Patent ID: 8684362

Claim:
A cartridge seal assembly for use in a seal cavity to seal around a movable shaft, the cartridge seal assembly comprising: a cartridge comprising a housing defining a cavity; the housing comprising a longitudinal length; a seal assembly disposed entirely within the cavity of the housing of the cartridge, the seal assembly including an annular sealing member having a lip for sealing engagement with a movable shaft when mounted onto the shaft, the seal assembly further including a sealing retaining ring having a tapered support surface that is angled relative to the longitudinal length of the housing of the cartridge and, together with the annular sealing member, define a spring pocket; a canted-coil spring disposed in the spring pocket and biased against the tapered support surface of the sealing retaining ring; a gap defined by an edge on the annular sealing member and an edge on the sealing retaining ring; and wherein the sealing retaining ring is axially translatable relative to the housing of the cartridge along the longitudinal length to decrease the spring pocket and the gap and to further compress the spring.