The invention relates to the technical field of mechanical seals for machines comprising rotating assemblies, like a shaft, and concerns more precisely the assembly of mechanical seals as a cartridge.

Mechanical seals are mechanical devices that are designed for helping to join mechanical components together by preventing leakage, and/or containing pressure, and/or excluding contam ination. They are notably widely used in machines comprising rotating assemblies, like dry gas seals (i.e. a mechanical seal using a sealing gas to create a barrier between a pro cess gas and the atmosphere) equipping most of the centrifu gal gas compressors or gas turbines. Mechanical seals for ro tating assemblies, and in particular dry gas seals, are available in a great variety of configurations and are usual ly contained within one or several cartridges. For instance, tandem dry gas seals comprise a primary seal and a secondary seal contained within a single cartridge, wherein the second ary seal serves as backup in case of failure of the primary seal.

The seal cartridge might be described as an assembly of me chanical components that forms typically a cylindrical hollow body and has therefore a cylindrical hollow shape, wherein the hollow part is configured for receiving a shaft or rotat ing member against and/or around which seal components of the cartridge are arranged, said cylindrical hollow body being then installed in a shaft casing - also called seal cavity - of the machine, configured for enclosing the shaft and its annularly arranged cartridge, wherein the latter provides a sealing between the shaft and the casing of the machine. One of the main advantages of using a seal cartridge for sealing a shaft is its removability: the seal cartridge is indeed mounted removable inside the shaft casing (or seal cavity), annularly around the shaft, so that removing/installing the cartridge removes/installs at the same time all sealing com ponents comprised within the seal cartridge, enabling a quick assembly/disassembly of the sealing components.

Typically, a seal cartridge comprises an axial stack of ring- shaped sealing components configured for being mounted annu larly around the shaft (i.e. according to the longitudinal direction of the stack), giving rise therefore to said cylin drical hollow shape of the cartridge. Among said ring-shaped sealing components (or annular components), one can distin guish:

- housing components that are ring-shaped sealing compo nents characterized by an outside diameter that is con figured for matching an inner space of the shaft casing; and

- shaft sleeve components that are ring-shaped sealing components characterized by an inside diameter config ured for matching the size, i.e. diameter, of the shaft.

According to usual cartridge constructions, housing compo nents are mounted or located radially over the shaft sleeves and are usually designed for maintaining in a predefined po sition within the cartridge other ring-shaped sealing compo nents like stationary sealings or clamping rings, and/or for serving as support for such ring-shaped sealing components. During rotation of the shaft, the housing components are con figured for remaining stationary with respect to said rota tion. As for the shaft sleeve, it is configured for shrouding the shaft so as to form a sleeve around said shaft. It can remain stationary or be driven into rotation by the rotation of the shaft. In this case, the shaft sleeve rotates together with the shaft, at the same angular speed. The outside diame ters and inside diameters of the stack of housing components and shaft sleeves define respectively an external and an in ternal substantially cylindrical surface of the seal car tridge that fits respectively within said internal space of the shaft casing or seal cavity of the machine (e.g. a pump or compressor) and with the shaft geometry of said machine so that the shaft can be received within the hollow part of the cartridge when mounting the seal cartridge inside said shaft casing. The housing components are usually coupled or fixed to each other by means of screws and/or bolts for forming a united body, i.e. said cartridge, enclosing all sealing com ponents. Typically, radial or axial screws are used for axi ally or radially coupling the housing components, as well as the shaft sleeve components.

Prior art cartridges are complex devices whose assembly and disassembly require specific knowledge and skills for mount ing or dismounting the different cartridge ring-shaped seal ing components. For instance, unprecise assembly of the dif ferent ring-shaped sealing components, e.g. a misalignment, may strongly decrease the efficiency of the sealing or may lead to a failure, e.g. a screw rupture or thread damage.

An objective of the present invention is to propose a pin locking device for a sealing component of a seal cartridge assembly and a method for mounting sealing components of a seal cartridge assembly that facilitate the assembly and dis assembly of the seal cartridge, and that provide a less com plex and more compact cartridge, and consequently a simpler manufacturing of the cartridge components. This objective is solved by the measures taken in accordance with the independent claims. Further advantageous embodiments are proposed by the dependent claims.

The present invention concerns a pin locking device for cou pling and securing together two sealing components of a seal cartridge. The latter is configured for providing a sealing between a rotatable shaft that typically equips a machine, like a compressor, and a shaft casing of such a machine. As known in the art, the shaft casing is configured for sur rounding and enclosing the seal cartridge annularly mounted around the shaft usually centered in its casing. The seal cartridge has notably a substantially hollow shape, preferen tially a substantially cylindrical hollow shape, around a longitudinal axis A passing by the center of the seal car tridge and corresponding to the axis of rotation of the shaft when the seal cartridge surrounds said shaft in the shaft casing or seal cavity, i.e. when it is mounted annularly around said rotatable shaft in said shaft casing/cavity. The seal cartridge, i.e. its hollow shape, is typically charac terized by an external size, e.g. an external diameter, con figured for matching an internal space of the shaft casing, and an internal diameter configured for matching the size (i.e. diameter) of the rotatable shaft. Of course, the (cy lindrical) hollow shape might also be characterized by sever al external sizes (diameters) and/or internal diameters for matching a shaft casing and/or shaft characterized by differ ent radial sizes.

The seal cartridge comprises a set or stack of sealing compo nents, preferentially ring-shaped sealing components, config ured for being removably assembled with each other so as to form the seal cartridge. According to the present invention, at least one of said sealing components, called hereafter the first sealing component, is configured for being coupled and secured to another sealing component - called hereafter the second sealing component - of the seal cartridge by means of the pin locking device according to the invention.

More precisely, the pin locking device according to the in vention is configured for locking the first sealing component together with the second sealing component, and comprises:

- a pin body, preferentially characterized by a substan tially cylindrical shape, comprising a longitudinal bore extending along a longitudinal axis C of extension, said longitudinal bore defining a cavity within the pin body, said cavity being preferentially centered within the pin body, e.g. centered within said cylindrical shape around said longitudinal axis C of extension, (said cavity be ing notably cylindrical and extending along said longi tudinal axis C of extension), said cavity being prefer entially blind or extending along said longitudinal axis C throughout the pin body. According to the present in vention, an inner wall of said bore comprises fixing means, that comprise for instance a screw thread (the bore being in other words a threaded hole), e.g. formed around said inner wall, said fixing means being config ured for cooperating with an extraction tool, e.g. a screw characterized by said screw thread and having a diameter substantially equals to the diameter of the threaded bore, the latter being configured for receiving said screw. The pin body according to the invention com prises preferentially two parts arranged longitudinally one after the other one along said longitudinal axis C: a first part and a second part. Preferentially, the cross section of the second part is smaller than, and comprised within, the cross section of the first part when the latter are projected onto a same plane perpen- dicular to the longitudinal axis C, both cross sections being transverse cross sections, i.e. being taken per pendicular to said longitudinal axis C. In particular, according to first preferred embodiment, the first part has a same and constant transverse cross section over its length which is different from the transverse cross section of the second part, which is also constant and the same over the length of the second part, wherein said lengths are measured along the longitudinal axis C. According to another embodiment, the first and second parts have a same and constant transverse cross section over the whole longitudinal length of the pin body. Ac cording to the present invention, the first part is con figured for fitting a pin cavity of the first seal com ponent (i.e. the size of the pin cavity matches the size of the first part of the pin body) and the second part is configured for fitting a locking cavity of the second sealing component (i.e. the size of the locking cavity matches the size of the second part of the pin body), wherein the first part is prevented to enter this lock ing cavity either because of its larger radial size com pared to the second part or due to a finite length of the cavity if the pin body has a constant and same cross section over its whole length. In case of the cross sec tion of the second part being smaller that the cross section of the first part (see e.g. Fig. 3 and 4), then the first part, in particular an edge of the latter, is configured for contacting a contact surface S3 - called hereafter the third contact surface - of the second sealing component onto which the locking cavity opens when the second part is fitted inside said locking cavi ty. According to the present invention, the first seal ing component and the second sealing component are com plementary sealing components configured for being fixed with one another and/or for interlocking with one anoth er. For instance, the pin body has a cylindrical shape extending according to its length L along the longitudi nal axis C with a nominal radius R1 and comprises, at one of its extremities, a flange characterized by a ra dius R2 < R1 and a length L2 measured along the longitu dinal axis C, so that the first part is the cylindrical shape of length L-L2 and radius Rl, and the second part is the cylindrical shape comprising said flange and therefore of length L2 and radius R2, the first part and second part being aligned with each other, the longitu dinal axis C passing by their center;

- a spring, e.g. a coil spring or a wave spring, config ured for extending and contracting (negative extension, i.e. compression) along said longitudinal axis C when installed in the pin cavity. The spring is further con figured for exerting a spring force along said longitu dinal axis C against the pin body, so that the spring force tends to move the pin body away from the end of the pin cavity. In particular, the spring is configured for leaning on a first contact surface of the pin cavity of the first sealing component on one side (said first contact surface corresponding to an end of the pin cavi ty longitudinally opposed to its opening, both opening and end being aligned, notably with respect to the lon gitudinal axis C when the pin body is comprised within said pin cavity) and for having its other side contact ing a second contact surface, wherein said second con tact surface is a surface, e.g. external surface, of the pin body onto which said bore opens out. The spring, or more precisely its spring force, is configured for mov ing or pushing the pin body from a withdrawn position towards a locked position and for maintaining the pin body in said locked position. According to the present invention, in the withdrawn position, the pin body is entirely located within the pin cavity: it corresponds to a compressed state of the spring. In the locked posi tion, the second part of the pin body is received or lo cated within the locking cavity and maintained by the spring force in the latter, while the first part remains located within said pin cavity, the pin body bridging therefore the first sealing component and the second sealing component.

The fixing means of the bore are configured for cooper ating with said extraction tool in order to maintain the pin body in the withdrawn position (i.e. the pin body is maintained compressing the spring against the end of the pin cavity) when assembling the first sealing component to the second sealing component. In the locked position, the pin body prevents a radial motion or displacement (radial with respect to the longitudinal axis C, i.e. a motion perpendicular to said longitudinal axis C) of the pin cavity relatively to the locking cavity, keeping therefore the cavity aligned with one another according to the longitudinal axis C, wherein a longitudinal mo tion of the first sealing component with respect to the second sealing component is prevented by their comple mentary geometry, e.g. one of said first or second seal ing component being a sleeve for the other one at the location of said pin cavity and/or locking cavity.

According to the present invention, the fixing means enable to hold the pin body in the withdrawn position when interact ing with the extraction tool. Further and preferentially, the interaction of the fixing means with the extraction tool is also configured for gradually compressing the spring, e.g. by rotation of the extraction tool around the longitudinal axis C and according to a first direction of rotation, and then for maintaining the pin body in the withdrawn position when assembling the first sealing component with the second seal ing component, wherein a release of said interaction, e.g. by removing the extraction tool or by rotating the latter in a direction opposite to said first direction of rotation, is configured for releasing the spring, the latter pushing then the pin body in its locked position, which results in a lock ing of the first sealing component with the second sealing component. For instance, the extraction tool is configured for being insertable in a boring of the first sealing compo nent for interacting with the fixing means of the pin body, said boring going throughout a wall of the first sealing com ponent and opening onto said first contact surface. The spring has preferentially a hollow shape, e.g. a cylindrical hollow shape preferentially around said longitudinal axis C: advantageously such a shape enables the extraction tool to pass though the hollow part in order to reach the fixing means of the bore. In other words, the interaction of the ex traction tool with the fixing means of the pin body is con figured for maintaining the latter in said withdrawn position (wherein the spring is in a first compressed state), in order to facilitate assembling the first sealing component with the second sealing component, wherein the release of the interac tion releases at the same time the spring which extends from said first compressed state to a second compressed state wherein it maintains the pin body in the locked position.

The present invention concerns also a seal cartridge compris ing said first sealing component and said second sealing com ponent, wherein the first sealing component comprises said pin cavity and the second sealing component said locking cav ity. Preferentially, the first sealing component and the sec ond sealing component are annularly interlocked with each other so that a radial motion is prevented. The pin locking device enables then to further prevent a relative longitudi nal motion of the first sealing component with respect to the second sealing component.

Preferentially, the pin cavity and the locking cavity are cy lindrical cavities characterized by a different diameter, the pin cavity being characterized by a radius Rl' matching, i.e. substantially equal to, the radius Rl so that the first part of the pin body is guided by the walls of the pin cavity (by contacting the latter) during the motion of the pin body from the withdrawn position to the locked position, said radius Rl' being greater than a radius R2' characterizing the diame ter of the locking cavity configured for receiving the first part, wherein the radius R2' is configured for matching, i.e. for being substantially equal to, the radius R2 so that the second part of the pin body is guided by the walls of the locking cavity (by contacting the latter) during the motion of the pin body from the withdrawn position to the locked po sition.

The pin cavity of the first sealing component is further characterized in that it comprises said first contact surface against/on which the spring is resting/leaning. Additionally, the first sealing component according to the invention com prises said boring drilled throughout the width of one of its walls, said boring going from one side of the wall to the other side of the wall where it opens onto said first contact surface, wherein said boring, as well as the pin cavity, ex tends longitudinally along said longitudinal axis C, so that the extraction tool may interact with the fixing means of the bore of the pin body by inserting said extraction tool from said one side of the wall until reaching and interacting with said fixing means on the other side of the wall of the first sealing component. According to the present invention, the first sealing component is configured for being locked/fixed to the second sealing component by means of one or several pin locking devices according to the invention. When assem bled to each other, then the boring, the pin cavity, the bore of the pin body and the locking cavity are preferentially aligned with each other, e.g. the longitudinal axis C passing by the center of each of the latter.

The present invention concerns also a method for assembling a seal cartridge, the method comprising assembling the sealing components, preferentially ring-shaped sealing components, with each other in order to form said stack of sealing compo nents, and being characterized in that it comprises coupling and locking at least one of said sealing components - i.e. said first sealing component - to another of said sealing components - i.e. to said second sealing component - of the seal cartridge by means of the previously described pin lock ing device. In particular, said method comprises locking each pin body of the first sealing component in the withdrawn po sition by interaction of the extraction tool with the fixing means of the bore of each pin body, then moving and/or posi tioning the first sealing component with respect to the sec ond sealing component until each of the pin cavities is aligned on a corresponding locking cavity of the second seal ing component, and releasing each pin body by remov ing/stopping the interaction of the extraction tool with the fixing means, the release of each pin body resulting in a mo tion of the latter from the withdrawn position to the locked position wherein said second part is fitted and received in side said locking cavity of the second sealing component.

According to the present invention and preferentially, the first sealing component and/or the second sealing component are each a ring-shaped sealing component configured for being secured (or fixed) to one another. The motion of the pin body from the withdrawn position to the locked position might be a radial motion with respect to the shaft or a longitudinal one. In case of a radial motion, and if the first sealing component and the second sealing component are rotating com ponents (i.e. driven into rotation by the rotation of the shaft), the first sealing component, second sealing component and the pin locking device are configured for having the locked position located radially farther than the withdrawn position with respect to the shaft so that a rotation of the paired first and second sealing components does not result in a displacement of the pin body form the locked position to the withdrawn position.

Preferentially, the first sealing component and/or the second sealing component are each configured for being mounted annu- larly around the shaft and are each characterized by an inner diameter configured for matching the size or one of the sizes (i.e. diameter) of the shaft. Alternately or additionally, the first sealing component and/or the second sealing compo nent are each configured for being mounted annularly around the shaft and are each characterized by an outer size or di ameter configured for matching the size or one of the sizes of the shaft casing. Preferentially, the first sealing compo nent and the second sealing component are configured for re maining stationary during a rotation of the rotatable shaft. In particular, the first sealing component and/or the second sealing component can comprise at least one part configured for rotating together with the rotatable shaft during a rota tion of the rotatable shaft, and can comprise optionally an other part that remains stationary. In particular, the whole first sealing component and/or the whole second sealing com ponent is configured for rotating together with said rotata ble shaft. Preferentially, the first sealing component is a housing component and/or a shaft sleeve. Similarly, the sec ond sealing component is a housing component and/or a shaft sleeve. It is for instance a housing component configured for forming at the same time a sleeve around the shaft.

Further description and details of the invention will be de scribed now based on preferred embodiments illustrated by the following figures:

Figure 1 Cross sectional side view of a schematic rep resentation of a seal cartridge according to the invention.

Figure 2 Longitudinal cross section of a schematic rep resentation of a preferred pin locking device according to the invention.

Figure 3 Three-dimensional schematic representation of a longitudinal cross-section of another pre ferred pin locking device according to the in vention.

Figure 4 Three-dimensional view of said another pre ferred pin locking device according to the in vention.

Figure 1 shows a longitudinal cross-section of a schematic representation of a seal cartridge 1 according to the inven tion. As known in the art, the seal cartridge 1 may comprise a stack of various sealing components 11-19, preferentially ring shaped sealing components, built according to different configurations and geometries. By stack, it has to be under stood an axially centered assembly ("axially centered" with respect to the longitudinal axis of the seal cartridge) of sealing components, wherein the sealing components are pref erentially mounted one after another axially on top (when considering the longitudinal axis of the cartridge being ver tical) and/or radially around (or over) a previously mounted sealing component, forming therefore a kind of pile or stack of sealing components which results in said cartridge. The aim of Fig. 1 is simply to present the concept of the inven tion without focusing on any specific seal cartridge type, configuration, geometry, or construction.

According to Fig.l, the seal cartridge 1 is mounted annularly around a rotatable shaft 2 that is configured for rotating around a longitudinal axis A' of rotation according to an an gular speed co. The seal cartridge 1 is configured for being removably installed in a shaft casing 21 which surrounds and encloses the shaft 2 and its sealings provided by the seal cartridge 1. The seal cartridge 1 typically provides a seal ing between the rotatable shaft 2 and the shaft casing 21, preventing for instance any leakage of a process gas or con tamination of the process gas. Preferentially, the seal car tridge according to the invention is a dry gas seal car tridge. The seal cartridge has typically a cylindrical shape centered around a longitudinal axis A that coincides with the longitudinal axis A' when the seal cartridge is mounted in the shaft casing 21 annularly around the shaft 2.

According to the present invention, at least one, or a part, or each sealing component 11-19 of the seal cartridge is con figured for being coupled or secured to at least one another sealing component by means of a pin locking device 3 accord ing to the invention. As already explained, the sealing com ponents coupled by means of the pin locking device 3 are called respectively the first sealing component and the sec ond sealing component. While in the present illustration of the invention the first and second sealing components are ring-shaped sealing components, other hollow shapes config ured for fitting within a shaft casing 21 might be consid ered. The coupling according to the claimed pin locking de vice 3 is advantageously free of any screw and/or bolt that would fix the first and second sealing component together.

As schematically shown in Fig. 1, a first ring shaped sealing component 11 is for instance a shaft sleeve coupled by means of the claimed pin locking device 3 to a second ring shaped sealing component 12, wherein the second ring shaped sealing component 12 is a housing component configured for housing one or several seal elements and located radially over the first ring shaped sealing component 11. Or a third ring shaped sealing component 13 is a housing component coupled to a fourth ring shaped sealing component 14 by means of one or several pin locking devices 3, wherein the fourth ring shaped sealing component 14 is also a housing component configured for housing one or several seal elements. A fifth ring shaped sealing component 15 is for instance a shaft sleeve that is coupled by means of said pin locking device 3 to one or sev eral ring-shaped sealing components, e.g. to the third ring- shaped sealing component 13 on one radial side of the fifth ring-shaped sealing component 15 and/or to a sixth ring- shaped sealing component 16 on an axial side of the fifth ring-shaped sealing component 15, wherein the sixth ring- shaped sealing component 16 is also a shaft sleeve. For in stance, a seventh ring-shaped sealing component 17 is a hous ing component coupled by means of said pin locking device 3 to an eighth ring-shaped sealing component 18 that is a shaft sleeve.

The first and second sealing components according to the in vention might be any ring-shaped, i.e. annular, sealing com- ponent of the seal cartridge, like a housing or a shaft sleeve or a ring, etc. Preferentially, the first sealing com ponent is a housing component of the seal cartridge and it is coupled by means of the pin locking device 3 to another com ponent that is:

- a labyrinth seal of the seal cartridge; or

- another housing component of the seal cartridge; or

- a barrier seal of the seal cartridge; or

- a stationary sleeve of the seal cartridge; or

- a stationary seal ring of the seal cartridge.

The first sealing component might also be a rotatable seal cartridge shaft sleeve, e.g. a shaft sleeve affixed to the shaft and enclosing a mating ring, the shaft sleeve and mat ing ring rotating at the shaft rotational speed, wherein the shaft sleeve is coupled by means of the pin locking device 3 to another component that is:

- another shaft sleeve of the seal cartridge; or

- a ring of the seal cartridge, like a mating ring; or

- another component of the seal cartridge that is config ured for rotating together with the shaft sleeve.

Figure 2 shows in more details a pin locking device 3 accord ing to the invention. Said pin locking device 3 comprises a pin body 31 and a spring 32. The pin body 31 is configured for interacting with an extraction tool 4 for compressing the spring 32 against the end of a pin cavity 100A until the pin body 31 reaches a withdrawn position wherein the entire pin body 31 is located within the pin cavity 100A. Of course, the size of the pin cavity 100A is configured for receiving the spring 32 and the pin body 31, e.g. the pin cavity length be ing equal or greater than the spring length in its compressed form added to the length of the pin body 31, wherein said lengths are measured along a longitudinal axis C (see Fig.

2).

For enabling said interaction with the extraction tool 4, the pin body 31 comprises a longitudinal bore 310 extending along said longitudinal axis C. Said bore 310 can be a blind bore as shown in Figure 2 or a traversing bore going throughout the pin body 31 as shown in the preferred embodiments of Fig ure 3 and 4. This bore 310 comprises fixing means for inter acting with the extraction tool 4. The fixing means are con figured for fixing or clamping the pin body 31 to a fixing part of the extraction tool 4, wherein said fixing part is configured for being inserted in the bore 310 in order to in teract with the fixing means.

For instance, the fixing means are a screw thread arranged in said bore 310, e.g. on an inner wall 311 of said bore 310 and the extraction tool 4 has the shape of a screw comprising a head 4A and a cylindrical rod 4B fixed at one of its extremi ties to said head 4A and comprising at its other extremity said fixing part. Preferentially, the extraction tool 4 is configured for being inserted within a boring 101 of the first sealing component 100A wherein said boring 101 extends longitudinally from one side S' that is accessible to an op erator during assembling the cartridge to another side S" of a wall 102 of the first sealing component, along a longitudi nal axis that is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the pin cavity 100A and of the pin body 31 when the latter is in stalled within the pin cavity 100A. Said boring 101 opens out in the pin cavity 100A, traversing therefore the wall 102 that separates the end of the pin cavity 100A from the ex traction tool head when said cylindrical rod 4B is inserted in the boring 101. The fixing part is configured for inter acting with the fixing means of the bore 310. In particular, said fixing part comprises a complementary screw thread that is a screw thread complementary to the screw thread of the bore 310. Indeed, in order to compress the spring 32 against the first contact surface SI which corresponds to the end of the pin cavity 100A and to said other side S" of said wall 102, the head 4A can be rotated around the longitudinal axis C by an operator. Due to said rotation, the complementary screw thread of the fixing part engages with the screw thread of the bore 310, screwing in other words the fixing part into the pin body 31 and since the head 4A of the extraction tool 4 is configured for resting against the side S', said screw ing results in a displacement of the pin body in the direc tion of the end of the cavity (i.e. in direction of the first contact surface SI or S"), said displacement compressing the spring 4 between the end of the cavity and the second contact surface S2 of the pin body 31.

Said spring 32 is preferentially characterized by a hollow shape, wherein its hollow part is configured for providing a free passage to the extraction tool 4, e.g. to its second part 4B, from the boring 101 towards the bore 310, so that it may interact with the pin body 31 free of a contact with the spring 32. Said spring 32 is for instance a coil or a cylin drical wave spring configured for extending and being com pressed along its length, as shown in Fig. 3 and 4. Preferen tially, the pin cavity 100A and consequently at least the first part 31A of the pin body 31 have a cylindrical shape.

In such a case, the pin cavity 100A and the pin body 31 com prise preferentially complementary means for preventing a ro tation of the pin body 31 in the pin cavity 100A during screwing/unscrewing the extraction tool 4 within/from the bore 311. Said complementary means might be for instance a groove extending along a direction parallel to the longitudi nal axis c on a cylindrical inner wall of the pin cavity or respectively on the external cylindrical surface of the pin body, and a projecting member extending radially on the ex ternal cylindrical surface of the pin body, or respectively on the cylindrical inner wall of the pin cavity, wherein the groove is configured for receiving said projecting member and serving as guide to the latter during a longitudinal (i.e. along said longitudinal axis C) displacement of the pin body

31 inside the pin cavity that would result from screwing or unscrewing, preventing therefore a rotation of the pin body inside said pin cavity. For instance, the pin body may com prise one or several grooves and/or one or several projecting members, wherein the pin cavity comprises for each groove, resp. each projecting member, of the pin body, a complemen tary projecting member, resp. groove. Of course, the skilled person may envisage other solutions for preventing a rotation of the pin body 31 during screwing/unscrewing: e.g. the first part and pin cavity might have a non-circular transverse sec tion that would prevent any rotation around the longitudinal axis C during screwing/unscrewing. In such a case, the second part 31B is preferentially cylindrical. Also, the fixing means may take another form/type, like a hook and a comple mentary projecting member, or a tenon and mortise system, etc. The goal of the fixing part of the extraction tool 4 is to cooperate/interact with the fixing means of the pin body so that the pin body 31 is then fixed to the extraction tool, so that the latter may displace the pin body 31 longitudinal ly in the pin cavity 100A either for compressing the spring

32 or releasing the latter so as to unlock, resp. lock the first and second sealing components.

Indeed, when assembling the sealing components of the seal cartridge, the first sealing component 10A needs to be cou pled/locked to the second sealing component 10B. In order to realize said coupling/locking, the method according to the invention comprises:

- locking the pin body 31 in the withdrawn position within the pin cavity 100A. For this purpose, the extraction tool 4 is inserted by an operator in the boring 101 of the first sealing component so that its fixing part may interact with the fixing means of the pin body 31. Ac cording to the preferred embodiments described in Figs. 2-4, the fixing part is screwed within the bore 310, locking therefore the fixing part to the pin body, wherein a rotation of the head 4A in one direction (the screwing direction, that can be clockwise or counter clockwise) is configured for compressing the spring, while the rotation in the other direction (the unscrew ing direction) is configured for releasing the spring.

- once the pin body 31 reached its withdrawn position at the end of the pin cavity 100A, the first sealing compo nent might be positioned with respect to the second sealing component 10B until the pin cavity 100A is aligned on a corresponding locking cavity 100B of the second sealing component 10B. Depending on the shape of the pin body 31, the pin cavity and the locking cavity might have different shapes. For instance, the pin cavi ty 100A and the locking cavity 100B might be character ized by an identical transverse section if the locking cavity 100B is a blind cavity comprising an end capable to stop the longitudinal movement of the pin body 31 when the spring 32 is released (see Fig. 2). In such a case, the pin body 31 might be cylindrical, as well as the pin cavity and locking cavity, the pin cavity having the same diameter as the locking cavity, and the pin body being characterized by a diameter close to the di- ameter of the pin and locking cavities so that it ena bles a sliding of the pin body inside said cavities wherein the walls of said cavities serve as guide. According to another embodiment, the pin cavity 100A and the locking cavity 100B might be characterized by a dif ferent transverse section if the locking cavity 100B is a throughout cavity free of an end capable to stop the longitudinal movement of the pin body 31 when the spring 32 is released (see Fig. 3 and 4). In such a case, the pin body 31 might be cylindrical, as well as the pin cavity and locking cavity, the pin cavity having a diam eter greater than the locking cavity, the pin body 31 being characterized by two cylindrical parts, a first cylindrical part 31A and a second cylindrical part 31B, wherein the first cylindrical part has a diameter close to the diameter of the pin cavity so that it enables a sliding of the first cylindrical part inside said pin cavity while preventing said first cylindrical part en tering the locking cavity, the second cylindrical part having a diameter close to the diameter of the locking cavity so that it enables a sliding of the second cylin drical part inside said locking cavity wherein the walls of said locking cavity serve as guide. According to said configuration, the longitudinal motion of the pin body 31 when pushed away from the end of the pin cavity 100a is stopped by a surface S3 of the second sealing compo nent 10B, the second part remaining in the pin cavity and the first part being received within the locking cavity .

- after alignment of the pin cavity with the locking cavi ty, the spring 32 is released by removing the extraction tool 4 from the pin body 31, e.g. by unscrewing the lat ter from said pin body 31, said release resulting in a motion of the pin body 31 from the withdrawn position to the locked position wherein the first part 31A of the pin body 31 remains in the pin cavity 100A while the second part 31B of the pin body 31 is fitted and re ceived inside said locking cavity 100B. At this stage the first sealing component and the second sealing com ponent are locked together.

According to the present invention, a suitable dimensioning is necessary for enabling the locking of the first sealing component with the second sealing component. Based on the present disclosure, the skilled person will be able to deter mine convenient sizing for the pin body, pin cavity and lock ing cavity. As previously explained, the longitudinal size of the pin body, pin cavity, locking cavity and compressed spring shall verify the following rules:

- the longitudinal size of the compressed spring added to the longitudinal size of the pin body shall entirely be comprised within the longitudinal size of the pin cavity when the pin body is in the withdrawn position;

- in the locked position, the longitudinal size of the pin body shall enable having the first part 31A resting in the pin cavity while the second part is resting in the locking cavity 100B.

Finally, the spring 32 and the pin body 31 might be main tained attached or fixed to each other by suitable means, like a screw or welding, or might be two separate or inde pendent components which have to be inserted one after the other one by an operator in each pin cavity of the first sealing component and maintained in the withdrawn position before starting assembling the first sealing component with the second sealing component. To summarize, the present invention proposes a pin locking device 3 that facilitates the assembling of a seal cartridge 1 comprising one or several sealing components, preferential ly ring shaped sealing components, configured for being mounted annularly around a rotatable shaft, wherein at least two of said sealing components are coupled/fixed to each oth er by means of one or several pin locking devices according to the invention. The latter makes the cartridge less complex and more compact, making it possible to quickly couple/fix sealing components in a manner free of any screws.