Unitary bearing seal

Details Unitary bearing seal Unitary bearing seal

1998-05-22

2001-02-06

Knight, Anthony (Department: 3626)

Seal for a joint or juncture

Seal between relatively movable parts

Diverse and distinct dynamic seals

C277S412000, C277S420000, C277S421000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06182972

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1) Field of the Invention
It is important to seal rotating shafts to prevent lubricants associated with the bearings from leaking from the bearing housing and also to prevent contaminants in the environment from proceeding into the lubricant of the bearings.
2) Related Art
The invention described in U.S. Pat. No 5,498,006 was designed to alleviate these destructive thrust forces occurring on the faces of the rotator and stator due to the frictional engagement between the rotating member and the stationary member when the shaft is moved axially. This invention is designed to improve this ability to absorb or accommodate the thrust forces occurring on the faces of the rotor and stator due the frictional engagement between the rotating member and the stationary member when the shaft is moved axially. This invention is an improvement over the prior art where the pins used to accommodate the thrust were axially acted upon by the rotator and stator at an arc point. Thus the wear was considerable at that point on the pins so as to deteriorate into a cord contact. This improvement provides a tangential insertion of a rectangular strip of material to absorb the pressure or thrust forces. The strip will absorb the thrust forces across the full face of the circumferential member.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide continuous sealing around rotating shafts and associated housings to prevent leakage of lubricants from the housing and entry of the contaminants into the housings and especially during axial shaft movement or displacement. This improvement results from a tangential insertion of material into a recess formed in stator and a recess formed in the rotating member or rotor, or insertion into recesses in the axially split embodiment (not shown). Two piece labyrinth mechanical seals operate based upon the principle that the labyrinths prevent the migration of the lubricants and/or the contaminants in either direction. There is normally one ring of a labyrinth seal secured to the shaft and one ring affixed to the housing which is to be sealed. This invention is an improvement over prior two-piece or three-piece labyrinth mechanical seals, especially labyrinth seals which are subjected to axial movement of the shaft.
The improvement of this invention is provided in our embodiment by tangentially inserting a strip of material, normally lubricous, through the stationary member into a recess formed in rotor and stator in an area axially removed from the labyrinths in the rotating ring or member. The labyrinths are also designed to allow axial movement of the ring member without the grooves and flanges of the labyrinth abutting each other. The movement of the labyrinth channels, grooves and flanges is limited by the axial engagement of the rotating member with the stationary member. These limits are normally determined by the axial width of the recess and the size of the insert to absorb the thrust. The rotating member is permitted to move with the shaft, a predetermined axial distance before the face of rotating the member abuts the 360 degrees material insert. The size of the insertion permits a predetermined amount of free axial movement of the rotating ring before the axial thrust must be absorbed by the thrust absorbing insert against the radial surface of the corresponding cavity in the rotating member.
It is also possible in utilizing this invention to provide lubrication to the interface between the absorbing material insert and the walls of the recess, and thus further reduce the wear caused by the thrust forces of the axial movement of the shaft. Wear occurring due to the thrust forces between rotor and stator and are minimized by the surface contact between the complementary walls and the insert.


REFERENCES:
patent: 1151965 (1915-08-01), Peterson
patent: 4706968 (1987-11-01), Orlowski
patent: 4890941 (1990-01-01), Calafell, II et al.
patent: 5028054 (1991-07-01), Peach
patent: 5174583 (1992-12-01), Orlowski et al.
patent: 5378000 (1995-01-01), Orlowski
patent: 5498006 (1996-03-01), Orlowski

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