Non-contacting seal for treating chamber through which elongated material is moved

Apparatus for sealing a treating chamber through which an elongated material is advanced, which comprises:

• a housing having a cavity therein which is mounted adjacent an entrance to the treating chamber;
• a disc-shaped member received in the cavity and having a centrally disposed opening through which the elongated material is advanced along a path of travel into the treating chamber without contacting the disc-shaped member when said opening is concentrically disposed about the elongated material;
• means for supporting the disc-shaped member within the cavity for movement in a plane subtantially perpendicular to the path of travel of the elongated material without causing unbalancing moments that could cant the disc-shaped member;
• and
• means for flowing a gas through the disc-shaped member into the opening and into engagement with the elongated material at an angle such that the disc-shaped member is moved in the plane relative to the elongated material to concentrically dispose its opening about the elongated material and such that the gas is divided into streams which move along the path of travel in opposite directions to seal the treating chamber from the ambient atmosphere.

A device for sealing a treating chamber into which an elongated material extends, which comprises:

• a housing having a cavity therein which is adapted to be mounted adjacent an entrance to the treating chamber;
• a disc-shaped member received in the cavity and having a centrally disposed opening which is capable of having an elongated material extend therethrough into the treating-chamber without contacting the disc-shaped member when the opening is centered about the elongated material, said disc-shaped member also having a plurality of radially disposed passageways for directing a gas into the opening and into engagement with an elongated material at such an angle that it splits into streams which move in opposite directions along the elongated material to seal the treating chamber;
• and
• means for supporting the disc-shaped member for movement in a plane substantially perpendicular to an elongated material so that when the gas is directed into the opening and into engagement with the elongated material at said angle, the opening in the disc-shaped member is centered about the elongated material.