Seal for a joint or juncture – Seal between relatively movable parts – Relatively rotatable radially extending sealing face member
Patent
1999-06-28
2000-10-24
Melius, Terry Lee
Seal for a joint or juncture
Seal between relatively movable parts
Relatively rotatable radially extending sealing face member
277400, 277399, 277382, F16J 1534
Patent
active
061354589
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a static pressure-type non-contact gas seal suitable for use in different types of rotary equipment, such as turbines, blowers, compressors, agitators, and rotary valves, for different kinds of gases including toxic gas, flammable gas, explosive gas, and dust-mixed gas.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A static pressure type non-contact gas seal 101 as formed and shown in FIG. 8 is known.
As shown in FIG. 8, the prior art seal 101 comprises a rotary seal ring 102 fixed on a rotary shaft 110, a stationary seal ring 104 held slidable in the axial direction via a pair of O-rings 106 on the circular inner circumferential portion of a seal casing 103 and springs 105 mounted between the back side of the stationary seal ring 104 and the seal casing 103 for pressing the stationary seal ring 104 against the rotary seal ring 102. And this prior art seal is so designed that the seal end faces 120 and 140 formed on the opposing ends of the two seal rings 102 and 104 are held in a non-contact state by a static pressure acting therebetween such that a circular area between the seal end faces 120 and 140 seals off the sealed fluid region at the outer periphery side, i.e. the inside region F of the machine, from the outside (atmospheric) region A at the inner periphery side.
The stationary seal ring 104 is provided with shallow grooves or static pressure generating grooves 109 on the seal end face 140. Into these grooves are introduced a seal gas 108 such as nitrogen gas compressed to a higher level than the pressure of the inside region F of the machine to produce a static pressure at the circular area between seal end faces 120 and 140, thus holding the seal end faces 120 and 140 in a non-contact state. In other words, the seal gas 108 led into the static pressure generating grooves 109 forms a static pressure fluid film between the seal end faces 120 and 140. Because of the presence of this fluid film, the seal end faces 120 and 140 are held in a non-contact state, with the inside region F of the machine sealed off from the outside region A. The seal gas 108 whose pressure is higher than that of the inside region F can leak through between the seal end faces 120 and 140 into the inside region F of the machine and the outside region A, but the inside gas or sealed fluid in the inside region F can not penetrate into the area between the seal end faces 120 and 140, and, hence, is not allowed to leak out to the outside region A.
To the static pressure generating grooves 109, the seal gas 108 is supplied through a continuous gas supply channel 180 formed in the seal casing 103 and the stationary seal ring 104 as shown in FIG. 8. The gas supply channel 180 comprises a circular closed space 171 and two passages 181 and 182. The circular closed space 171 is formed between the inner circumferential portion of the seal casing 103 and the outer circumferential portion of the stationary seal ring 104 and closed by a pair of O-rings disposed side by side in the axial direction. The first passage 181 is formed in the seal casing 103 through which the seal gas 108 is led into the closed space 171. The second passage 182 is provided in the stationary seal ring 104. Through this passage 182, the seal gas 108 supplied to the closed space 171 is led to the static pressure generating grooves 109 via an orifice 183. The seal gas 108 introduced into the static pressure generating grooves 109 flows out to the inside region F and the outside region A through between the seal end faces 120 and 140, holding the seal end faces 120 and 140 in a noncontact state by a fluid film formed by a static pressure. Between the seal end faces 120 and 140, an opening force and a closing force are in equilibrium and balanced, thereby keeping the two seal end faces in a non-contact state. The opening force is a force resulting from the static pressure produced by the seal gas 108 led to the static pressure generating grooves 109 and the pressure inside the machine acting on the outside circumferential edge
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Melius Terry Lee
Nippon Pillar Packing Co. Ltd.
Santos Robert G.
LandOfFree
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