While today’s John Crane is a leader in mechanical seals for pumps and compressors, the company built its early success on packing and gasketing products patented by engineer and co-founder John Crane.
By the mid-1930s, an estimated 25 million automotive motor water pumps used Crane Packing materials.
In 1968, John Crane was awarded a patent for spiral groove technology, leading a shift from contacting to non-contacting shaft seals over the next three decades.
Over the years, John Crane has developed dozens of products and processes, including the first automotive mechanical seal; the end-face, elastomer bellows shaft seal; seals for high-pressure and corrosive applications; and non-contacting technology for pumps handling environmentally hazardous liquids.
The company continues to make packing and gasketing materials – including nearly 240 000 miles of braided packing per year.
“We’re celebrating 100 years of innovation,” said Joe Haas, VP of Engineering at John Crane. “But we’re also working on the next breakthroughs for industry, in areas like additive manufacturing, materials development using nanoparticles, and Sense™ - a predictive diagnostics platform for the Industrial Internet of Things.”
John Crane, which is part of Smiths Group, had fiscal year 2016 revenue of more than US$1 billion.
