PATENTS

14Sealing Technology March 2014

part (124) is formed through the deformation of another end-side disc (123).Patent number: WO/2013/153774Inventors: H. Okafuji, N. Kuzawa, H. Mori and K. OtaniPublication date: 17 October 2013

Seal ringApplicant: NOK Corp, JapanDetails are provided of a seal ring that can be easily mounted onto a chain, can be main-tained stably in the mounted state, and exhibits consistent sealing performance. The seal ring – for sealing a chain – is mounted in an axially compressed state between an outer link plate, which is disposed on the outer peripheral side of a connection pin, and an inner link plate, which is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the connection pin, with a bush provided between the two. The seal ring has an annular base section, a first outer peripheral lip, a sec-ond outer peripheral lip, a first end surface lip, a second end surface lip, and an inner periph-eral protrusion. When a bush is press-fitted to the inner peripheral side of the seal ring, the inner peripheral protrusion comes into contact with the bush to generate a rotational moment that obliquely twists the seal ring. When this twisting action occurs the first and second outer peripheral lips come into contact with the outer link plate, or the inner link plate, whilst falling radially outwards.Patent number: WO/2013/153708Inventor:Publication date: 17 October 2013

Blowout preventer seal assembly

Applicant: National Oilwell Varco Lp, USAA seal assembly for a blowout preventer of a

well-site forms the subject of this patent. It includes a housing and at least one component that is connectable to the housing. The hous-ing contains a bore and a channel. A tubular is positioned within the bore and engages with it. The seal assembly includes a seal plate, a seal carrier and at least one seal. The seal plate is connectable between the housing and at least one component of the blowout preventer, and has at least one seal groove. The seal carrier is disposable about a perimeter of the seal plate, has at least one carrier lip disposable in the seal groove(s), and has at least one seal receptacle. The seal is positioned in the receptacle, and engages with the housing or the component, or a combination of these.Patent number: WO/2013/155191Inventor: D.A. JahnkePublication date: 17 October 2013

Wheel bearing sealing device

Applicant: NTN Corp, JapanThe objective of this invention is to create a wheel-bearing sealing device that sets the opti-mum specification based on the tension force of a radial lip in a pack seal and offers improved sealing performance in low-temperature and muddy water environments. Referring to the accompanying figure, the device comprises a seal plate (12), constituted by a seal member (15) bonded to a cored bar (14) through adhe-sion by vulcanisation, and a slinger (13) that includes a cylindrical portion (13a) and a verti-cal plate portion (13b) extending outwards in the radial direction. The seal member includes a side lip (15b), which extends outwards at an angle in the radial direction and slides against the vertical plate portion (13b) via an axial-direction interference, and a radial lip that is formed in a bifurcated shape on an inner diameter side of the side lip (15b) and is consti-

tuted by a grease lip (15c) and a dust lip (15d) contacting the cylindrical portion (13a) via a radial-direction interference. A garter spring (17) is mounted on the dust lip (15d), and the tension force is set at 50%, or higher, than the entire tension force, whilst the tension force in a state where there is no garter spring is set to be at least 3 N.Patent number: WO/2013/154170Inventors: M. Seki and T. BabaPublication date: 17 October 2013

Pressure-compensating wet seal chamber

Applicant: STA-Rite Industries Llc, USASome embodiments of this invention cover a pump, including a pump chamber; a shaft, at least partially positioned in the pump chamber; an impeller, coupled to the shaft; and a seal coupled to the shaft. The pump also includes a wet seal chamber with a first fluid. This cham-ber can include a bladder that compresses to compensate for volumetric expansion of this fluid. The chamber substantially prevents fluid from contacting the seal and in doing so pro-longs the life of the seal.Patent number: WO/2013/158730Inventors: D. Goulet and J. HermesPublication date: 24 October 2013

Knife-edge seal for a gas turbine engine

Applicant: United Technologies Corp, USAIn order to improve the efficiency of a gas tur-bine engine, it is necessary to prevent gas from leaking around the distal ends of the rotor blades and/or stators. In order to accomplish this, knife-edge seals are often used. Typically, a knife-edge seal is formed not only at the distal end of each rotor or stator blade, but at the very end of the compressor section, at the beginning of the aft hub. This patent describes a seal for a turbine and provides details of the turbine in which it is used. More specifically, the engine includes a knife-edge seal that is better able to withstand extremely high temperatures and mechanical loads to which gas turbine engine components are increasingly subjected. By moving the knife-edge seal to the aft hub and cantilevering its angle off a vertical, thermal and mechanical loads are balanced and, in this way, thermal mechanical fatigue life is improved whilst low-cycle fatigue is maintained.Patent number: WO/2013/158168Inventors: D.A. Knaul, F.S. Maalouf, N. Aiello, O.T. Morgan and R. Mali Publication date: 24 October 2013

Patent WO/2013/154170 describes a wheel-bearing sealing device that sets the optimum specification based on the tension force of a radial lip in a pack seal and offers improved sealing performance in low-temperature and muddy water environments.

A schematic view of a metal gasket according to an embodiment of patent WO/2013/153774. The beam portion (12) and the columnar portion (11) are made to be deformable.