Patent ID: 8820753
Filing Date: 2014-09-02
Classification: F16J

Abstract:
1. A lubricant sealing structure for a gear coupling which is disposed between a rotation shaft and a drive shaft and which includes an outer ring formed with internal teeth meshing with external teeth on outer circumferential surfaces of the rotation shaft and the drive shaft, the structure comprising: a sealing member having flexibility; a cover plate which is attached to a sleeve fixed to the rotation shaft and disposed around the outer ring, the cover plate being provided separately from the outer ring to face and cover a side surface of the outer ring; a first fixing member which fixes a first end of the sealing member to the cover plate in a liquid-tight manner by pressing the first end of the sealing member against the cover plate in an axial direction of the drive shaft; and a second fixing member which fixes a second end of the sealing member to one of the drive shaft and a stopper plate secured to the drive shaft in a liquid-tight manner by pressing the second end of the sealing member against the one of the drive shaft and the stopper plate in the axial direction of the drive shaft, wherein the first end of the sealing member has a first sealing face extending along a radial direction of the drive shaft and facing the cover plate, and the second end of the sealing member has a second sealing face extending along the radial direction and facing the one of the drive shaft and the stopper plate, wherein the sealing member is configured to seal lubricant stored in a lubricant-reservoir space inside the first and second sealing faces, and the lubricant-reservoir space includes an interior space inside the gear coupling, and an outside space formed outside the gear coupling and disposed between the outer ring and the sleeve, wherein the sealing member comprises a central part between the first end and the second end, and the central part of the sealing member is disposed radially outside the drive shaft, wherein the central part of the sealing member forms another space communicating with the lubricant-reservoir space and located between an inner circumferential surface of the cover plate and an end of an outer circumferential surface of the drive shaft, and wherein the another space extends from the first sealing face which faces the surface of the cover plate to the second sealing face along the radial direction of the drive shaft so that the first sealing face and the second sealing face are exposed to the another space.