ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,428,970, issued on Sept. 30, was assigned to RTX Corp. (Hartford, Conn.).
"Radial lift seal" was invented by Jonathan Logan Miller (Belchertown, Mass.), Jonathan F. Zimmitti (Glastonbury, Conn.), Benstone Schwartz (Sanford, Fla.) and Jeffrey E. Tessier (Hobe Sound, Fla.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A bearing compartment seal for a gas turbine engine includes a seal ring that defines an axis and has a radially inward facing sealing surface. A seal runner is configured to rotate relative to the seal ring. The seal runner has a runner surface facing the radially inward facing sealing surface. A plurality of grooves are spaced circumferen...