PURPOSE: To obtain a high sealing performance in a non-contacting mechanical face seal by providing a relatively rotatable ring and adjacent seal ring on a shaft extending through a housing and a spaced series of lift pad sections facing the seal surface of the seal ring.

CONSTITUTION: A rotor or co-rotating ring 10 having a sealing surface 12 and another co-rotating seal ring 13 adjacent to the ring 10 are provided on a shaft 11 in a sealing chamber 18 formed within the housing 17 through which the shaft 11 penetrates. A sleeve 15 axially extending from the seal ring 13 is provided in the cavity 16 formed within the housing 17. In such a mechanical seal another spaced series of lift pad sections 113 are attached to the sealing surface facing the sealing surface 12 of the rotor 10. The seal ring 113 composed of a series of lift pad sections is divided into coaxial two parts, one acting as seal, the other as bearing.