Radial lip shaft seal
AssigneeJohn Crane Inc.
InventorDonald Charles Ulrich
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A unitary radial lip seal assembly to provide a fluid tight seal between a shaft and a housing bore through which the shaft extends includes an annular rigid retainer, a resilient body portion secured to the retainer and defining at least one sealing lip to seal against the rotatable shaft and a sleeve bearing member supported by said seal assembly outboard of the sealing lip. In one form the bearing member is rigidly connected to the retainer, in another, it is resiliently mounted to provide shaft vibration dampening. In the latter embodiment, the bearing member includes a radial wall urged into frictional engagement with a radial wall of the resilient body to restrict rotation of the bearing member.
Claims20
A unitary radial lip seal assembly for disposition in sealing relation between a surface defining a bore in a housing wall and a rotatable shaft having a predetermined diameter extending through the housing bore to contain fluid within the interior of the housing comprising:
- a) a rigid annular retainer member including an axial wall and an annular radial flange joined to said axial wall;
- b) a resilient annular body portion secured to said retainer member, said resilient annular body portion defining at least one radial sealing lip extending away from said annular retainer member, said sealing lip being shaped, dimensioned and adapted for providing sealing engagement with the shaft;
- and
- c) a compression-resistant sleeve bearing member secured to said retainer member, said sleeve bearing member defining an inner cylindrical bearing surface shaped, dimensioned and adapted for being disposed in surrounding relation to the shaft and an outer cylindrical bearing surface shaped and dimensioned for disposition adjacent said retainer member axial wall, said sleeve bearing member being adapted for disposition between said axial wall and the shaft, said sleeve bearing member being positioned relative to said sealing lip such that said sealing lip is adapted to provide contact with the shaft intermediate said cylindrical bearing surface and the fluid in the interior of the housing.
A method of aligning a shaft relative to a bore in a housing wall which shaft is rotatably supported within a member to be secured to the housing wall comprising the steps of:
- 1) providing a unitary radial lip seal assembly which seal assembly includes:
- a) a rigid annular retainer member including an axial wall;
- b) a resilient annular body portion secured to said retainer member, said resilient annular body portion defining at least one radial sealing lip adapted for providing sealing engagement with the shaft;
- c) a compression-resistant sleeve bearing member secured to said retainer defining an inner cylindrical bearing surface, said sleeve bearing member being shaped, dimensioned and adapted for disposition in surrounding relation to the shaft, said sleeve bearing member further defining an outer cylindrical bearing surface adapted to provide radial support between said axial wall of said rigid annular retainer member and the shaft;
- 2) disposing said seal assembly in the bore in the housing wall;
- 3) inserting an end of the shaft through said bearing member and then through said at least one sealing lip after said seal assembly is disposed in the housing wall bore;
- and
- 4) retaining said member that rotatably supports the shaft adjacent the housing wall.
A unitary radial lip seal assembly for disposition in sealing relation between a surface defining a bore in a housing wall and a rotatable shaft extending through the housing bore to contain fluid within the interior of the housing comprising:
- a) a rigid annular retainer member, including an annular axial wall and an annular radial flange, defining a radial surface, said radial flange being joined to said annular axial wall;
- a resilient annular body portion secured to said retainer member, said resilient annular body portion defining at least one radial sealing lip adapted for sealing engagement with the shaft and a bearing support portion having a radial surface, said bearing support portion defining a bearing support portion groove and including a lip portion spaced from said bearing support portion radial surface;
- and
- c) a compression-resistant sleeve bearing member secured to said retainer member, said sleeve bearing member defining an inner cylindrical bearing surface adapted for disposition in surrounding relation to the shaft and being dimensioned and positioned relative to said sealing lip such that said lip is adapted to contact the shaft intermediate said inner cylindrical bearing surface and the fluid in the interior of the housing, said sleeve bearing member further defining an outer cylindrical bearing surface in frictional contact with said radial surface of said radially outer portion of said rigid annular retainer member to inhibit rotation of said bearing member, said bearing member further including a ridge for engagement with said bearing support portion groove, and said lip portion providing a bias to urge said radial surface of said sleeve bearing member radially outer portion into frictional engagement with said bearing support portion radial surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.