Patents by Inventor John Arthur WILKINS

John Arthur WILKINS has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11815131
    Abstract: A seal assembly is for sealing a space adjacent to a bearing and defined between an inner member and an outer member disposed about the inner member. The seal assembly includes an annular seal disposed about the inner member and having a sealing lip sealingly engageable with the inner member. An annular load ring is disposed within the outer member bore and has an inner circumferential surface defining a bore, the seal being disposed within the bore and coupled with the ring. A first axial end of the ring is disposed against the bearing outer ring, or a spacer disposed axially between the load ring and the bearing outer ring, and a second axial end is disposed against a radial surface of the outer member. The load ring is configured to support axial loading on, and to prevent axial displacement of, the bearing outer ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: AKTIEBOLAGET SKF
    Inventor: John Arthur Wilkins
  • Patent number: 11761541
    Abstract: A seal assembly is for sealing a bearing disposed between an inner shaft and an outer hub and includes an annular inner case having an axial section disposable about the shaft shoulder and a radial section extending radially outwardly from the axial section. An annular outer case is disposed about the inner case, has an axial section coupleable with the hub and a radial section extending radially inwardly from the outer case axial section and spaced axially from the inner case radial section. An elastomeric seal member is attached to the outer case radial section and has a sealing lip sealingly engaged with the axial section of the inner case. An annular positioner is coupled with the inner case and has a radial section engageable with the axial end of the bearing inner ring so as to locate the inner case at a desired position along the central axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: AKTIEBOLAGET SKF
    Inventor: John Arthur Wilkins
  • Publication number: 20230287935
    Abstract: A seal assembly is for sealing a space adjacent to a bearing and defined between an inner member and an outer member disposed about the inner member. The seal assembly includes an annular seal disposed about the inner member and having a sealing lip sealingly engageable with the inner member. An annular load ring is disposed within the outer member bore and has an inner circumferential surface defining a bore, the seal being disposed within the bore and coupled with the ring. A first axial end of the ring is disposed against the bearing outer ring, or a spacer disposed axially between the load ring and the bearing outer ring, and a second axial end is disposed against a radial surface of the outer member. The load ring is configured to support axial loading on, and to prevent axial displacement of, the bearing outer ring.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2022
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Inventor: John Arthur WILKINS
  • Publication number: 20230250878
    Abstract: A seal assembly is for sealing between an outer member and an inner member, one of which is rotatable about a central axis. An outer annular case is coupled with the outer member and an inner annular case is disposed within and spaced radially inwardly from the outer case. An annular sealing member is disposed within and coupled with the inner case, the sealing member having a centerline coaxial with the central axis and a sealing lip or lips engaged with the inner member. An annular elastomeric coupler has a first axial end attached to the outer case and a second axial end attached to the inner case. The elastomeric coupler is radially deflectable such that the outer case or inner case is radially displaceable relative to the other one of the two cases while the centerline of the sealing member remains coaxial with the central axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2023
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Inventors: Marco Erminio Panchetti, Alex Paykin, Gregory G. Gildea, John Arthur Wilkins
  • Publication number: 20230066526
    Abstract: A seal assembly is for sealing a bearing disposed between an inner shaft and an outer hub and includes an annular inner case having an axial section disposable about the shaft shoulder and a radial section extending radially outwardly from the axial section. An annular outer case is disposed about the inner case, has an axial section coupleable with the hub and a radial section extending radially inwardly from the outer case axial section and spaced axially from the inner case radial section. An elastomeric seal member is attached to the outer case radial section and has a sealing lip sealingly engaged with the axial section of the inner case. An annular positioner is coupled with the inner case and has a radial section engageable with the axial end of the bearing inner ring so as to locate the inner case at a desired position along the central axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2021
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Inventor: John Arthur WILKINS
  • Publication number: 20220316595
    Abstract: An axial seal assembly is for sealing against a radial engagement surface of an outer member or an inner member disposed within a bore of the outer member. The seal assembly includes an annular case coupled with the outer member or disposed about the inner member and an annular elastomeric seal body. The seal body includes an inner portion attached to the case and an outer portion extending axially and radially from the inner portion so as to be positionable generally parallel to the radial engagement surface. The outer portion has a contact section extending generally axially from a remainder of the outer portion and being sealingly engageable with the radial engagement surface, the seal body outer portion being bendable about the seal body inner portion such that the seal body outer portion remains parallel to the engagement surface during axial displacement between the annular case and the engagement surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Publication date: October 6, 2022
    Inventors: Robert D. Pecak, John Arthur Wilkins
  • Publication number: 20220307604
    Abstract: A seal assembly is for sealing a rotating device and includes a dynamic seal component frictionally engageable with a device rotor and a static seal component frictionally engageable with a device stator. The two seal components are formed therebetween with a contact seal based on a sealing lip and a non-contact seal based on a labyrinth gap. The labyrinth gap is located upstream of the sealing lip on the path of foreign matter entering the seal assembly. A thrust bumper is formed in the labyrinth gap and defines a gap width by its own height during the assembly process. The rotating device may be a hub unit of a vehicle or any rotating machine with a rotor and a stator as core components. The rotating equipment adopting the present seal assembly can obtain significantly improved sealing performance, and thus is fully adapted to severely polluted or extremely humid working conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2022
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Inventors: Zongbin Wu, John Arthur Wilkins
  • Patent number: 11421785
    Abstract: A seal assembly is for sealing an annular space between a shaft and a housing, the housing having a bore and a radial end surface extending outwardly from the bore. The seal assembly includes an outer case disposeable within the housing bore, configured to support a primary seal member and having a radially-outwardly extending flange disposeable against the housing radial surface, the flange defining an annular groove. An inner case is disposed within the outer case and is disposeable upon the shaft. An annular retainer formed of a rigid polymeric material has an outer radial end disposed within the flange groove, an inner radial end disposeable about the shaft and a radial retention surface. The retainer retention surface extends between the inner and outer ends and is contactable by the inner case so as to retain the inner case disposed within the outer case.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: AKTIEBOLAGET SKF
    Inventor: John Arthur Wilkins
  • Publication number: 20210239217
    Abstract: A seal assembly is for sealing an annular space between a shaft and a housing, the housing having a bore and a radial end surface extending outwardly from the bore. The seal assembly includes an outer case disposeable within the housing bore, configured to support a primary seal member and having a radially-outwardly extending flange disposeable against the housing radial surface, the flange defining an annular groove. An inner case is disposed within the outer case and is disposeable upon the shaft. An annular retainer formed of a rigid polymeric material has an outer radial end disposed within the flange groove, an inner radial end disposeable about the shaft and a radial retention surface. The retainer retention surface extends between the inner and outer ends and is contactable by the inner case so as to retain the inner case disposed within the outer case.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Inventor: John Arthur WILKINS
  • Patent number: 9689496
    Abstract: An axle seal used to prevent lubricant from leaking between a rotating shaft and a shaft bore. The seal includes: a peripheral connection section reliably connected to an inner edge of the shaft bore; an extensible and retractable adjustment section connected to the peripheral connection section, allowing the seal to make extension and retraction adjustment in a radial direction; and a sealed contact section connected to the inner edge of the extensible and retractable adjustment section and potentially in sealed contact with the surface of the rotating shaft. The seal contains an alignment follower that can synchronously transfer a radial movement of the rotating shaft to the inner edge of the extensible and retractable adjustment section. One application would be an oil seal between a front cover and crankshaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: AKTIEBOLAGET SKF
    Inventors: John Arthur Wilkins, Austin Yu
  • Publication number: 20160186863
    Abstract: An axle seal used to prevent lubricant from leaking between a rotating shaft and a shaft bore, for example, sealed fittings between the rotating shaft and shaft bore where static misalignment and/or dynamic misalignment exceeds conventional extent. The seal includes: a peripheral connection section reliably connected to an inner edge of the shaft bore; an extensible and retractable adjustment section connected to the peripheral connection section, allowing the seal to make extension and retraction adjustment in a radial direction; and a sealed contact section connected to the inner edge of the extensible and retractable adjustment section and potentially in sealed contact with the surface of the rotating shaft. The seal contains an alignment follower that can synchronously transfer a radial movement of the rotating shaft to the inner edge of the extensible and retractable adjustment section. One application would be an oil seal between a front cover and crankshaft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2015
    Publication date: June 30, 2016
    Applicant: Aktiebolaget SKF
    Inventors: John Arthur WILKINS, Austin YU