PATENTS
between the wafer and a shoulder of the well-
head housing, and a second seal is positioned
between the wafer and the additional compo-
nent. Additional systems, devices and methods
are also disclosed.
Patent number: WO/2017/117180
Inventors: C.L. Cotton and T.E. Taylor
Publication date: 6 July 2017
Adapter coupling
Applicant: Victaulic Co, USA
A coupling for joining a flanged pipe element
to a non-flanged pipe element forms the sub-
ject of this patent. It has segments that are
connected end-to-end and surround a central
space. Flange portions extend from one side
of the segments. Each segment defines two
channels, one of which receives a split ring for
gripping the non-flanged pipe; the other chan-
nel receives a seal. A flanged tube is also posi-
tioned between the segments. The flange on
the tube is positioned adjacent to the flange
portions of the segments. The seal engages the
tube and the non-flanged pipe element. The
flange portions of the segments are bolted to
the flange of the (flanged) pipe element and
the flange of the tube is captured between
the flanged portions of the segments and the
flange of the pipe element.
Patent number: WO/2017/116969
Inventors: A.J. Cuvo and M.A. Bowman
Publication date: 6 July 2017
Multi-material seal with
body and core
Applicant: Onesubsea IP
UK Ltd, UK
The embodiments of this invention look at
a seal, including a seal body and a core dis-
posed within (for example, disposed internally
within and surrounded by) the body. The seal
body and core are made of different materi-
als, which have different characteristics. For
instance, in certain embodiments the core
material may have a coefficient of thermal
expansion that is less than that of the seal
body material. In some embodiments, the core
material may have a negative coefficient of
thermal expansion, such that it expands with
decreasing temperature. As such, the core may
reduce or minimise the contraction of the
seal – its total length, width and/or height – at
low temperatures. In this way, the core may
increase the effectiveness of the seal at low
temperatures. Furthermore, in some embodi-
ments, the core material may have a gas per-
meability that is less than that of the material
of the seal body. As such, it may reduce the
cross-sectional area of the seal that is suscep-
14
Sealing Technology May 2018
tible to gas diffusion, thereby reducing or
minimising the likelihood and/or effects of
explosive gas decompression.
Patent number: WO/2017/114647
Inventors: H.L. Cheng and B.M. Tu
Publication date: 6 July 2017
Multilayer gasket assembly
Applicant: Federal-Mogul Corp, USA
This invention relates, generally, to gasket
assemblies for establishing a fluid-tight seal
between two members that are clamped
together, but in particularly it concerns multi-
layer gasket assemblies, such as cylinder-head
gaskets. The multilayer gasket assembly
described includes a plurality of gasket layers,
which present a number of coaxially aligned
openings and have outer peripheries. At least
two of the gasket layers are functional lay-
ers and have full embossment beads that are
spaced from and surround the openings. The
functional layers also include “half-beads”,
which are spaced from the full embossment
beads. One or more of the gasket layers
presents a redundant seal, spaced from the
full and half embossment beads of the func-
tional layers and located adjacent to the outer
peripheries of the one or more gaskets. The
redundant seal has a height (H2) which is less
than a height (H1) of the half-beads of the
functional layers. The redundant seal prevents
fluid, which has wicked past the full emboss-
ment beads and the half-beads, from escaping
out of the internal combustion engine.
Patent number: WO/2017/120177
Inventors: B. Mahoney, J. Herald
and D. Vialard
Publication date: 6 July 2017
Slurry seal assembly
Applicant: Stein Seal Co, USA
This invention generally relates to a seal assem-
bly that prevents slurry from contacting a pair
of face seal rings. It is particularly concerned,
for example, with a first face seal ring disposed
along a sleeve that rotates and translates with
a shaft. A second face seal ring along with a
retainer arm is disposed in a housing so as to
be non-rotatable yet translatable, whilst a float-
ing bushing seal assembly is disposed about an
outer circumferential surface of the sleeve adja-
cent to the face seal rings. A plurality of slots is
located along the front face of the sleeve. These
slots and the floating bushing seal assembly
cooperate to resist the flow of slurry in the
direction of seal rings.
Patent number: WO/2017/119882
Inventor: T.M. Vasagar
Publication date: 6 July 2017
Device for introducing
a seal ring into
a rotatable mounting
Applicant: Lüers Maschinen- und
Stahlbau GmbH, Germany
In this patent, a method and a device are
described for introducing a stretchable radial
seal ring into a cup-shaped rotatable mount-
ing with a radially aligned inner base and a
circumferential wall inner- face. The seal ring,
which is introduced into the mounting, and
the outer diameter of which is smaller than
the wall inner diameter of the mounting – in
the non-use state – can be stretched radially
by rotating the mounting about its axis at
a high rotational speed such that the outer
circumference of the ring comes into contact
with the wall inner-face of the mounting.
According to the inventors, the seal ring is
converted from a feeding end of a horizon-
tally aligned central retaining mandrel of the
mounting to the inner base of the cup-shaped
mounting along a helical surface of the retain-
ing mandrel, whilst rotating the mounting at a
low rotational speed in a vertically suspended
alignment before the mounting is brought to
an increased rotational speed in order to radi-
ally stretch the seal ring.
Patent number: WO/2017/118708
Inventor: G. Lüers
Publication date: 13 July 2017
Seals for rotor system fairings
Applicant: Sikorsky Aircraft
Corp, USA
This disclosure relates to rotorcraft aerody-
namics. In rotorcraft, the aerodynamic drag
associated with the rotor system can contrib-
ute significantly to the overall aerodynamic
drag. For example, in a single-rotor system
that it used in some helicopters, the aerody-
namic drag (attributable to the rotor system)
can be responsible for upwards of 25% or
more of the total aerodynamic drag. In rotor-
craft having dual rotor systems – such as those
with coaxial contra-rotating rotor systems
– the aerodynamic drag associated with the
rotor assemblies can be even higher, and may
result in significant power and efficiency pen-
alties under certain conditions, such as high-
speed flight. Fairings are commonly employed
on aircraft to reduce the aerodynamic drag
associated with certain types of static aircraft
structures. Such conventional methods and
systems have generally been considered satis-
factory for their intended purpose. However,
there is still a need in the art for improved
fairings. This disclosure provides details of a
design that aims to satisfy this need. The fair-