Patents Examined by E Peavey
  • Patent number: 6213472
    Abstract: The invention relates to a non-contacting shaft seal formed between a rotating sealing ring (3) and a non-rotating circular sealing element (1). The sealing element (1) is spring-loaded towards the sealing ring (3). Gas is pumped into spiral grooves (6) formed in the sealing face (5) of either the sealing ring (3) or the sealing element (1) and extending from an edge thereof during rotation of the sealing ring (3) and a gap (S) is created between the sealing element (1) and the sealing ring (3) against the force of the spring. Each groove is divided into two channels by a wedge-shaped partition (7) extending from the end wall of the groove (6). During speed changes of the rotating sealing ring (3), the gap (S) is maintained by high pressure at the closed end of the channels. The partition (7) is designed to offer little resistance to gas flow in the channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: Dresser-Rand Company
    Inventors: German Andreyevich Bondarenko, Nicolay Dmitriyevich Fedorenko, Sergey Anatolyevich Pavlyuk, Alexander Vladimirovich Deineka, Sergey Alexeyevich Kolesnik
  • Patent number: 6213476
    Abstract: A lip-type fluid seal (10) for a shaft includes a composite sealing lip (26) having an elastomeric portion (32) and a PTFE portion (36). The elastomeric portion (32) includes a lip edge (33) that extends circumferentially continuously to seal the adjacent lip edge (37) of the PTFE portion (36) from any contaminants on the elastomeric side (28) of the seal (10). The PTFE portion (32) has a greater hardness and modulus of elasticity which serves to limit the wear of the elastomeric portion (32) and to induce hydrodynamic surface deformations on the elastomeric lip portion (32) during operation to enhance the exclusion of contaminants. The PTFE lip edge (37) performs well under low temperature and/or low lubricity conditions and its relative hardness protects the elastomeric lip edge from excessive wear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: Federal-Mogul World Wide, Inc.
    Inventors: Jon A. Chandler, Gary B. Drake, Stephen J. Carr
  • Patent number: 6209170
    Abstract: A resilient door knob bumper receives a door knob in an aperture, the deformation of the resilient bumper retaining the door knob in position in the aperture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Inventor: Son Van Huynh
  • Patent number: 6205617
    Abstract: A hinge with an adjusting device for adjusting the position of an elongated hinge arm which is mounted on a base plate and is connected to a hinge cup by means of articulated hinge links. The base plate has a mounting plane for abutting a furniture side wall in the mounted position and the position of the hinge arm is adjustable by the adjusting device in a plane perpendicular to said mounting plane. The adjusting device comprises two screws spaced from each other in the longitudinal direction of the hinge arm and being perpendicular to the mounting plane of the base plate. The screws are coupled to each other so that rotation of one screw will result in rotation of the other screw.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Julius Blum Gesellschaft m.b.H.
    Inventors: Wolfgang Held, Günter Lenz
  • Patent number: 6203022
    Abstract: An annular sealing element (16) for sealing an annular gap between the inner surface of a cylindrical wall and a cylindrical piston which can be displaced axially relative to said wall and is arranged concentrically therewith, has two separate annular and axially adjoining parts (42, 44), of which the first part (42) consists of an elastomer material and the second part (44) consists of a rigid material. In order to ensure, in conjunction with a displaceable body of a valve, that the opening and closing behavior of the valve is as constant as possible, the two parts (42, 44) are connected to one another in a releasable manner, and the part (44) made of rigid material has an axial protrusion (46) which is formed integrally with it, runs around it in the form of a ring, passes more or less to the full extent through the part (42) made of elastomer material and has its end surface covered over to the full extent by the part (42) made of elastomer material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignees: Lucas Industries public limited, Contitech Forteile GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Struschka, Ulrich Beier
  • Patent number: 6203020
    Abstract: A sealing element system for a downhole packer reduces the tendency of the elements to extrude. Mechanical limits are provided to the amount of force that can be passed onto the uppermost and lowermost components of a sealing element system by providing a limit on the longitudinal compression available against a gauge ring. The gauge rings are roughened to also grab the uppermost and lowermost elements to fight the tendency to extrude. The uppermost and lowermost elements are configured with an external groove to control the way they deform into a sealing relationship with the tubing and casing so that extrusion into the gap is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Incorporated
    Inventors: Hector H. Mireles, Jr., James C. Doane
  • Patent number: 6203025
    Abstract: A longitudinal seal in the form of a strip member for sealing a gap between adjacent jet pipe liner panels, for example. The liner panels are individually suspended from the internal wall of the jet pipe by separate supports with narrow clearance gaps between neighbouring panels which have to be sealed. A seal has to be provided between adjacent panels which is capable of accommodating relative movements and misalignments between adjacent structures. The seal disclosed essentially comprises a long strip of a metal alloy folded lengthwise several times to form a compliant section in the form of a box pleat between two edge portions which may be engaged in lengthwise slots on the two supporting structures facing each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce PLC
    Inventor: Paul R Hayton
  • Patent number: 6199867
    Abstract: A rotary motion feedthrough is described for coupling rotary motion from a rotatable shaft between an atmospheric side to a vacuum side by providing a dynamic magnetic seal of ferrofluid about the shaft using a non-rotating magnetic system formed of a unitary pole piece with magnets contained in radial slots formed in an inner diameter of the pole piece opposite the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Rigaku/USA, Inc.
    Inventors: David G. Mahoney, Walter Helgeland
  • Patent number: 6196551
    Abstract: A seal structure has a seal lip and a splash lip. The splash lip is disposed to contact a rotating shaft at an axial location intermediate the seal lip and a support bushing to prevent a high velocity oil stream, departing between the bushing and the shaft, from impinging the seal lip prior the velocity of the oil stream being reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2001
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Steven Wayne Zellers
  • Patent number: 6193240
    Abstract: A seal assembly that seals a gap formed by a groove comprises a seal body, a biasing element, and a connection that connects the seal body to the biasing element to form the seal assembly. The seal assembly further comprises a concave-shaped center section and convex-shaped contact portions at each end of the seal body. The biasing element is formed from an elastic material and comprises a convex-shaped center section and concave-shaped biasing zones that are opposed to the convex-shaped contact portions. The biasing element is adapted to be compressed to change a width of the seal assembly from a first width to a second width that is smaller than the first width. In the compressed state, the seal assembly can be disposed in the groove. After release of the compressing force, the seal assembly expands. The contact portions will move toward a surface of the groove and the biasing zones will move into contact with another surface of the groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2001
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Roger Neal Johnson, William David Longfritz
  • Patent number: 6186508
    Abstract: A metallic coating containing hard carbide particles is described. The coating is applied by an HVOF process using powder particles whose size ranges from about 15 to about 44 microns. The carbide particles are held in a 80% nickel-20% chromium matrix. The coating has a reduced tensile compressive stress relative to similar plasma sprayed coatings and exhibits a high strain to cracking value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2001
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Paul H. Zajchowski, Melvin Freling, Susan M. Meier, Roy R. Donovan
  • Patent number: 6186513
    Abstract: A metal gasket is formed of a metal plate having a hole, an edge portion around the hole, and a base portion extending substantially throughout an entire area of the gasket and located outside the edge portion. At least one annular projection and at least one annular groove are formed on at least one side of the edge portion of the metal plate as one unit. The annular groove is located between the annular projection and the base portion. The base portion of the metal plate has a thickness greater than a thickness at the annular groove and less than a thickness at the annular projection to thereby provide a surface pressure at the at least one annular projection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2001
    Assignee: Ishikawa Gasket Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tsunekazu Udagawa
  • Patent number: 6179298
    Abstract: A snap-lock attachment element for connecting a multi-layered gasket having at least two metallic gasket layers together in a sealing gasket is disclosed. A first gasket layer includes an aperture with at least two fingers extending radially inwardly. A second gasket layer includes a second aperture having a supporting member with slots therein. The first gasket layer is pressed onto the second layer such that the fingers engage the slots of the second gasket layer in snap-lock engagement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2001
    Assignee: Dana Corporation
    Inventor: David J. Schweiger
  • Patent number: 6173967
    Abstract: A branch gasket for a tapping sleeve is disposed about the side branch aperture in a main fluid conduit and between and in sealed contact with the main fluid conduit and an outer sleeve connected to the side branch. The branch gasket is comprised of a flexible, compressible, resilient material and includes a hydraulic lip, a stainless steel insert ring, a first pair of inner O-ring seals in intimate contact with the main fluid conduit, and a second pair of outer O-ring seals in intimate contact with the outer sleeve. A mat gasket for use with a tapping saddle is disposed about an aperture in a main fluid conduit and is further disposed between and in sealed contact with the main fluid conduit and an outer sleeve member. The mat gasket includes an aperture aligned with the aperture in the main fluid conduit and outer and inner portions in sealed contact with the outer sleeve member and the main fluid conduit, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2001
    Assignee: Cascade Waterworks Manufacturing Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Samuel W. Eskew, William L. Kane
  • Patent number: 6173966
    Abstract: A T-joint gasket assembly for sealing a first surface, a second surface adjacent to the first surface and a third surface intersecting the first and second surfaces, said first, second and third surfaces generally forming a T-joint, said T-joint being sealed absent an external sealant such as an RTV sealant agent, said gasket assembly comprising: a first gasket member which has at the ends thereof a plurality of sealing beads and at least one sealing finger, a second gasket member positioned generally coextensive with said third surface, and being oriented so as to provide a T-joint like connection with said first gasket member, with both the first gasket member and the second gasket member including a supportable elastomeric sealing material to carry out the gasket sealing, said second gasket member possessing a plurality of elastomeric sealing pads thereon, said sealing beads and said sealing finger of the first gasket member being provided to make sealing contact with said sealing pads on said second gaske
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2001
    Assignee: Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership
    Inventors: Lane Noble, Thomas Boardman, Daivd Paul Kraus
  • Patent number: 6170831
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine includes an axial brush seal extending substantially axially between a vane support and a plurality of blade outer air seals to minimize leakage of cooler air into an air path of working fluid. The axial seal includes a first and a second rings extending axially with a plurality of bristles sandwiched therebetween. Each of the plurality of bristles includes a fore bristle end and an aft bristle end that come into contact with a vane support sealing surface and a blade outer air seal sealing surface, respectively, with the bristles being compressed against the sealing surfaces. The axial seal is movable with respect to the vane support and the blade outer air seals to compensate for expansion and contraction of the vane support and the plurality of blade outer air seals as well as for lack of uniformity in the plurality of blade outer air seals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2001
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Joseph P. Bouchard
  • Patent number: 6170834
    Abstract: A sealing arrangement, including a surface to be sealed off of a rotationally symmetrical machine element and a radial shaft sealing ring. The sealing ring has a sealing lip made of polymer material, which contacts the surface along a sealing edge that is formed of two mutually intersecting conical surfaces, the first conical surface, facing the space to be sealed off, forming a steeper angle with the axis of rotation than the conical surface facing away from it. A spiral-shaped groove having a rounded groove bottom is recessed into the surface, the groove bottom has a radius of curvature of 0.4 to 1.6 mm, and the depth of the groove is less than 15 &mgr;m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2001
    Assignee: Firma Carl Freudenberg
    Inventor: Rolf Vogt
  • Patent number: 6170120
    Abstract: A hinge for a notebook computer has a pivotal bearing seat with one or two springs received therein, a limit plate and a pivot, wherein the pivotal bearing is securely attached to the main body of the computer and defines a bearing hole therein with a transversal groove defined to communicate with the bearing hole to hold the springs. The pivot has one end securely attached to the screen of the computer and the other end forms a spindle with lubricating slots defined thereon. The spindle is inserted through the limit plate and into the bearing hole of the springs, whereby the screen of the notebook computer can be held at any angle with respect to the main body when open.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2001
    Inventor: Sheng-Nan Lu
  • Patent number: 6168168
    Abstract: An improved seal allows a fuel nozzle to be securely fastened to an aircraft refueling adaptor and the seal does not allow fuel to leak or spill. Significantly, the seal is simple to install and remove because the fuel nozzle does not have to be disassembled or removed from the fuel hose and the seal does not have to be bonded to the seal support. The seal is securely attached to the fuel nozzle without the use of adhesives because the seal is much stiffer than conventional seals, and the seal is mechanically retained in a deep annular groove in the seal support structure. The improved seal includes a body with a first leg, a second leg, a cavity and a projection which is attached to the first leg and it extends at least halfway across the width of the cavity. Desirably, the projection extends about two-thirds of the way across the width of the cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2001
    Inventor: Albert W. Brown
  • Patent number: 6161834
    Abstract: A seal is provided for an offshore fluid swivel to seal a gap passage (34) leading from a transfer chamber (20) to the environment, which uses pressured fluid to apply a variable pressure that pushes the seal tightly against a sealed surface (52) on one side of the gap passage. In one arrangement, a ring-shaped seal device includes a seal body (82) of largely U-shaped cross-section, with a base (84) and a pair of legs (86, 88) extending from opposite sides of the base, with the base and at least one leg sealing against walls of the cavity that holds the seal. A hose (90) lies between the two legs and against the base of the seal body, and pressured fluid of greater than chamber fluid pressure is applied to the hose to expand it and thereby push apart the legs of the seal body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2000
    Assignee: Imadco, Inc.
    Inventors: Jack Pollack, Robert M Hobson