Patent ID: 6848689

Claim:
A sealing system for a shaft comprising: a stationary sealing ring extending around the shaft in a coaxial relationship to the shaft; a rotary sealing ring extending around the shaft in a coaxial relationship to the shaft; a housing; a sleeve disposed between the stationary sealing ring and the housing; a pusher disposed between the sleeve and the housing; biasing means urging the pusher away from the housing and against the sleeve to urge the sleeve against the stationary ring and to urge the stationary ring against the rotary ring so that facing surfaces of the rings engage to form a primary seal between the rings to substantially prevent fluid flow across the primary seal from a relatively high pressure radial side to a relatively low pressure radial side; a sealing member disposed between two facing surfaces of the housing and the sleeve to maintain a sealing contact between the housing and the sleeve; and a gap formed between the two facing surfaces and in a spaced relation to the sealing member, the gap being maintained despite the presence of relatively high pressure at the high pressure radial side.