Packing assembly for a pump

This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/018,538 filed on Jan. 1, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a packing or seal assembly for a pump and more particularly to a header ring for use in such an assembly.

2. Description of Prior Art

Piston pumps or plunger pumps are positive displacement pumps and are commonly used in environments where the fluids which are being handled pose problems such as high temperatures, viscous and very viscous media or solids-charged liquids.

One important use of plunger pumps is in the oil and gas industry and particularly in the drilling, completion and/or stimulation of oil or gas wells. In these applications, it is common to employ solids laden drilling fluids, e.g., muds, cement slurries, fracturing slurries, acids and the like, which frequently must be pumped under high pressure into the well. This is particularly true in the case of completion and/or stimulation procedures where very high pressures are employed and the fluids being handled are typically slurries which make the fluids highly abrasive because of the large solids content of the slurries.

As is well known in the art, positive displacement reciprocating plunger-type pumps in this environment pose difficult sealing problems at the high pressure end where the abrasive fluid must be prevented from leaking between the reciprocating plunger and the cylinder or housing within which it reciprocates.

Although a variety of sealing or packing systems are known to seal between the reciprocating plunger and the cylinder, a typical seal arrangement comprises one or more V-shaped or Chevron packing rings with various male and female adaptor rings at the forward and rearward ends of the packing assembly. To ensure sealing between the plunger and the cylinder, the sealing assembly can be placed under compression by an adjusting ring, spring loading, etc.

A typical packing assembly of the type under discussion includes a header ring which is typically made of an elastomeric material. The header ring can be constructed of a homogeneous elastomeric material or an elastomeric material containing layers of cloth or other reinforcing type materials. It is also known to cover certain surfaces of the header ring, particularly the so-called rearward surfaces with a reinforcing fabric.

It has been found that, with respect to the header ring, failure of the sealing assembly primarily occurs due to a phenomena known as “nibbling.” This nibbling phenomenon can be best understood by reference to FIGS. 1-4 which depict prior art construction for header rings of the type under consideration. FIG. 1 depicts a typical homogeneous elastomeric header ring shown as 10. As can be seen in FIG. 1, header ring 10 is made of a homogeneous elastomeric material and comprises an annular body portion 12.

Integrally formed with body 12, is an annular, radially inwardly projecting wiping lip 14, an annularly extending, axially facing bead 16, an annular pedestal portion 18. Header ring 10 includes a forwardly facing, annularly extending planar surface 20, an annularly extending, radially outwardly facing cylindrical surface 22, an annularly extending, radially inwardly facing cylindrical surface 24 and a radially inwardly facing convex sealing surface 26, surfaces 24 and 26 being adjoined at an annularly extending juncture 28.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the header ring 10 is shown after use and after a portion of the header ring has been nibbled out. As can be seen, the nibbled out area indicated at 30 comprises a portion of header ring 10 formed by intersecting surfaces 24 and 26. More specifically, it can be seen that the juncture 28 shown in FIG. 1 between surfaces 24 and 26 has been gouged out due to the nibbling effect.

FIGS. 3 and 4 depict another prior art header ring, FIG. 3 depicting the header ring in its original or undamaged state, FIG. 4 depicting the header ring of FIG. 3 following use and damage as a result of nibbling. The header ring 10A shown in FIG. 3 has a body portion 32 comprised of first body section 34 and second body section 36. Section 36 of body portion 32 comprises a fabric or fiber reinforced material while portion 34 is formed of a homogeneous elastomeric material construction. As in the case of header ring 10, there is an annular pedestal 38, an annular bead 40 and an annular sealing lip 32. FIG. 4 shows the header ring 10A of FIG. 3 which has been damaged due to nibbling and once again the nibbling has occurred at the juncture 46 between radially inwardly facing cylindrical wall 43 and radially inwardly facing surface 45.

In one aspect, the present invention provides a header ring for use in a packing or seal assembly between a reciprocating, cylindrical member and a cylindrical wall of a housing in which the cylindrical member reciprocates.

In one aspect, the header ring of the present invention has an annularly extending body portion, at least a portion of which comprises an elastomeric material, an annular pedestal portion formed on said body and having an annular, radially inwardly facing pedestal surface, a radially inwardly facing, annularly extending sealing lip formed on said body and having a radially inwardly facing sealing surface, at least a portion of the pedestal portion forming the pedestal surface and an at least a portion of the sealing lip forming at least a portion of the sealing surface being comprised of a layer fabric reinforced elastomeric material.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sealing assembly for sealing between a cylindrical movable member and a housing having a cylindrical bore in which the cylindrical member reciprocates, the sealing assembly including a header ring as described above.

The foregoing objects, features and advantages of the present invention, as well as others, will be more fully understood and better appreciated by reference to the following drawings, specification and claims.