GB945798A - Improvements in and relating to rotary contact seals - Google Patents

Abstract

945,798. Stuffing-box substitutes. U. M. BARSKE, and W. MURRAY. April 14, 1960, No. 13471/60. Heading F2B. A seal between relatively rotatable members, for example, a rotary shaft 1 and a stationary casing 2, comprises an axially movable seal ring 8 sealed to one, 2, of the members by a flexible diaphragm 11 and urged into facial sealing contact with a seal ring 4 fixed to the other member 1 by a circumferential set of juxtaposed leaf-springs 15 fixed together at their outer ends and free at their inner ends. The diaphragm 11 is secured to the ring 8 by a garter spring 13 and is clamped with the outer ends of the springs 15 between the casing 2 and a cover 18. The springs 15 contact the diaphragm on the low-pressure side of the seal and are formed by cutting radial slots 20 in a spring steel ring 21. The seal ring 8 has radial clearance 10 with the shaft 11, is radially supported by the inner edges of the springs 15 and prevented from rotating by a rib 23 on the cover 18 that engages a groove 24 in the seal ring. When the springs are relatively wide, as in Fig. 5, they are supported at their fixed ends along straight lines 22. In a modification, Figs. 7 and 8 (not shown), the springs are supported at their fixed ends on rollers arranged in a circular groove in a clamping ring. In a further modification, Fig. 9, the axially movable seal ring 8 is connected to the casing 2 by three sets of leaf springs 51, 52, 53 and associated diaphragms 54, 55, 56 interconnected by axially movable rings 61 and 62. In a still further modification, Fig. 10 (not shown), the seal ring is connected to the shaft casing by two sets of springs and diaphragms interconnected by an axially movable ring.