US 12,000,485 B1
Dynamically vented crankshaft seal and systems and methods thereof
Elmer S. Zanoria, Dunlap, IL (US); Keith Harmeyer, Lafayette, IN (US); John Michael Mashak, Peoria, IL (US); and Daniel Joshua Smith, Peoria, IL (US)
Assigned to Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL (US)
Filed by Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL (US)
Filed on Feb. 1, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/104,331.
Int. Cl. F16J 15/32 (2016.01); F16J 15/3228 (2016.01)
CPC F16J 15/3228 (2013.01) 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A rotatable shaft assembly comprising:
a rotatable shaft defining a shaft axis of rotation;
a one-piece unitary wear sleeve circumscribing the rotatable shaft and being directly mounted on the rotatable shaft, a first side of the one-piece unitary wear sleeve facing and being at an outer surface of the rotatable shaft, wherein the one-piece unitary wear sleeve is purely cylindrical in the side profile view of the seal assembly; and
a seal assembly circumscribing the rotatable shaft, wherein the seal assembly includes:
a housing,
a main seal mounted to the housing, the main seal including a mounting portion and a main seal lip, and the main seal being curved in a side profile view of the seal assembly,
a dust seal having a mounting portion, and
a plurality of vents circumferentially spaced from each other about the seal assembly,
wherein each of the vents extends from outside the rotatable shaft assembly to a circumferential seal cavity between the main seal and the dust seal to prevent or minimize vacuum formation in the circumferential seal cavity,
wherein a second side of the one-piece unitary wear sleeve opposite the first side thereof directly faces the circumferential seal cavity,
wherein each of the vents is formed entirely in the one-piece, unitary wear sleeve, and
wherein the one-piece, unitary wear sleeve includes a channel extending from a distal end of the one-piece, unitary wear sleeve that runs parallel to the shaft axis and an opening leading from the channel to the circumferential seal cavity forming each of the vents.