Rotary shaft sealing assembly

A seal assembly comprising:

• a housing having first and second supporting walls, said second supporting wall having a circular support surface interrupted by a localized non-annular recess;
• a wavy-edged hydrodynamic seal located intermediate said first and second supporting walls, said wavy-edged hydrodynamic seal comprising:
• a circular edge generally facing said first supporting wall;
• a hydrodynamic sealing lip defining at least one dynamic surface and defining a hydrodynamic inlet generally facing said second supporting wall;
• a circular end surface facing said circular support surface of said second supporting wall;
• an anti-rotation projection projecting from said circular end surface and extending into said recess of said second supporting wall to restrict said seal from rotating relative to said housing, wherein said recess is larger than said anti-rotation projection.

A wavy-edged hydrodynamic seal assembly for partitioning a lubricant in a lubricant-containing region from a second fluid in an environment region, the lubricant being at a higher pressure than the second fluid, the sealing assembly comprising:

• a wavy-edged hydrodynamic seal comprising:
• a hydrodynamic sealing lip of cantilevered construction having a predetermined modulus of elasticity and defining a dynamic surface, said hydrodynamic sealing lip defining a lubricant side having a hydrodynamic inlet facing the lubricant-containing region, and defining an environment side having a circular edge facing the environment region, said hydrodynamic inlet being skewed in relation to said circular edge;
• an annular recess opening into the lubricant-containing region, said annular recess defined at least in part by said hydrodynamic sealing lip;
• and
• a first supporting wall in non-interlocking supporting relationship with said environment side of said hydrodynamic sealing lip, said first supporting wall defining a sloped support surface in supporting contact with said hydrodynamic sealing lip to resist distortion and extrusion of said seal when the lubricant pressure is greater than the second fluid pressure.

A sealing system comprising:

• a rotary shaft;
• a housing surrounding at least a portion of said rotary shaft;
• at least two rotary seals establishing a fluid-containing region within said housing, wherein at least one of said at least two rotary seals being a wavy-edged hydrodynamic seal, and wherein a fluid is within said fluid-containing region;
• an outboard barrier seal positioned outboard of said wavy-edged hydrodynamic seal and cooperating with said wavy-edged hydrodynamic seal to produce an outboard sealed region,
• wherein said wavy-edged hydrodynamic seal causing hydrodynamic pumping-related leakage of said fluid from said fluid-containing region and into said outboard sealed region in response to relative rotation between said rotary shaft and said wavy-edged hydrodynamic seal;
• an exit port routing at least a portion of said fluid leakage out of said outboard sealed region;
• and
• a dust cover connected to and rotatable with said rotary shaft, said dust cover telescoping over at least part of said housing and covering a clearance between said rotary shaft and said housing.