SEAL CONSTRUCTION INCLUDING A COMPRESSIBLE SPRING MECHANISM FOR BEARING PRELOAD

摘要

A seal assembly for providing a seal about a rotating shaft and for exerting a preloading force on a bearing assembly, such as in a horizontal axis washing machine (10) application. The seal assembly includes a seal member (100), a wear member (102), and a coil spring (104). The seal member is formed of a rigid ring (106) having an inner section (108) and an outer section spaced apart from each other. Resilient material is bonded to the ring, including an inner sealing section which engages the shaft (34) and an outer sealing section (110) which engages an inwardly facing surface of the wear member. The spring is located in the space between the inner and outer sections of the ring. The seal assembly is installed adjacent a bearing assembly (80) including an inner race (84), and the spring bears between the inner race and the ring of the seal member. The resilient material includes a sealing rib (120) extending in an axial direction, and the spring functions to seat the sealing rib against a transverse surface extending outwardly from the shaft, as well as to exert an axial preloading force on the inner race of the bearing assembly. The outer sealing section of the seal member bears against a wear surface defined by a wear member, which is press-fit into a recess in a housing within the bearing assembly is installed. The wear member and spring are pre-assembled to the seal member.