WO2007135402A1

WO2007135402A1 - Mechanical seal

Info

Publication number: WO2007135402A1
Application number: PCT/GB2007/001866
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alan James Roddis
Original assignee: Aes Engineering Ltd.
Priority date: 2006-05-24
Filing date: 2007-05-22
Publication date: 2007-11-29
Also published as: GB0610316D0; CN101490453A; US20090127792A1; US8955848B2; CN101490453B

Abstract

A mechanical seal has a seal face (11) located in a rotary holder (27) which is spring biased away from a drive ring (19). An elastomeric bellows (16) seals these components. The holder and drive ring are longitudinally restrained and rotationally coupled by at least one male portion (30) in one of these members engaging with a female portion (31) in the other of these members. The holder and the drive ring may be utilised in either a single seal or a double seal by selecting an appropriately shaped elastomeric bellows.

Description

Mechanical Seal

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to mechanical seals, which are fitted to rotating equipment in virtually all types of industries.

A mechanical seal comprises a "floating" component which is mounted axially movably around the rotary shaft of, for example, a pump and a "static" component which is axially fixed, typically being secured to a housing. The floating component has a flat annular end face, i.e. its seal face, directed towards a complementary seal face of the static component. The floating component is urged towards the static component to close the seal faces together to form a sliding face seal, usually by means of one or more spring members. In use, one of the floating and static components rotates; this component is therefore referred to as the rotary component. The other of the floating and static components does not rotate and is referred to as the stationary component.

Those seals whose floating component is rotary are described as rotary seals. If the floating component is stationary, the seal is referred to as a stationary seal.

If the sliding seal between the rotary and stationary components are assembled and pre-set prior to despatch from the Mechanical seal manufacturing premises, the industry terminology for this is "cartridge seal". If the rotary and stationary components are despatched individually (unassembled) from the Mechanical seal manufacturing premises, the industry terminology for this is "component seal".

Mechanical seals are used in all types of industries to seal a variety of different process media and operating conditions. The general industry term which defines the area adjacent to the process media is "inboard". The industry term which defines the area adjacent to the atmospheric side is "outboard".

Like most industries, the mechanical seal industry is highly competitive.

As a result, mechanical seal manufacturers constantly seek methods of improving competitive advantage.

Background to the Invention Pressed and formed components are one way in which mechanical seal manufacturers can reduce the manufacturing cost of said component.

Unfortunately pressed components can comprise the technical aspects of a single component or said aspects of a combination of components working relative to each other.

One such example of this is the drive mechanism between two components working relative to each other.

As pressed components are manufactured from a given thickness of material, the cross sectional area of the drive mechanism is traditionally thereby limited to a multiplication of said thickness.

Pressed components are typically manufactured from sheet material, typically steel or stainless steel with a material thickness of 0.2mm to 2.5mm. Typically however, most mechanical seal components are pressed using 0.8mm to 1.2mm thick material.

Pressed components offer the advantage that, in most cases, subsequent machining operations are not necessary. This therefore reduces the manufacturing cost considerably. The disadvantage of using said pressed parts is the effective drive mechanism between said parts.

Gilbert US 5,725,219 teaches a mechanical seal design whereby two pressed and substantially thin components engage each other via intermeshing castellations. Said castellations compromise of an open longitudinal end in each member and when engaged with each other are intended to transmit the rotational drive between two longitudinal spaced sealing points within the seal assembly.

In practice this design suffers from several drawbacks, namely;

- The torsional forces acting on the interface surface between the two substantially thin members which are mounted in a radially resilient member and subjected to equipment vibration, is the equivalent to a person pressing two knife edges together whilst on a rowing boat in the sea in the middle of a storm. In practice, said thin members radially misalign and rotationally twist inside of each other, thereby negating any substantial rotational drive benefit between the two members.

- The longitudinally open ended castellations have sharp edges/corners, given the substantially thin material and their perpendicular position to the longitudinal end of each member. Said sharp edges/corners not only damage the substantially resilient/rubber like sealing member but often damage/cut operators hands during installation of the seal onto the equipment.

- In the seals longitudinally uncompressed state, the open ended longitudinal castellations of each member can disengage creating an installation issue. Furthermore, the spring member, positioned between the two longitudinally floating members provides a longitudinal force which is applied directly to the flexible longitudinal sealing element, leading to stretching and/or tearing of said member. A design, which offers a mechanical seal component which is fully, or partly manufactured in an economical manner such as a pressing operation and which includes a drive design which is not limited to the material thickness, is deemed to be particularly advantageous.

Our GB2391275 application defines a method of improving the drive mechanism in assemblies containing thin, pressed materials. However, because of the substantially annular surface of each member contained in said drive mechanism and the assembly of said members, the invention mechanism is limited to comprise of two separate and substantially different drive member designs; one substantially U-shaped and one substantially L-shaped. Said different drive member designs can lead to assembly errors and/or lead to extended assembly time. Furthermore, the L-shape members are not optimised to provide an improved drive surface area, over and above the thickness of the substantially thin material of construction.

It is therefore deemed to be advantageous if the drive mechanism between two members of a seal, incorporates a substantially thick surface drive area, and can be assembled in such a manner that assembly errors are eliminated, assembly time/cost is reduced and subsequent retainment operations to longitudinally constrain said members are eliminated.

Subsequent retainment operations are defined as punching or staking operations which deform at least one component after the assembly of said components thereby prevent at least two parts from disassembling.

It is deemed to be further advantageous if the two longitudinally separated members, which are sealed with a common sealing member, are longitudinally restrained before applying a stretching force on said sealing member.

A design where the raw material creation process thereafter has no subsequent machining operations such as turning, milling or drilling is of further advantage.

Furthermore, it is advantageous if the seal assembly incorporates a minimum number of components, and / or the components are of simple construction, thereby helping further to reduce the cost of the assembly.

Description of the drawings

The accompanying drawings are as follows:

Figure 1, shows a partial cross sectional view of the first embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2, corresponds to Figure 1 and shows a partial isometric view with drive surface area greater than the material thickness of the member.

Figure 3, corresponds to Figure 2 and shows an isometric view of the drive ring of the invention.

Figure 4, shows an alternate partial isometric view of the invention.

Figure 5, by way of example only, shows a partial isometric view of an alternate drive mechanism of the invention.

Figure 6, corresponds to Figure 5 and shows an exploded isometric view of the invention.

Figure 7, shows a partial cross sectional view of a modular dual component seal of the invention.

Figure 8, corresponds to Figure 7 and shows a partial isometric view of the modular dual component seal of the invention.

Figure 9, shows by way of example only, the dual component seal of the invention, mounted in a gland forming a low cost dual cartridge seal.

Figure 10, shows a single cartridge seal of the invention.

Detailed description of the Invention

The invention will now be described, by way of examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The general principle of mechanical seals in accordance with the present invention may be used not only in the case where the shaft is a rotary member and the housing is a stationary member but also the reverse situation, that is to say, in which the shaft is stationary and the housing is rotary.

Furthermore, the invention may be embodied in both rotary and stationary arrangements, cartridge and component seals with metallic components as well as non-metallic components.

Referring to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated, of a mechanical seal 10, shown in longitudinal section, of the invention mounted in an item of rotating equipment (9).

The rotary and axially floating seal face (11 ) is spring biased towards a static stationary seal face (12). The rotary seal face (11) is allowed to slide on the static seal face (12). The interface between the rotary seal face (11) and stationary seal face (12) forms sealing area (13). This sealing area (13) is the primary seal that prevents the process media (14) from escaping from the process chamber (15).

In addition to the sliding seal face (13), the process media (14) is sealed by a rotary elastomeric member (16) in contact with the shaft (17) and rotary seal face (11). This provides a first secondary sealing area.

The second secondary sealing area is formed between stationary seal face (12) and stationary giand plate assembly (21) using elastomeric member (22).

The third secondary sealing area is formed between the gland plate assembly (21) and the process chamber (15) using gasket (26).

The three secondary sealing devices and the primary sliding sealing interface prevent the process media (14) from escaping from the process chamber (15).

The static seal face (12) is prevented from rotating by radial squeeze between the elastomeric member (22) and the gland plate assembly (21). It is deemed obvious that an alternate anti-rotation device could be incorporated into the design if so desired.

The rotary sealing assembly (26) consists of rotary holder (27). Said rotary holder (27), is preferably a pressed metallic construction and incorporates a radially extending portion 20, which abuts to one end of a longitudinal spring (28). Said rotary holder (27) transmits the longitudinal spring (28) force to the rotary seal face (11 ).

Drive ring (29) is fitted to the radially outwardly portion of elastomeric member (16). Said drive ring (29) radially compresses elastomeric member (16) to form a seal to the shaft (17). The rotational movement from the shaft (17) is transmitted through the elastomeric member (16) to drive ring (29). Thereafter, drive ring (29) transmits said rotational movement to the rotary holder (27) by at least one drive lug (30) engaging in one drive slot (31).

The rotary holder (27) then transmits the rotational movement to the seal face (11 ) via the radial compression of the elastomeric member (16).

It is deemed obvious that a variety of drive mechanisms could be incorporated into said design to perform a drive between said rotary holder (27) and said seal face (11). An example of such drive mechanism is a pin in a slot.

Said drive ring (29), is preferably a pressed metallic construction and incorporates a radially extending portion 19, which abuts to the other longitudinal end of the spring (28).

Figure 2, corresponds to Figure 1 and shows a partial isometric view of a further design of the invention (40) where the drive surface area, (41) between the rotary holder (42) and drive ring (43) is greater than the material thickness of the pressed thin material of the drive ring (43).

From Figure 2, it will be noted that the drive ring (43) is axially captured in rotary holder (42) by the enclosed slot (44) of drive ring (43).

Furthermore, the reader will note that at one longitudinal end of the rotary holder (42), the material is radially displaced and includes a longitudinal return (45). This maximises the drive area (41 ) in contact with the slot (partially removed) in the rotary holder (42). Figure 3, corresponds to Figure 2 and shows an isometric view of the drive ring 43 illustrating radially protruding slot sides 50 and 51.

From Figure 2 and 3 the reader will clearly note that the drive surface area between the rotary holder (42) and drive ring (43) is substantially greater than the thickness of either material (52) given the axial return (45) feature and radially protruding slot sides (50) and (51).

Figure 4, shows an alternate partial isometric view of a rotary seal (60) of the invention, showing a different radially protruding drive area design, on this occasion the radially protruding member (61 ) and longitudinal return (64) is shown on the rotary holder (62) and interfaces with a radially larger drive ring (63).

Figure 5, corresponds to Figure 1 and, shows a partial isometric view of a rotary seal (70) showing the preferred drive mechanism (71) of the invention.

From Figure 5, section A-A illustrates at least one radially extending drive lug (30) of the rotary holder (27) engages in at least one slot 31 of the drive ring (29) thereby transmits rotational drive between the two members.

Figure 6, corresponds to Figure 5 and shows an exploded isometric view of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

From Figure 6 the respective inventive steps of the invention are clear to the reader. Namely, how the radially extending drive lug (30) in the rotary holder (27) is longitudinally restrained by wall (73) when inserted into the longitudinally closed slot (31) of the drive ring (29). This is a preferred embodiment of the invention since this longitudinal restraint prevents the forces from the spring being applied to the θlastomeric member 16, thereby stretching said member 16 in the un- installed position.

A further embodiment of the invention is the assembly of the two parts 29 and 27. In order to pass the radially protruding drive lug 30 of the rotary holder 27 past wall 73 of drive ring 29, at least one assembly slot 74 is provided in the drive ring 29. Said assembly slot (74) serves no purpose other than to allow said drive lug (30) into initial axial position before being rotationally moved, during assembly so that the drive lugs ride over the outer radial surface (75) or drive ring (29) and engage in at least one of the corresponding slots (31).

Preferably, a further embodiment of the invention is the two slits (76) and (77) at either circumferential side of the drive lug (30). Said slits (76) provide a substantially radially flexible finger (78) adjacent to the drive lug (30). Said finger (78) aids the assembly of the radially extending drive lug (30) into the enclosed slot (31).

Figure 7, shows a partial cross sectional view of a modular dual rotary component seal (80) of the invention. Upon close review of Figure 7 in conjunction with Figure 1 , the reader will note that the rotary holder (27) and drive ring (29) are identical for both single and dual component seal variants. Furthermore, the seal face (11 ) is also common for both the inboard and outboard sealing positions, with a new elastomeric member (81 ) the only additional new member to convert a single seal into a dual seal. The modularity of the invention between said single and dual seal configurations is yet a further preferred embodiment of the invention given it means that the tooling and capital investment required to create such rotary holder (27) and drive ring (29) members is shared between the two seal configurations.

Figure 8, corresponds to Figure 7 and shows a partial isometric view of the modular dual component seal (80) of the invention. Figure 9, shows by way of example only, the dual component seal (80) of the invention, mounted in a gland (81) forming a low cost, longitudinally short, dual cartridge seal.

Seal face lubrication may thereby be added through gland orifices 82 and 83 as the experienced reader will understand. Said configuration and operation will not be described furthermore.

Figure 10 shows a single cartridge seal of the invention in which the rotary components are mounted on a sleeve 91. The elastomeric bellows 93 is shaped to seal face 95 and rotary holder 97 at one end thereof and between sleeve 91 and drive ring 99 at its other end. By replacing the bellows 93 by another, appropriately shaped bellows, the seal components can be used with a dual mechanical seal.

It is considered self evident to the experienced reader that the invention may be employed for both Rotary seals and Stationary seals, single, double or triple mechanical seals, whether designed in a cartridge or component seal format.

It is also considered self evident that the invention may be used with metallic components as well as non-metallic components such as plastic. Some types of equipment rotate the housing and have a stationary shaft. It is considered that the invention can be similarly applied to such designs.

It is clear that the invention has many advantages in an increasingly more competitive industrial environment, where value for money / low cost and high technical performance solutions are required.

Claims

1. A seal comprising an elastomeric member, a spring biasing means, a longitudinally floating first member, a longitudinally non-floating second member and a longitudinally floating seal face, said elastomeric member being in sealing engagement with said seal face and said first and second members and said spring biasing means being longitudinally positioned between said seal face and said second member, said first member and said second member being longitudinally restrained and rotationally coupled by at least one substantially male radially protruding portion in one of said members engaging in at least one substantially female portion in the other of said members and said first and second members being arranged for sealing engagement with said seal face in a single seal utilising a first elastomeric member, or with said seal face and a further seal face in a double seal utilising a second elastomeric member.

2. A seal according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said first and/or second member has a radially compliant portion substantially adjacent to said radially protruding male and/or female portions.

3. A seal according to any of the preceding claims, wherein rotational drive is transmitted from said first member to said second member over a cross sectional engagement area which is larger than the respective material thickness of either the first and second member.

4. A seal according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one member contains at least one radially extending portion, said radially extending portion including a longitudinal return, said return corresponding to the radial and longitudinal position of at least one slot in the corresponding member.

5. A seal according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said seal comprises a rotating member and a stationary member, said members being slidable relative to one another to form a seal, said stationary member being held in place by a gland plate, said seal arrangement being a single component mechanical seal.

6. A seal according to Claim 5, wherein one of said members is a rotary member which is connected to and radially displaced from a sleeve member, said sleeve member extending in a longitundinal direction and terminating adjacent to a clamp ring for connection to an item of rotating equipment, said seal being a single cartridge mechanical seal.