of removing a seal is needed to decrease one or more problems of one or more of the existing devices and/or methods.

[0004] In one aspect of the disclosure, a seal removal tool comprises a handle and a seal grasping member. The seal grasping member is adapted to move from a first position not secured to a seal to a second position secured to a seal.

[0005] In another aspect of the disclosure, a method for removing a seal is disclosed. In one step, a seal removal tool is provided comprising a handle and a seal grasping member. In another step, the seal grasping member is moved into a first position adjacent to but not secured to the seal. In still another step, the seal grasping member is moved into a second position secured to the seal. In yet another step, the handle is rotated to remove the seal.

[0006] These and other features, aspects and advantages of the disclosure will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

[0016] The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the disclosure. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the disclosure, since the scope of the disclosure is best defined by the appended claims.

[0017] FIG. 1 shows a top view of one embodiment of a seal removal tool 10. FIGS. 2 and 3 respectively show side views of the embodiment of the removal tool 10 of FIG. 1 in a first extended position (FIG. 2) and in a second closed position (FIG. 3). The seal removal tool 10 may comprise a handle 12, a seal grasping member 14, and a biasing member 16. The removal tool 10 may be used to remove a seal of a vehicle, of an aircraft, or of another type of structure. In one embodiment, the removal tool 10 may be used to remove a seal of an aircraft door to access an aircraft door frame fastener. In another embodiment, the tool 10 may be used to remove varying types of seals or other types of structures.

[0018] The handle 12 may comprise a first end 18 with a curved surface 20, and a second end 22 which may be gripped and rotated by a user of the tool 10. The first end 18 of the handle 12 may have a width 19 which is wider than a width 23 of the second end 22 of the handle 12. The curved surface 20 of the first end 18 of the handle 12 may be used for contacting and rolling back a seal. The curved surface 20 may have a radius 24 in the range of 1/16 of an inch to 1 inch. In other embodiments, the surface 20 and the first and second ends 18 and 22 of the handle 12 may be of varying shapes, sizes, orientations, and configurations, in order to allow for handling of the handle 12 and to allow for contact with a seal.

[0019] The seal grasping member 14 may comprise a flexible hook 26 which may be adapted to change positions from the first, extended position of FIG. 2 to the second, closed position of FIG. 3. One end 28 of the hook 26 may be attached to the second end 22 of the handle 12 through welding or another attachment mechanism. Another end 30 of the hook 26 may not be attached to the handle 12 in order to allow the hook 26 to be flexible so that it may move from the first, extended position of FIG. 2 to the second, closed position of FIG. 3.

[0020] The biasing member 16 may be adapted to bias the seal grasping member 14 towards the second, closed position of FIG. 3. The biasing member 16 may comprise a spring 32. The spring 32 may bias a moveable bolt 34 towards direction 36. The bolt 34 may be movably disposed through a hole 38 in the handle 12 substantially perpendicular to the handle 12. One end 40 of the bolt 34 may be attached to the flexible seal grasping member 14. Another end 42 of the bolt 34 may terminate in a cap 44. In another embodiment, the seal grasping member 14 may be utilized without the biasing member 16. In still another embodiment, end 40 of the bolt 34 may be in contact with the flexible seal grasping member 14 without being attached to it.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 2, the cap 44 of the bolt 34 may be pressed in direction 46 towards the handle 12 by a user to force the spring 32 to compress between the cap 44 and the handle 12 in order to force the bolt 34 to also move in direction 46 by sliding within hole 38. This movement of the bolt 34 may cause the attached flexible seal grasping member to also move in direction 46 in order to dispose the seal grasping member 14 in the first, extended position away from the handle 12.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 3, the cap 44 of the bolt 34 may be depressed (or released) by a user so that the biasing member 16 forces the cap 44, bolt 34, and seal grasping member 14 to move in direction 36 so that the seal grasping member 14 is disposed into the second, closed position closer to the handle 12 than in the first, extended position. In such manner, by a user pressing (FIG. 2) and depressing (FIG. 3) the cap 44, the seal grasping member 14 may be adapted to change positions from the first extended position of FIG. 2 to the second, closed position of FIG. 3.

[0023] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of one embodiment of a method 148 for removing a seal 150. As shown in FIG. 5, which shows a perspective view of a vehicle 151 in the form of an aircraft 152, the seal 150, which may be removed using the method of FIG. 4, may be part of a vehicle 150 or part of another type of structure. The seal 150 may be attached to the periphery of an aircraft door 154, as shown in FIG. 5, and as better shown in FIG. 6, which shows a partial cross-section view through line 6-6 of the embodiment of FIG. 5. The seal 150 may be glued to the door 154 at locations 156 along the door 154 and seal 150. The seal 150 may include an inner, angled surface 158 at one end 160 of the seal 150. The seal 150 may cover one or more fasteners 162 which fasten the door 154 to a door frame 164. The fasteners 162 may comprise bolts or other fastening mechanism.

[0024] In step 166 of the method 148 of FIG. 4, a seal removal tool 10 is provided. The seal removal tool 10 may comprise any of the embodiments disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the seal removal tool 10 may comprise a handle 12 and a seal grasping member 14. The handle 12 may comprise a first end 18 having a curved surface 20 and a second end 22. The seal grasping member 14 may comprise a hook 26. A moveable bolt 34 may be attached to the seal grasping member 14 and may extend through a hole 38 in the handle 12. The bolt 34 may be disposed substantially perpendicular to the handle 12.

[0025] In step 168 of the method 148 of FIG. 4, the seal grasping member 14 may be moved into a first, extended position, as shown in FIG. 2, adjacent to but not secured to the seal 150. This is shown in FIG. 7, which is a side view of the seal grasping member 14 in the first extended position adjacent to but not secured to the seal 150. The seal grasping member 14 may be put in the first extended position by a user pushing a cap 44 of the bolt 34 towards the handle 12, with the bolt 34 forcing the seal grasping member 14 into the first extended position. The extended position of the seal grasping member 14 away from the handle 12 may allow the tool 10 to be aligned so that end 160 of the seal 150 is disposed between the first end 18 of the handle 12 and the seal grasping member 14. In order to obtain this alignment, the handle 12 may be disposed at a first angle 170 relative to a sealed portion 172 of the seal 150 against the door 154. The first angle 170 may substantially be in a range of 0 to 45 degrees.

[0026] In step 172 of the method 148 of FIG. 4, the seal grasping member 14 may be moved towards and/or into a second closed position, as shown in FIG. 3, secured to the seal 150. This is shown in FIG. 8, which is a side view of the seal grasping member 14 in the second closed position secured to the seal 150. The seal grasping member 14 may be put into the second closed position by the user releasing (or depressing) the cap 44 of the bolt 34 allowing the biasing member 16, which may comprise a spring 32, to force the cap 44, bolt 34, and attached seal grasping member 14 to move in direction 36. When this occurs, the hook 26 of the seal grasping member 14 may latch onto the inner, angled surface 158 of the seal 150. The seal grasping member 14 and hook 26 may collapse towards the handle 12 to secure the end 160 of the seal 150 between the seal grasping member 14 and the handle 12 in the second closed position. The curved surface 20 of the first end 18 of the handle 12 may abut against a portion 174 of the seal 150. The first angle 170 may remain substantially between 0 and 45 degrees.

[0027] In step 176, the handle 12 may be rotated by a user in direction 177 from its position of FIG. 8 to its position of FIG. 9 to at least partially remove and/or roll back the seal 150 from the door 154. The curved surface 20 of the first end 18 of the handle 12 may facilitate the rolling back of the seal 150. During this rotation process, the user may grip and rotate the second end 22 of the handle 12. The handle 12 may be rotated from the first angle 170 of FIGS. 7 and 8 to a second angle 178 of FIG. 9 of substantially 90 degrees in which the handle 12 is substantially perpendicular to the sealed portion 172 of the seal 150. In other embodiments, the first and second angles 170 and 178 may vary. During the rolling back process, the glue at locations 156 between the door 154 and the seal 150 may substantially remain in place, and the portion 180 of the seal 150 which is rolled back may not have been glued to the door 154 and/or to the door frame 164.

[0028] In step 182, as shown in FIG. 9, after the portion 180 of the seal 150 is rolled back, one or more fasteners 162 may be removed from under the seal 150. The removed fasteners 162 may comprise bolts connecting the door 154 to the door frame 164. The fasteners 162 may be removed using a screwdriver 184 or other removal device.

[0029] This disclosure may reduce one or more problems of one or more of the existing seal removal tools and/or methods for removing a seal. For instance, the disclosure may make it less timely, less difficult, less costly, and/or may allow for less seal damage and/or less user injury than one or more of the existing tools and/or methods of removal.

[0030] It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the following claims.