Oil seal construction for rotary mechanisms

A rotary mechanism having a housing with a pair of spaced end walls and an intermediate wall to define a cavity therebetween and a piston rotor mounted for relative rotation within said housing cavity with the end faces of said piston rotor being disposed adjacent to said housing end walls and at least one of said rotor end faces having an annular groove, an annular side seal construction comprising:

• a. a one-piece seal ring receivable within said rotor annular groove for axial movement relative thereto and having a pair of radially-spaced, annular, axially-projecting disposed generally at an angle radially inward, and portions having relatively sharp annular outer edges for sealing engagement with the adjacent housing end wall, the overall axial dimension of the seal ring being less than the radial spacing between said annular outer edges of the seal ring;
• b. a ring of elastomeric material disposed axially behind said seal ring for engagement therewith and also being engageable with a wall of said rotor groove to minimize leakage around said ring on its side remote from the adjacent housing end wall;
• c. annular metallic spring means disposed behind said elastomeric ring for applying an annular axial force against the elastomeric ring for causing the elastomeric ring to engage the adjacent side wall of its groove and to urge the seal ring axially outwardly of said groove with the effective region of application of said axial force on said seal ring being radially between its said radially-spaced annular outer edges,
• d. an L-shaped annular retainer means disposed adjacent to said elastomeric ring to restrain the elastomeric ring against radial movement away from the rotor groove side wall engageable by said elastomeric ring and for transmitting axial spring force against the elastomeric ring.