Hydrodynamic slitted seal and method of manufacture thereof
AssigneeMicrodot Inc.
InventorJames A. Repella
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An oil seal element and method of manufacture thereof from polytetrafluoroethylene or the like. A tubular billet having concentric inner and outer cylindrical surfaces is provided with a frusto-conical end face. Arcuate slits of varying depth and angle are cut in the end face of the billet at each of a plurality of angularly spaced positions. Indexing of the billet is synchronized with rotation of the slitting tool. A disk of desired thickness having arcuate slits on one of its faces is then sliced from the billet, thereby also facing the billet for the next slitting sequence.
Claims12
A bi-directional hydrodynamic oil seal comprising an annular case, and a thin washer-like seal element having a radially outer portion supported by said case and a generally cylindrical radially inner portion adapted to engage a shaft, the radially inner portion of said seal element having a plurality of generally arcuate slits in the surface thereof that extend at an acute angle relative to the central axis of the shaft and divergent from the oil side of said seal and intersect the radially inner edge of said seal element to effect hydrodynamic pumping in conjunction with a rotating shaft, said slits varying in depth from a maximum at the oil side of the radially inner portion thereof to a minimum at the dry side thereof.
A method of making a hydrodynamic seal element from a billet of material having coaxial radially inner and outer cylindrical surfaces comprising the steps of facing off one end of said cylindrical billet to define a right frusto-conical end face relative to the central axis of the billet, indexing said billet about the central axis thereof to a first position, advancing a slitting tool axially relative to said billet into spaced relation to the frusto-conical end face thereof, rotating said slitting tool about an axis spaced from the central axis of said billet to cut an arcuate slit of varying depth in the frusto-conical end face thereof, indexing said billet about the central axis thereof to a second position, rotating said cutting tool about the axis of rotation thereof to cut a second arcuate slit in said end face, and advancing a slicing tool at an angle parallel to the angle of said frusto-conical end face against said billet to slice off a relatively thin layer thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.