Elastomeric seal assembly having auxiliary annular seal components
First Claim
1. A drill bit, comprising:
- a cone cutter rotatably mounted on a journal shaft, said cone cutter including a seal gland;
an annular elastomeric sealing seal disposed about said journal shaft in said seal gland, said sealing seal including a dynamic sealing surface for dynamically engaging said journal shaft and a static sealing surface opposite said dynamic sealing surface; and
at least one auxiliary annular seal member disposed about said journal shaft in said seal gland and engaging said static sealing surface of said sealing seal and said seal gland.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A drill bit and seal assembly therefor include a seal gland, an elastomeric sealing seal disposed in the seal gland and having a dynamic sealing surface and a static sealing surface, and at least one auxiliary elastomeric annular seal member disposed between the static sealing surface of the sealing seal and the seal gland. The auxiliary annular seal member serves to prevent relative movement of the sealing seal relative to the surfaces of the seal gland and to permit sealing seals of various cross-sections and shapes to adapt to and function with a conventionally sized and shaped gland. The auxiliary annular seal member is sized and configured and its material properties selected so as to impart the appropriate squeeze to the sealing seal to provide the desired contact pressure and footprint. Choice of the appropriate auxiliary seal member may permit the same sized seal to be employed in seal glands of differing sizes.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1. A drill bit, comprising:
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a cone cutter rotatably mounted on a journal shaft, said cone cutter including a seal gland;
an annular elastomeric sealing seal disposed about said journal shaft in said seal gland, said sealing seal including a dynamic sealing surface for dynamically engaging said journal shaft and a static sealing surface opposite said dynamic sealing surface; and
at least one auxiliary annular seal member disposed about said journal shaft in said seal gland and engaging said static sealing surface of said sealing seal and said seal gland. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A seal assembly for a drill bit having a cutter rotatably mounted on a journal shaft, said seal assembly comprising:
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a seal gland formed between said journal shaft and said cutter;
an annular elastomeric sealing seal disposed about said shaft in said seal gland and including a dynamic sealing surface and a static sealing surface; and
at least a first auxiliary annular elastomeric member disposed in said sealing gland between said sealing seal and said seal gland. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A drill bit comprising:
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a shaft;
a cutter element rotatably mounted on said shaft, said shaft and said cutter element having concentric journal surfaces separated by a journal gap;
at least a first seal gland including a sealing seal, said sealing seal comprising a dynamic sealing surface for sealingly engaging one of said journal surfaces as said cutter element rotates relative to said shaft, and a static sealing surface opposite said dynamic sealing surface; and
at least a first auxiliary annular seal member disposed between said static sealing surface of said sealing seal and said seal gland and frictionally engaging said sealing seal for preventing relative motion of said sealing seal relative to said seal gland. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A drill bit comprising:
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a rolling cone cutter rotatably mounted on a journal surface of a shaft;
an auxiliary annular seal member engaging said cone cutter and disposed about said shaft;
an annular sealing seal engaging said auxiliary annular seal member and disposed about said shaft, said sealing seal including a dynamic sealing surface sealingly engaging said journal surface of said shaft;
wherein said auxiliary seal member and said sealing seal are unbonded to one another. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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Specification