GB2186035A

GB2186035A - Seal

Info

Publication number: GB2186035A
Application number: GB08601640A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Edward Sagar Fort
Original assignee: Fort Valve Engineering Ltd
Current assignee: Fort Valve Engineering Ltd
Priority date: 1986-01-23
Filing date: 1986-01-23
Publication date: 1987-08-05
Also published as: GB8601640D0; FR2593259A1; GB2186035B; FR2593259B1; US4915355A

Description

GB 2 186 035 A 1

SPECIFICATION

Seal The present invention relates to a seal, and in part- 70 icular, but not exclusively, to a valve seal or a piston seaL It is often necessary to provide a seal between two relatively movable parts, in orderto preventthe un 10 desired flow of fluid or even of particulate solids.

Seals are particularly necessary in valves, where a seal is responsible for securely shutting off thevalve atthe desiredtime. Usually, avalve sea[ is inthe form of a rubberO-ring which is seated in a groovein 15 a movablevalve memberandwhich abutsavalve seat when the valve is shut.

Althoughthis arrangement is suitable in many applications, the rubberO-ring is likelyto perish if particularly reactive orabrasive substances areflow 20 ing through the valve, and if a high flow rate is used, the O-ring can become displacedfrom its groove. In eithercase, sealing no longeroccurs, and unwanted material may be dischargedfrom thevalve.

Thus, itis a requirement that a seal should be 25 chemically relatively inert,should be securelyseated 90 to prevent itfrom becoming dislodged, yet should still have sufficient resiliencyto provide a good seal ing action.

A currently-used seal which seeksto overcome these problems consists of an O-ring which a rubber core and a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) outer coat ing. This provides a good seal due to the resilience of the rubber and is chemically relatively inert due to the PTFE coating. However, the seals are very much 35 more expensive than conventional, rubber O-rings.

Another seal currently in use comprises two com pressed asbestos fibre (CAF) washers, one on top of the other, which are held in an annular, square U section, PTFE envelope, open radially outwardly, with a second annular, rounded U-section PTFE en velope, open radially inwardly, positioned overthe first PTFE envelope. However, this arrangement leaves a considerable quantity of air between the second envelope and the CAFwashers, which prod 45 uces a lack of resilience. Moreover, the CAFwashers are compressible to a degree, which results in less positive sealing of the seal against its valve seat. The seal is diff icultto construct accurately, with resultant misalignment and poor performance. Moreover, the twin PTFE envelopes are difficult and expensive to assemble, and when worn out, the whole sea[ assembly must be discarded.

A similar seal to the above comprises a flat rubber annulus with a rounded outer edge overwhich roun 55 ded outer edge, and partially over the flat portion of the annulus, a close-fitting PTFE envelope isfitted.A second PTFE envelope extends partially over the flat portions of the first envelope and encloses the rad ially inner edge of the rubber annulus. Despite hav 60 ing rubber in its construction, this type of sea[ lacks the expected resilience, since the rubberfills sub stantial ly the whole of the space defined by the two PTFE envelopes and there is no room into which the rubber may deform. Although the resilience is less than expected, the rubber is still compressibleto a degree, resulting in less positive sealing. As in the previous example of the prior art, there are problems with the assembly of the seal and with the factthat the whole sea[ must be dispensed with when worn.

The present invention seeks to overcome the problems associated with the prior art.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seal comprising a substantially rigid support member, an abutment en- 75 velope extending at least partially overthe support member and defining a volume therebetween, and a resiliently deformable sealing member in the volume defined between the support member and the abutment envelope.

Preferably, the support member, the abutment envelope and the resiliently deformable sealing member are annular. In a preferred embodiment, the volume defined between the support member and the abutment member is a closed annularvolume.

In a preferred embodiment, the cross-sectional diameter of the undeformed sealing member is less than the width of the volume defined between the abutment member and the support member, such thatthe sealing member is compressed when fitted intothevolume.

In a preferred embodiment, the support member comprises an annulus having two substantially parallel faces and the abutment envelope is annular, comprisestwo opposed faces, each face abutting 95 one of thefaces of the support member, and has a sealing portion interconnecting the two opposed faces. Preferably,the sealing portion connecting the two opposed faces is rounded, and preferably, one or both of the substantially parallel faces of the sup- 100 port member is serrated.

The sealing portion of the abutment member may be positioned radially inwardly or radially outwardly of the support member.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present 105 invention, there is provided a valve comprising a seal in accordance with the present invention.

Preferably, the seal is held between two releasably securable portions of the valve, and preferablythe parts of the valve portions abutting the sea[ are serra- 110 ted.

By way of example only, a specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional side elevation of a por- 115 tion of an embodiment of valve seal according to the present invention; Figure2 is a cross-sectional side elevation of a valve, with thevalve seal of Figure 1 fittedthereto; and Figure3 is a detail view of a portion of thevalve shown in Figure 2.

Referring firstlyto Figure 1,the embodiment of valve seal according to the present invention comprises an annular, stainless steel clamping ring 10, 125 generally rectangular in cross-section, but having charnfered edges 12, and two serrated opposite faces 14,16 (serrated to B. S. 1560 Part 2). A rubber O-ring 18 is positioned on the radially outermostface 20 of the clamping ring 10 and is held in place by means of a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) envelope 2 GB 2 186 035 A 22. The PTFE envelope comprises two flat, substantially parallel portions 24 which are interconnected by a retaining portion 26 which is semi- circular in crosssection. ltwill be appreciated thatthe valve seal is 5 annular and that only a cross-section of one portion of the seal is illustrated in Figure 1.

In use, the envelope is fitted manually over the 0ring 18 and the clamping ring 10, and secures the 0-ring in position adjacentthe radial ly outermost face20 of the clamping ring. ltshouid be notedthat the distance between the internal faces of the portions 24 of the PTFE envelope, and the distance between theface 20 of the clamping ring and the radially outermost point on the inner surface of 15 retaining portion 26 are both five per cent smaller than the cross- sectional diameter of the 0-ring, so thatwhen in position the 0-ring is compressed between the envelope 22 and the clamping ring 10.

ltwill also be seen from Figure 1 thatthe inner faces of the portions 24 assume the shape of the serrated faces 14,16 of the clamping ring. This helpsto secure the envelope on the clamping ring and also provides an excellent seal between the clamping ring and the envelope.

Referring nowto Figures 2 and 3,the valve seal is shown in use on a valve 28,which valve comprises a movable stainless steel valve member30 which is movable into and out of sealing engagement with a frusto-conical stainless steel valve seat 32. The mov- 30 able valve member 30 comprises a cylindrical stem 34 and a disc-shaped valve head 36, and a removable annularsecuring element 38 comprising a disc portion with chamfered edges40 and an annular axially central f lange 42. The valve member30 and the sec- 35 uring element 38 are releasably securable by means of three threaded bolts 44, only one of which is visibleinFigure2.

Referring to Figure 3, the valve head 36 is provided with a circumferential annular groove 46 comprising a substantially flat portion 48 which is also serrated (to B.S.1 560 Part 2), an arcuate circumferential portion 50 shaped to receive part of the retaining portion 26 and an inner, arcuate, recessed portion 52. Furthermore,the upperedge defining theface 54 of the groove is chamfered to provide a frusto-conical surface 56. In use, the valve seal is fitted into the groove 46 and is held therein by positioning the securing element 38 and securing the securing element to the valve member 30 by means of the bolts 44. In this way, the valve seal is held firmly in place. It will also be seen from Figure 3 thatthe portion of the securing element 38 which abuts the valve seal in use is serrated (to B.S.1 560 Part 2) which, as before, helps to provide an excellent seal between the valve member 55 and the seal itself, and helps to secure the valve seal in position.

The valve is biassed shut by means of a compression spring 58 acting on the valve head 36, and'may be opened by movement of an actuating finger (not shown) which is seated in a recess 60 in the face of thevalve head 36 and which may be moved by a lever arrangement (not shown). The valve and its operation are well known and will not be further described.

When the valve is closed, the rigid stainless steel clamping ring 10 gives a positive clamped position, allowing tight tolerances. Moreover, the serrated surfaces 14,16,48 againstwhich the PTFE envelope abuts helpsto provide an extremely good sealing ac- 70 tion.

There may be many variations to the present invention. For example, itwill be appreciated by a person skilled in the artthatthe seal may be mounted in thevalve seat32 instead of in the movablevalve 75 member30, in which casethe seal would be constructed "inside out",that is with the retaining portion 26 radially innermost,the O-ring 18 radially outward of the portion 26 and the stainless steel clamping member 10 radially outermost.

The present invention may also be used in a butterflyvalve or in any poppettype valve. However, the invention is not restricted to seals forvalves. In particular, a seal according to the present invention may be used to seal a piston axially movable in a cylinder 85 bore. The sea[ may be provided either on the piston, using a seal as described in the illustrated embodiment, or may be provided in the cylinderwall, using a seal as described in the foregoing paragraph.

Claims

90 CLAIMS

1. A sea[, comprising a substantially rigid support member, an abutment envelope extending at least partially overthe support member and defining 95 a volume therebetween, and a resiliently deformable sealing member in the volume defined between the support member and the abutment envelope.

2. A seal as claimed in claim 1, wherein the volume defined between the support member and 100 the abutment envelope is a closed annularvolume.

3. Aseal as claimed in claim 1 orclaim 2,wherein the support rpember, the abutment envelope and the resiliently deformable sealing member are annular.

4. A seal as claimed in any of the preceding 105 claims, wherein the cross-sectional dimension of the undeformed sealing member is less than the width of the volume defined between the abutment envelope and the support member such that the sealing member is compressed when fitted into the 110 volume.

5. A seal as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the support member comprises an annulus having two substantially parallel faces and the abutment envelope is annular, and comprises 115 two opposed faces, each face abutting one of the faces of the support member, and has a sealing portion interconnecting thetwo faces.

6. A sea[ as claimed in claim 5, wherein the sealing portion connecting the two faces is rounded.

120

7. A seal as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6,wherein - one or both of the substantially parallel faces of the support member is/are serrated.

8. Aseal as claimed in claim 2 oranyof claims3 to 7 when appendantto claim 2, wherein the resilient 125 deformable member is positioned radially outwardly of the support member.

9. Aseal as claimed in claim 2 or any of claims3 to 8 when appendant to claim 2, wherein the resiliently deformable member is positioned radially in- 130 wardly of the support member.

3 GB 2 186 035 A 3

10. Avalve, comprising a seal as claimed in any of the preceding claims.

11. Avalve as claimed in claim 10, wherein the seal is held between two releasably securable port5 ions of the valve.

12. Avalve as claimed in claim 11, wherein one or both of the releasably securable portions is/are serrated.

13. A seal substantially as herein described, with 10 reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.

14. Valve substantially as herein described, with referenece to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Croydon Printing Company (UK) Ltd, 6/87, D8991685. Published byThe Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC2A 1AY, from which copies maybe obtained.

I