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US 5,665,165 AGranted
Seal and a chamber having a seal
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorsJohn A. Spencer, David S. Rickerby
Life of this patent
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AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorsJohn A. Spencer, David S. Rickerby
Estimating the term…
A vacuum chamber is provided with a pair of seals to enable a fibre to be continuously supplied into and removed from the vacuum chamber for application of a coating. The seals comprise a first chamber which is supplied with argon and a second chamber which is evacuated by a pump. The first chamber is connected to atmosphere by a first hypodermic tube, the first chamber is connected to the second chamber by a second hypodermic tube and the second chamber is connected to the interior of the vacuum chamber by a third hypodermic tube. The hypodermic tubes are coaxial and are telescoped together. The fibre is arranged to pass sequentially through the hypodermic tubes into the vacuum chamber. The argon supplied to the first chamber reduces the air flow down the hypodermic tubes. The seal maintains the pressure in the vacuum chamber and does not contaminate the fibre.
A chamber having means for creating and maintaining a predetermined pressure in the interior of the chamber, at least one seal to allow a fibre to be passed continuously through the seal into, or out of, the chamber, the seal comprising a first chamber, a second chamber, means to supply inert gas to the first chamber, means for extracting gas from the second chamber, a relatively small diameter first tube connecting the first chamber to one of the interior and exterior of the chamber, a relatively small diameter second tube connecting the first chamber and the second chamber, a relatively small diameter third tube connecting the second chamber to one of the exterior and interior of the chamber, the first, second and third tubes are aligned to allow the fibre to pass through the tubes from the interior of the chamber to the exterior of the chamber.
A seal to allow a fibre to be passed continuously through the seal, the seal comprising a first chamber, a second chamber, an inlet port for removably connecting the first chamber to a supply of inert gas, an outlet port for removably connecting the second chamber to an extraction pump, a relatively small diameter first tube connecting the first chamber to the exterior at a first end of the seal, a relatively small diameter second tube connecting the first chamber and the second chamber, a relatively small diameter third tube connecting the second chamber to the exterior at a second end of the seal, the first, second and third tubes are aligned to allow the fibre to pass through the tubes from the first end of the seal to second end of the seal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.