An auxiliary bearing seal comprises a formed flinger having portions closely conforming to adjacent surfaces of a bearing assembly for a rotating shaft, and is mountable to the shaft by means associated with the bearing assembly. The bearing assembly includes a housing in which the bearings are contained. The housing includes a cylindrical portion extending in a first direction and the inner race of the bearings extends in the first direction outwardly of the housing. A collar having an annular surface facing in the first direction and an outside diameter surface is received over the outwardly-extending portion of the inner race and is secured to the shaft with a set screw. The inventive seal includes a first annular portion received adjacent the annular surface of the collar, a first cylindrical portion received adjacent the outside diameter surface of the collar, a second cylindrical surface positioned adjacent but spaced from the cylindrical portion of the housing, and a second annular portion extending between the first and second cylindrical surfaces. The combination of the auxiliary seal with a bearing assembly is also disclosed.

An apparatus for reducing between-stage entanglement of fibrous materials around a rotating impeller drive shaft in a multi-stage vertical turbine pump includes a fluted sleeve on the rotating impeller drive shaft and a notched cutter ring fixed to a stationary inner wall of a lower pump stage for engaging with the fluted sleeve to comminute fibrous materials by shearing action between the notches and the flutes. If necessary, a discharge transition piece may be used to adapt the upper end of an upstream pump stage bowl to the lower end of a downstream bowl.

An improvement is provided in a trolling motor of the type having a propeller, a housing with axially spaced leading and trailing ends, a shaft carrying a propeller and journalled for rotation in the housing, and a drive for rotating the shaft and propeller. The housing trailing end has an annular, radially inwardly facing surface and the propeller has a hub with an annular, radially outwardly facing surface on which blades are mounted. The housing, shaft and propeller are mounted relative to each other so that the radially inwardly facing housing surface is radially outside of and in axially overlapping relationship with the radially outwardly facing propeller surface.

A flushing protection arrangement is provided between the static seal and the auxiliary impeller, so that when the pump is not operating the static seal will be protected by a flushing fluid.

A seal assembly for the rotor shafts of internal mixers and the like used in the compounding of rubber and plastic. The assembly (20, 100) comprises seal rotor (21) carried by the rotor shafts (15, 16) outside of the mixing chamber (14) of the mixer (10) and having a continuous circumferential portion (24) for the bi-directional movement of a viscous melt of flowing material, sleeve (22) non-rotatably carried by the housing (18) of the mixer concentrically disposed about the seal rotor, and retainer (23) rotatable with the rotor shaft and engageable with the seal rotor (21) so as to cause the seal rotor to rotate therewith, wherein movement of the flowable material between the continuous circumferential portion and the sleeve forms a dynamic melt seal thereby controlling the discharge of materials from the mixing chamber between the housing and the rotor shaft. A method for controlling the discharge of materials from the mixing chamber (14) of an internal mixer (10), having at least one rotatable rotor (11) providing opposed shafts (15, 16 ) which pass through the housing (18) of the internal mixer (10), includes the step of continuously providing a flow of viscous melt material within the continuous circumferential portion to form a dynamic melt seal between the seal rotor and the sleeve of the seal assembly, thereby controlling the discharge of materials from the mixing chamber between the housing and the rotor shaft.