Shaft sealing devices for hydraulic machines

Claim 1

In a shaft sealing device for a hydraulic machine comprising a packing box provided about a rotatable shaft of the hydraulic machine, said shaft being connected to a runner of said machine, and a number of packings encased in the packing box so that sliding surfaces of the packings are urged against the rotatable shaft for preventing water in a high-pressure space of the hydraulic machine adjacent said packing box from leaking out through gaps between the sliding surfaces of the packings and the rotatable shaft, the improvement wherein said shaft sealing device further comprises water supply means opening intermediately between said packing box and said high-pressure space for supplying water from a source of water at least at a time when said runner of the hydraulic machine is rotated in compressed air, passage means for guiding the thus supplied water to the sliding surfaces of said packings, said supplied water preventing compressed air from leaking out through said shaft sealing device, each of said packings being provided with a cutoff portion along a high pressure side edge of its sliding surface and each of said packings being made of 40 to 90 wt. % of tetrafluoroethylene resin mixed with a filler of the remaining wt. % and molded under a pressure into a predetermined shape.