Patent ID: 7464942

Claim:
A shaft seal assembly for engaging a shaft comprising: a rigid annular casing having a generally cylindrical mounting portion and a radially inwardly extending flange portion; an elastomer seal body molded to said casing and defining at least one annular elastomer seal lip extending radially inwardly from said casing for sealing engagement with a shaft; a PTFE seal element bonded to said elastomer seal body to define a PTFE seal lip in axially spaced relationship to said at least one elastomer seal lip for sealing engagement with the shaft along substantially the full axial length of said PTFE seal element; a flex-enhancing undercut region of said elastomer seal body extending from a radially inner shaft-engaging surface of said PTFE seal element to a location overlying said PTFE seal lip, wherein said flex-enhancing undercut region is generally parallel to said inner shaft-engaging surface of said PTFE seal element when said PTFE seal element engages the shaft; wherein said flange portion includes an axially extending annular foot portion at a radially inner extent of said flange portion, said foot portion extending axially from said flange portion toward said elastomer seal lip to provide a radially rigid section between said elastomer seal lip and said PTFE seal lip; said foot portion is radially spaced from the PTFE seal lip; and said undercut region lies radially between said foot portion and said PTFE lip.