Patent ID: 8177236

Claim:
A seal assembly for sealing a rotatable shaft entering a workspace, said seal assembly comprising: first and second sets of seal rings separated by a space defined by the seal ring sets, an outer surface of a shaft sleeve or shaft provided with an irregular surface, an inner surface of a body circumventing the outer surface of the shaft sleeve or the shaft and filled with a lubricating and/or cooling fluid, a gap separating the outer surface of the shaft sleeve or shaft and the inner surface of the body, at least one stationary fluid directing member extending from the inner surface of the body and into the gap, a lubricating and/or cooling fluid input opening into said seal assembly positioned in the inner surface of the body on a first side of the fluid directing member, a lubricating and/or cooling fluid outlet opening into said seal assembly positioned in the inner surface of the body on a second side of the fluid directing member, wherein the at least one stationary fluid directing member comprises a surface that extends axially in apposition to said shaft sleeve or said shaft, and a first side of the at least one stationary fluid directing member facing the direction of rotation of said shaft sleeve or said shaft extends axially and obliquely from said output opening and thereby creates a fluid flow in said lubrication and/or cooling fluid towards or away from the first and/or second sets of seal rings during rotation of said shaft sleeve or said shaft.