Patent ID: 7097436
Filing Date: 2006-08-29
Classification: F01C

Abstract:
1. In a rotary machine having a housing defining an operating chamber having a trochoidal or epitrochoidal wall, a shaft journalled within said housing and extending through said chamber, an eccentric on said shaft within said chamber, a nominally triangular rotor in said chamber and journalled on said eccentric, timing gearing on said housing and said rotor, apex seal receiving grooves at apexes on said rotor, and apex seals within said grooves and engaging said wall, the improvement wherein the apex seal at each apex includes a pair of elongated, bar-like seals of J or L shaped cross section with vertical parts in back-to-back relation and slidable on one another, and further slidably disposed within the corresponding groove for radial movement relative to one another and within the groove, said vertical parts being sized to fit within said groove sufficiently snugly to prevent side to side shifting of said vertical parts within said groove sufficient to prevent a leakage path within said groove around said vertical parts of said seal to come into existence, said bar-like seals terminating in radially outer sealing surfaces engaging said wall and pressure-responsive surfaces opposite the sealing surfaces and located out of said groove, biasing means in said groove for providing a radially outward bias to each of said bar-like seals generally independently of each other; and a vent port at the bottom of said groove.