Improvement in assembling a centrifugal pump

Claim 1

In a method of assembling a centrifugal pump comprising a housing formed with a bore therethrough, said bore having a forward portion of reduced diameter and a rearwardly facing shoulder, a bearing having its outer ring fixed in said forward portion, a driving shaft supported for rotation in said bearing, a wheel having a hub secured to the driving shaft, said wheel being formed with a plurality of angularly distributed openings axially facing said shoulder, a seal assembly surrounding the shaft and comprising on the one hand a counter-ring and on the other hand a seal including a flexible member, a friction ring secured thereto and resilient means for biasing said friction ring to engage said counter-ring, and an annular connection member to which is secured one of the seal and counter-ring, said connection member being drive fitted in the housing and formed with a radially outward flange abutting said shoulder, and said connection member constituting a fixed part of the seal assembly and the other one of the seal and counter-ring constituting a rotary part of the seal assembly, the improvement which comprises the steps of providing retainer means on the shaft adjacent the annular connection member, placing the fixed part of the seal assembly around the shaft and drive fitting on the shaft said hub carrying the wheel and the rotary part of the seal assembly so as to form a single unit in which the seal assembly is held in assembly by said retainer means, placing said unit on a thrust mandrel having axially disposed extensions so that the latter are introduced in said openings of the wheel, presenting the pump housing with a correct centering relative to the unit and driving said connection member in the pump housing into abutment with said shoulder.