Resilient seal ring assembly with spring means applying force to wedge member

Claim 1

An improved ring seal for sealing the interface between a moving shaft and a housing, comprising; a resilient ring cup having an annular center recess extending from its upper end and sloping inwardly to a bottom so as to define inner and outer lips from the sides of the ring cup; a ring wedge member positioned within said annular recess and adapted to be shifted between an upper position and a lower position; each annular side forming said annular recess having a slot therein extending from said annular recess; said wedge member having annular inwardly sloping sides with a projecting rib on each side; said projecting ribs positioned within the slots on the sides of said annular recess; said ring cup member having substantially annular, parallel outer sides when in an unstressed condition; said annular recess slots having a width so as to allow the wedge member to be positioned in an upper position within said annular recess which does not stress the outer sides of the ring cup member and to be positioned in a lower position which forces the inner and outer lips outwardly into tight sealing engagement with the shaft and housing; and a spring means secured to the wedge member for applying a force urging the wedge member into its lower position within said annular recess when installed; the annular sloping sides of said wedge member having an inward slope less than the interfacing slope of the sides of said annular recess so as to provide a wedging action which forces the inner and outer lips of the ring cup outwardly into sealing engagement when the wedge member is shifted from its upper position to a lower position.