Rolls-royce Corporation

James E Forfar

Ian C D Care

Richard Nicholson

A lubrication system comprises a reservoir for lubricant, lubricant delivery means to deliver lubricant to at least one component to be lubricated, an injector associated with each component, a control system to control the opening and closing of each injector and scavenge means to remove surplus lubricant from around each component and return it to the reservoir. Each injector comprises a pulsative injector, controlled by the control system to deliver lubricant to its associated component in a series of discrete pulses. In a preferred embodiment both the delivery of oil to each component and the scavenging of oil from each component are controlled in response to sensed conditions of that component.

Lubrication system

A seal arrangement () is provided in which seal elements () incorporate passages () allowing an air flow to be presented to tip edges () of the seal elements, in order to create air suspension and diminish excessive wear. These passages () are created by recesses in the respective adjacent juxtaposed seal elements (). In a seal assembly () a seal arrangement () is secured within a float chamber () whereby radial movement is allowed to accommodate for movements in the shaft (). The radial movement is resisted by a bias created by air flow () into the float chamber (). The air flow () may also be presented through the passages () in order to create the desired air suspension of the seal elements ().

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Nottingham, United Kingdom

James E Forfar