Aktiebolaget Skf

Warrick Allen

Stellario Barbera

Ileana Nedelcu

A seal that enables an enclosure to be sealed and to keep an air pressure balance between an internal space within the enclosure and an external space outside the enclosure in such a way that water ingress into the enclosure is hindered in a predictable manner. This is accomplished by providing a seal having at least one small diameter tube with at least an inner surface being hydrophobic, oleophobic or omniphobic. The seal is mounted in the enclosure between the inner and outer space. To further avoid small particle contaminants to enter and go through the at least one small diameter tube, it is preferable to have a small diameter tube with curves and bends, and it will still allow an airflow through it if there is an air pressure imbalance.

Seal

A dual function coating on a counterface of a seal. The dual function provides having a low friction and being hydrophobic. This is achieved by chemically modifying a low friction coating. Gaps are included, primarily on the exterior side of a seal, one side being coated with the modified low friction coating on a counterface and the other side with a hydrophobic or omniphobic material on a seal body. The material can be in the form of a coating, film, strip, or ring depending on application, and be coated, glued, fused, mechanically attached or by any other suitable method, attached to the seal body. The gap should preferably be in the order of 0.2 to 1 mm wide, thus creating 'reverse-capillary' function where water cannot pass all the way through the gap.

Seal assembly

A process for preparing a coating on at least part of a tribological surface of a first machine component which, during machine operation, is adapted to be in sliding contact with a tribological surface of a second machine component is provided. The process provides the steps of: (a) applying a polymer formulation onto at least part of the tribological surface of the first machine component to form a coating. The polymer formulation provides an isocyanate that contains two or more isocyanate groups per molecule and an idocyanate-reactive polyol to form polyurethanes; and (b) subjecting at least part of the coating as obtained in step (a) to a curing treatment during which polyurethanes are formed in the coating on the at least part of the tribological surface of the first machine component.

Process for preparing a coating

A dynamic seal having a contact surface including a fabric is provided. A fatty acid ester is incorporated into the fabric.

Dynamic seal

A dynamic seal having a contact surface providing poly(norbornene) or a derivative thereof.

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Hilversum, Netherlands

Warrick Allen