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Bal Seal Engineering
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Bal Seal Expands Line to Meet Demands for Large Tolerance Sealing

Bal Seal Engineering's PTFE C-ring seal is energized with a Bal Spring® canted coil spring, reported to promote even wear and longer service life. Photo courtesy of Bal Seal Engineering.

FOOTHILL RANCH, CALIF. – Bal Seal Engineering (www.balseal.com) has expanded its line of sealing products to include the spring-energized PTFE "C-ring" seal. The seal, which can be retrofit into grooves originally designed for elastomeric O-rings, is reported to offer improved performance and service life in hardware with large tolerance variations.

Bal Seal Engineering, a global provider of custom-engineered sealing, connecting, conducting, and EMI shielding solutions, says the C-ring seal combines the low friction properties of PTFE and simple, streamlined jacket geometry to achieve better sealing for more cycles in equipment where clearances, surface finishes, and other design characteristics vary widely. Typical applications for the new seal include medical imaging units, insulin pumps, ventilators, and drug-delivery devices. The C-ring seal is energized with a Bal Spring^® canted coil spring, which promotes even wear and prolongs service life. Its design allows for tool-less installation.

The C-ring seal is available in a range of materials, including virgin PTFE and filled PTFE. It is reported to be well-suited for use in low-pressure (<500 psi), low-speed (<100 ft/min) applications that require frictional control, and its polymer jacket expands under thermal cycling conditions to maintain contact pressure. Cross sections range from 1/16 to 1/2 inch, with radial tolerances of 0.010 to 0.075 inch. Tolerance ranges are dependent on ambient pressure, media type, and surface finish conditions.

The company says its new C-ring seal can help OEMs and tier suppliers offer more reliable, robust products that advance both industry performance standards and market position.

"It expands the options for designers who are seeking to eliminate seal failure caused by frictional wear and thermal cycling," said Steve Twork, Bal Seal Engineering's global medical device market manager, in a statement.