Rotary shaft seal with shaft runout protection

Claim 2

A shaft seal including in combination: a rigid case having an anchor portion, an elastomeric member having an anchor portion bonded to the anchor portion of said case and having a lip body, said lip body being joined to said anchor portion of said elastomeric member through a thin flexing section which is thinner than said body, and comprises a relatively short frustoconical shell, said lip body including a sealing lip with an edge and a pair of surfaces meeting at said edge, one siad surface on the air side of the seal and one said surFace on the oil side of said seal, the surface on said air side having an annular radially inwardly-extending projection spaced axially from said seal lip and terminating at a normally larger radius than said seal lip and not normally in engagement with a shaft during operation and serving to stablize said seal lip during extreme runout conditions, said projection being an integral portion of said lip body.

Claim 3

The shaft seal of claim 1 wherein said lip is provided with an inner periphery relative to the shaft on which it is to be used so as to provide shaft interference sufficient to assure contact at extreme runout radially inwardly.

Claim 4

A shaft seal including in combination: a rigid case having an anchor portion, an elastomeric member having an anchor portion bonded to the anchor portion of said case and having a lip body, said lip body being joined to said anchor portion of said elastomeric member through a thin flexing section which is thinner than said body, and is a short frustoconical shell extending radially inwardly from said anchor portion, said lip body including a sealing lip with an edge and a pair of faces converging toward such sealing edge, one face on the air side of the seal and one face on the oil side of said seal, the face on said air side having an annular projection extending inwardly terminating in a rounded radially inner edge spaced axially from said seal lip and located at a normally larger radius than said seal lip and serving to stabilize said seal lip during extreme runout conditions, said projection being an integral portion of said body.

Claim 5

A shaft seal including in combination: a rigid case having an anchor portion, an elastomeric member having an anchor portion bonded to the anchor portion of said case and having a lip body, said lip body being joined to said anchor portion of said elastomeric member through a thin flexing section which is thinner than said body, and is a short frustoconical shell extending radially inwardly from said anchor portion, said lip body including a sealing lip with an edge and a pair of faces converging toward such sealing edge, one face on the air side of the seal and one face on the oil side of said seal, the face on said air side having an annular projection extending inwardly terminating in a rounded radially inner edge spaced axially from said seal lip and located at a normally larger radius than said seal lip and serving to stabilize said seal lip during extreme runout conditions, said projection being an integral portion of said body.

Claim 6

The shaft seal of claim 3 wherein said lip edge has a periphery substantially smaller than the shaft it is to engage, so that contact at all positions is assured.

Claim 7

An installation comprising: a machine part having a bore, a shaft rotating somewhat eccentrically in said bore, and a shaft seal sealed to said bore and concentric therewith and including in combination: a rigid case having an anchor portion spaced radially from said shaft, an elastomeric member having an anchor portion bonded to the anchor portion of said case and having a lip body, said lip body being joined to said anchor portion of said elastomeric member through a thin flexing section which is thinner than said body and which extends in radially inwardly from said anchor portion as a short frustoconical shell attached to said lip body, said lip body including a sealing lip with an edge having a periphery small enough to assure sealing contact with said shaft at all points, and having a radially inner face on the air side of the seal with an annular projection extending toward said shaft and axially spaced from said seal lip and located at a normally larger radius than said seal lip so that it is not normally in contact with said shaft and serving to stabilize said seal lip during extreme runout conditions, said projection being an integral portion of said body.

Claim 8

An installation comprising: a machine part having a bore, a shaft rotating somewhat eccentrically in said bore, and a shaft seal sealed to said bore and concentric therewith and including in combination: a rigid case having an anchor portion spaced radially from said shaft, an elastomeric member having an anchor portion bonded to the anchor portion of said case and having a lip body, said lip body being joined to said anchor portion of said elastomeric member through a thin flexing section which is thinner than said body and which extends in radially inwardly from said anchor portion as a short frustoconical shell attached to said lip body, said lip body including a sealing lip with an edge having a periphery small enough to assure sealing contact with said shaft at all points, and having a radially inner face on the air side of the seal with an annular projection extending toward said shaft and axially spaced from said seal lip and located at a normally larger radius than said seal lip so that it is not normally in contact with said shaft and serving to stabilize said seal lip during extreme runout conditions, said projection being an integral portion of said body.