Metallic rubbing ring seal for rotatable shaft passageways in apparatus which, during use, contain liquid media

Claim 1

An improved metalic rubbing ring seal for a rotatable shaft passageway extending through a wall of an apparatus housing which, during use, contains a liquid medium, the seal being positioned between, and forming a seal between, a shoulder on the shaft and a portion of the wall adjacent to the passageway, with the shaft and the portion of the wall being adjustably movable, axially with respect to the shaft, relative to each other, the improved seal comprising: an annular, one-piece, spring steel body have a V or U-shaped cross section with an annular base portion and two spaced, resilient free end portions, the body being positioned about the shaft so that the base portion of the body is disposed adjacent to the shaft while the resilient, free ends of the body are spaced from the shaft, so that the radially outwardly facing, interior portion of the body between the free ends thereof is exposed to the liquid medium and so that the centerline of the V or U-shaped section of the body is perpendicular to the axis of the shaft; first and second metallic rubbing rings, each having an annular, convex rubbing surface formed thereon, with the first rubbing ring being bonded to one of the free ends of the body and the second rubbing ring being bonded to the other of the free ends of the body and with first and second rubbing rings being disposed so that the axes of the first and second rubbing rings are coaxial to the axis of the shaft and so that the annular convex rubbing surfaces of the first and second rubbing seals are adapted to contact, along a line, the shoulder and the portion of the wall, respectively, with the axes of the line of contact between the rubbing surfaces of the first and second rubbing rings and the shoulder and the portion of the wall being coaxial to the axiS of the shaft; the body being constructed and arranged so that the pressure of the liquid medium and the resilience of the free ends of the body causes the rubbing surfaces of the first and second rubbing rings to remain in contact with the shoulder and the portion of the wall, and so that relative movement of shaft and the portion of the wall toward each other, in a direction parallel to the axis of the shaft, permits facile compensation for wear on the rubbing surfaces of the first and second rubbing rings.