GB737810A - Improvements in or relating to rotary connections for fluid conduits and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

737,810. Stuffing-box substitutes. PERFECTING SERVICE CO. Feb. 20, 1953, No. 4772/53. Class 122 (5). [Also in Group XXVIII] A rotary fitting whereby fluid, such as steam, is conveyed to a rotary drum comprises a housing 8, 9 to which is connected a supply pipe 15, a tube 17 extending into the housing and rotating with the drum, a ring 31 in sealing engagement with the housing and forming a bearing for the tube, and a resilient metal bellows 38 fixed and sealed to rings 35, 40, the ring 40 being sealed to the tube 17 and rotatable therewith and the ring 35 being slidable on the tube, pressed by the bellows against the ring 31 and having a face exposed to fluid pressure within the housing, the bellows tending to collapse under the exterior pressure of the fluid and the relationship between the effective areas of the bellows and the pressure face on the ring being such that the axial load imposed on the ring due to fluid 'pressure will be partially balanced by the tendency of the bellows to collapse under pressure whereby friction between the rings is reduced to the minimum required to effect a sealing contact for a given fluid pressure. The fluid pressure acts directly on a flange 36 of the ring 35 and on the remainder of the left-hand face of the ring through the end of the bellows. A further bearing for the tube 17 comprises a metal sleeve 25a bonded to a sleeve 25b made of an alloy impregnated with graphite and held in position by a ring 26. The ring 31 is made of metal, an alloy impregnated with graphite, or of resin-bonded graphite and is cut away at 29 for the ring 26 and chamfered at 33 so that the area of seal with the ring 36 increases with wear.