Patent ID: 8109208

Claim:
A cheese process vat having an adjustable shaft seal assembly, the cheese process vat comprising: a vat body having an interior and an end wall having an interior surface; a shaft extending through the end wall; the shaft including a concentric flange having an inner face, with the inner face spaced a pre-determined and non-adjustable distance from the interior surface of end wall; and a shaft seal assembly, the shaft seal assembly including a plurality of elongated fasteners that extend in a direction parallel to the shaft, a plurality of shims, an axially adjustable inner seal holder that is slidably connected to the plurality of elongated fasteners and operatively connected to the plurality of shims, the inner seal holder surrounding and concentric with the shaft, with a portion of the inner seal holder extending into the interior of the vat body, and a face seal that operatively engages an end of the inner seal holder that extends into the interior of the vat body; the face seal having a seal body and a resilient seal lip; the seal lip extending away from the seal body; wherein the inner seal holder to which the face seal operatively engages the inner face of the concentric flange of the shaft can be axially adjusted by changing the number of shims in operative connection with the inner seal holder and the amount of pressure that can be exerted against the inner face by the face seal lip can be varied.