User:Smbrown123/John Crane, Inc.

"John Crane" designs and manufactures mechanical seals, sealing support systems, mechanical packings, asset management systems and power transmission couplings for the oil and gas, chemical, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper and mining sectors. The "John Crane" business has 20 manufacturing sites and more than 6,400 employees located in 50 countries. John Crane is a multinational American and is a subsidiary of "Smiths Group", a global technology business listed on the "London Stock Exchange".

"John Crane" offers a range of engineered mechanical seals and seal support systems, filtration systems, bearings, compression packings, power transmission couplings, bearings, filtration and asset management services under the brand names "John Crane", Sealol, Safematic, Flexibox, Metastream, Lemco, and Performance Plus. These products and services are used in rotating equipment applications in petroleum, chemical, pharmaceutical, pulp & paper, power generation, food & beverage, mining & minerals, transportation, water & waste, refrigeration, and appliance markets.

History
John Crane, originally founded in 1917 as John Crane Packaging Company, has established several facilities throughout the United States, Canada and England. Before founding his company, John Crane patented a flexible, lubricated metallic packing (#956,042) in 1910. In 1915, Crane patented the manufacturing method for flexible metallic packing (#1,151,344). He discovered that wrapping his flax packing in metallic foil increased its longevity and kept the cylinders’ surface smooth and uniform. Frank Payne, a sales representative for the Warren Packing Company, recognized the vast potential of Crane’s innovation.

John Crane Packing Company initially manufactured packing and gasketing, which is still offered today. Prior to World War II, Crane Packaging sold its England-based operations to Tube Investments, known today as TI Group PLC. Condenser Tube Packing was introduced in 1922 and in 1928, Metallic water pump packing became standard on Chevrolet and Ford cars. An estimated 25 million motors were using Crane Packing materials by the mid-1930s. By 1938, all Chrysler cars used Crane Packing mechanical seals on their water pumps.

While the war made production and distribution top priorities for Crane Packing, it also fueled a streak of innovation. From the years 1941 to 1949, Crane Packing received 24 patents, the majority for mechanical seals designed to handle high-pressure and highly corrosive fluids and gases. In 1939, the company invented the first automotive mechanical seal. In the early 1940s, John Crane developed and introduced patented end face shaft seals and an elastomer bellows seal. The U.S. Navy relied on packing solutions from Crane Packing for a host of applications, including expansion joints, stern tube service, cargo pumps, rotary steam and air compressors, water-tight closures, metallic condenser packing, and pipe fittings. In recognition for its service, Crane Packing received a U.S. Navy “E” Award for excellence and a job “Well Done.” It was the first company in the packing industry to receive this prestigious award, and the Navy extended this honor to Crane Packing several times throughout the span of the war. In 1948, Crane Packaging developed its own seal face lapping machines and processes, which evolved into Crane Packing’s Lapmaster division. Another advancement of sealing and packing technology during this period was the commercial availability of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), marketed by its creator DuPont as Teflon®. Crane Packing introduced its “CLEMLON” line of Teflon-based packing material for use on pumps, valves, hydraulic fittings and cylinders, coaxial cables, and gaskets in 1948.

In 1950, Crane Packing purchased 26 acres of land in Morton Grove, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Construction began on the new company offices the next year and continued until the main office, laboratory, and cafeteria were completed in 1956. John Crane’s Morton Grove facility comprises five manufacturing buildings totaling 453,000 square feet. In the 1980s, John Crane introduced the Type 28 non-contacting, gas lubricated gas seal, which is designed for centrifugal compressors. In 1987, through a series of acquisitions and divestitures, the company in the United States and the company in the United Kingdom were reunited, this time under the name John Crane.

Beginning in the 1990s, John Crane applied its non-contacting technology to pumps handling liquids that are hazardous to the environment. By applying this technology, a user can easily meet and exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s stringent regulations for hazardous emissions. In 1998, John Crane acquired three additional sealing companies, Sealol, Safematic and Flexibox. These companies expanded John Crane’s product lines and its global presence to include high quality welded metal bellow seals , as well as high temperature and high-pressure cartridge seals  focused on sealing and lubrication products.

John Crane is now a subsidiary of Smiths Group PLC, and the new company formed following the merger of Smiths Industries. Since engineer John Crane first patented his flexible metallic packing in 1910, the company that bears his name is still a leading supplier of sealing systems  and associated products, including mechanical seals, metallic packing, and sealing support systems as well as power transmission couplings and centralized lubrication systems.

From its humble beginnings, the business envisioned by Frank Payne and John Crane is now an acknowledged leader and designer, manufacturer, and supplier of Mechanical Seals and associated products. John Crane products are sold widely for use in rotating equipment applications in the petroleum, chemical, pharmaceutical, pulp & paper, power generation, food & beverage, mining, water & waste water, transportation, light industrial, refrigeration, and domestic appliance markets. After 93 years, John Crane continues to innovate and live up to its commitment to outstanding service and finding the right solution for all sealing system requirements.

Timeline
1910 -Engineer John Crane patents flexible, lubricated metallic packing (#956,042)

1915 -Engineer John Crane patents the manufacturing method for flexible metallic packing (#1,151,344)

1916 –1917 -John Crane Packing Company is incorporated.

1922 - Condenser Tube Packing is introduced.

1943 - Patent for Liquid Seal for Rotary Shafts (#2,337,639) Patent for Fluid Pressure Seal (#2,328,578)

1947 - Patent for Mechanical Seals (#2,425,209)

1949 - Patent for Balanced, Cooled, and Lubricated Rotary Seal (#2,470,419)

1950 - Patent for a Self-sealing Coupling (#2,535,694)

1952 –Patent for Drive for Rotary Mechanical Seals with O Rings (#2,585,154) Patent for Rotary Mechanical Seal (#2,592,728)

1954 - Patent for Method for Lapping Quartz Crystals (#2,687,603)

1957 -Patent for a Variable Displacement Pump for pumping fluids (#2,807,215)

1958 - Patent for Rotary Mechanical Seal (#2,851,291)

1971 - Patent for a Mechanical Seal for a Vertical Rotating Equipment (#3,589,737)

1980 - Patent for Self-aligning Spiral Groove Face Gas Seal (#4,212,475)

1988 –Patent for a Mechanical Seal with Welded Bellows (#4,749,200)

1989 - Patent for Spiral Groove Seal System for High Vapor-pressure Liquids. (#4,889,348)

1991 - Patent for Spiral Groove Seal Arrangement for High Vapor-pressure Liquids (#5,071,141)

2000 - TI Group PLC merges with Smiths Industries to become Smiths Group PLC.

2001 - Type 2100 Heavy-Duty Elastomer Bellows Seal is introduced.

2002 - Type 285 seal - the first non-contacting, dry-running mechanical seal for use in cryogenic applications - is introduced.

Products Offered
Mechanical Seals:,  Gas Lubricated Seals, O-ring Pusher Seals, PTFE Wedge Seals, Specialty Seals, Split Seals, Vessel Seals, Bellow Seals

Packing : Flexible Metallic Packing, General Service Synthetic Braided Graphited Packing, General Service Synthetic Braided Packing, Chemical and Abrasion Resistant Polyimide Packing, Chemical Resistant High-Temperature Packing, Injectable Packing, Non-Asbestos Sheet Gasketing, High Temperature/Pressure Steam Packing, Interlace Braided PTFE Packing, Filled PTFE Sheet Gasket, Flexible Graphite Gasket, Automatic PTFE Packing Rings, Emission Packing Set, Braided Reinforced Carbon and Flexible Graphite Packing, Braided Flexible Graphite Packing, Abrasion Resistant Aramid Packing, PTFE Lantern Rings, Valve Stern Packing, Refiner Packing Set, Soot Blower Sets, Live-Loaded Mechanical Packing Cartridge Seal, Chemlon Cartridge Seal, Valve Packing.

Power Transmission Couplings

Seal Support Systems : Lemco Light Duty Reservoir System, Lemco Reservoir System for API Plan 52 and 53, Lemco Reservoir System for ANSI Plan 7352 and 7353, Lemco Heat Exchanger, Lemco Models 10/20/30, Seal Water Control and Monitoring System, Lemco Control Panel for John Crane Type 2800 Seals, Lemco Heat Exchanger for Use in Mechanical Seal Flush Plans

Bearing Isolators : High Performance Bearing Isolators, High Performance Cartridge, and Contacting Magnet Bearing Seal.

Filtration Systems

Trademark Information
-Crane-foil ® Flexible Graphite Gasket -CSTEDY SM Steady State Analysis -CSTRANS SM Transient Analysis -ECS™ Dry-Running Metal Bellows Emission Containment Seal -EZ-1® Cartridge Mounted Bellows Seal -Flexibox® mechanical seals -Intelli-face® Noise Cancelling Technology -INTERFACE™ Reliability Management Software -Metastream® Power Transmission Couplings -Perfluorolast™Perfluoroelastomer -Performance Plus™ Asset Management -Powerstream® Power Transmission Couplings -Rite-Pak® Packing -Safematic® mechanical seals -Sealide® Advanced Silicon Carbide Composite

John Crane and the Environment
In today’s environment, pressure to improve safety and environmental performance is increasing and permissible emission levels are dropping. Producers of hydrocarbon products and chemicals are being required to reduce the potential escape of hazardous material, as well as the actual emissions from fittings, valves, flanges and pumps. As the pressure to reduce emission levels increases, many people are turning to multiple seals to permanently eliminate the issue of real or potential leakage from rotating equipment. While this is adequate to satisfy most regulatory needs, there are many issues that need to be addressed before a multiple seal system can be considered to be successful and reliable. There are three basic seal designs : pressure actuated seals, lightly loaded contacting face seals, non-contacting spiral grooved lift off seals. Non-contacting spiral groove technology offers enhancements to dry-running secondary containment sealing performance realized in long term reliability, minimum heat generation, continual integrity monitoring and zero emission leakage level attainment. The non-contacting design principle provides maximum seal life and an unchanged seal face condition over extended pump operation. In the event that the primary seal fails, the containment seal spiral groove lift-off is overcome and the seal operates as a conventional contacting seal, thus preventing process liquid from escaping to the atmosphere.