Shaft Seal Assembly
AssigneeInpro/Seal LLC
InventorNeil F. Hoehle
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A shaft seal assembly may include a stator and a rotor. The rotor may be configured to rotate with a shaft, and the stator may be engaged with a housing. The stator and rotor may be configured with radial and/or axial recesses and/or radial and/or axial projections. These various features may be configured such that the stator and rotor cooperate to form a ring cavity. A cooperating ring may be positioned in the ring cavity, and the cooperating ring may be configured such that is circumferentially expandable so that the cooperating ring changes size and/or shape when it rotates as opposed to when it is not rotating.
Claims20
A shaft seal assembly comprising:
- a. a stator configured for engagement with an equipment housing, said stator comprising:
- i. a stator body;
- ii. a cooperating projection extending from said stator body;
- b. a rotor configured for engagement with a shaft having an axis of rotation and extending from and rotatable with respect to said equipment housing, said rotor comprising:
- i. a rotor body;
- ii. a cooperating recess, wherein said cooperating recess and said cooperating projection form a ring cavity;
- c. a cooperating ring positioned in said ring cavity, said ring cavity comprising:
- i. an axial vertex at an axially outward point of said cooperating recess;
- ii. a first recess outer surface extending away from said axial vertex in a generally axially inward and radially outward direction, wherein said first recess outer surface is oriented such that it is angled with respect to said axis of rotation of said shaft and a plane normal to said axis of rotation of said shaft;
- and,
- iii. a recess ramp extending away from said axial vertex in a generally radially and axially inward direction, wherein said recess ramp is oriented such that it is angled with respect to said axis of rotation of said shaft and said plane normal to said axis of rotation of said shaft.
A shaft seal assembly comprising:
- a. a stator configured for engagement with an equipment housing, said stator comprising:
- i. a stator body;
- ii. a radial projection extending from said stator body in a radially inward direction, wherein said radial projection is formed with an exterior surface thereon;
- b. a rotor configured for engagement with a shaft having an axis of rotation and extending from and rotatable with respect to said equipment housing, said rotor comprising:
- i. a rotor body;
- ii. a radial projection extending from said rotor body in a radially outward direction, wherein said rotor radial projection is formed with an exterior surface thereon;
- and,
- c. a first external interface between said stator and said rotor, wherein a radial dimension of said first external interface increases in a generally axially inward direction from said exterior surface of said radial projection.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.