Patent ID: 7370864

Claim:
A mechanical seal for mounting to a housing containing a rotating shaft, said mechanical seal comprising: a gland; at least one pair of seal members disposed at least partially within the gland, said seal members including a rotary seal ring having a rotary seal face and a stationary seal ring having a stationary seal face engaging the rotary seal face; and a shuttle member positioned relative to one of the rotary seal ring and the stationary seal ring and axially movable between a first position and a second position in response to changing pressure conditions within the mechanical seal, wherein the shuttle member is axially separated from the non-seal face of the seal ring when disposed in the first position when subjected to a first pressure condition, and is positioned to be contacting a non-seal face of one of the seal rings when disposed in the second position when subjected to a second pressure condition different from said first condition, the shuttle member comprising a carrier element having a first end portion adapted to be disposed proximate to the non-seal face of the rotary and stationary seal rings, and a second end portion opposite the first end portion which extends axially beyond the one of the rotary and stationary seal rings.