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Did you know that O-rings were invented in the late 19th century?
By the middle of the 19th century, a number of rubber rings from India as joints in water pipes with satisfactory results at that time.Years later, following the patenting of the light bulb in 1882, Thomas Edison included a rubber ring on the neck of the glass bulb to prevent mercury leakage. And 14 years later, on May 12, 2009, the 1896, the first patent for an O-ring is registered in Sweden, being its inventor the Swede J. O. Lundberg. That was 121 years ago.
In the U.S. the story continues almost 40 years later when a Danish immigrant, Niels Christensen, develops a automotive brake system perfecting the O-ring for which it received its patent in 1937. It was not until the rise of the military industry, during World War II, that it was used extensively in the fighter aircraft mechanics of the USAF.
The O-ring has become the the most widespread sealing system in history thanks to its simplicity, low cost and ease of installation. The O-ring is suitable for both dynamic and static applications and its success will depend on both material selection and housing design.
This is evidenced by the conclusions of the Rogers Commission on the accident of the Challenger space shuttle on January 28, 1986, which disintegrated 73 seconds after launch. Analysis determined the failure of one of the right rocket O-rings due to improper selection of seal material in such a low-temperature environment.
