Patent ID: 8740225

Claim:
A sealing assembly for a bore or shaft, the sealing assembly comprising: a. a ring shaped seal holder; b. at least one sealing ring having a main body, the sealing ring adjacent the seal holder and attached thereto; i. wherein each sealing ring comprises a plurality of adjacent sealing pads having a surface configured to engage a bore or shaft; ii. wherein each sealing pad has a first circumferential end portion, a second circumferential end portion, and a middle circumferential portion; iii. wherein each sealing ring comprises a spring structure coupling each sealing pad to the main body of the sealing ring; iv. wherein each spring structure comprises a radially extending first brace connected to the main body at a first circumferential location and a radially extending second brace connected to the main body at a second circumferential location extending from the main body of the sealing ring to the bore or shaft, v. wherein a beam spring is connected to and bridges the first brace and second brace and the beam spring extends circumferentially between the radially extending first brace and radially extending second brace; vi. wherein a third brace extends radially from and is connected to the beam spring between the first brace and the second brace and is connected to a circumferential median portion of the sealing pad; wherein the spring structure biases the associated sealing pad towards the bore or shaft linearly away from the main body of the sealing ring; and c. a forward backing plate adjacent a sealing ring and positioned opposite the sealing ring relative to the seal holder.