Patent ID: 7780340

Claim:
A cheese process vat having a fluid accessible cleaning/sanitizing chamber through which a cleaning/sanitizing fluid can be passed to clean/sanitize the cheese process vat during a cleaning/sanitizing process, the cheese process vat comprising: a vat body having an interior and first and second ends; a shaft assembly including a shaft extending between the first and second ends; the shaft including a concentric flange having an inner face; and a shaft seal assembly including a seal assembly subunit including an inner seal holder, a face seal and a shaft seal, each of which surround and are concentric with the shaft; wherein the shaft seal and the face seal are engaged with and separated by the inner seal holder; the face seal and the shaft seal each having a seal body and a seal lip; the seal lip extending away from the seal body; wherein the shaft seal is pre-loaded so that the shaft seal lip engages the shaft; the face seal is pre-loaded so that the face seal lip engages the inner face; the inner seal holder defines a first portion of a fluid conduit channel and the shaft, the inner seal holder, the face seal and the shaft seal cooperate to define a fluid accessible cleaning/sanitizing chamber to which cleaning/sanitizing solution can flow via the first portion of the fluid conduit channel.