Patent ID: 9206904
Filing Date: 2015-12-08
Classification: F01D,F05D,F16J

Abstract:
1. A seal assembly in a turbine engine having a housing and a rotatable shaft extending through the housing, a seal member supported on the housing and provided in combination with the housing and the rotatable shaft to form the seal assembly with the seal member positioned in sliding contact with the rotatable shaft and defining a seal preventing fluid flow in an axial direction through an annular space formed between the housing and the rotatable shaft, the shaft rotating in a circumferential direction, the seal assembly comprising: a stator structure supported on the housing of the turbine engine; a plurality of flexible seal strips, each said seal strip comprising a planar plate extending lengthwise radially through the annular space and having a radially outer end supported to said stator structure and each said plate having a radially inner end comprising a tip portion extending widthwise in the axial direction engaged in sliding contact with a peripheral surface of said rotatable shaft; and at least one of said seal strips comprising a plurality of perforations extending through a thickness of said at least one seal strip in the circumferential direction and arranged spaced from each other in the axial direction in a row located between axially spaced leading and trailing edges of said at least one seal strip, said perforations defining an axially extending hinge location radially outwardly from said radially inner end for effecting an increased flexing movement in the circumferential direction of a portion of said at least one seal strip defined between said hinge location and said radially inner end, wherein said increased flexing movement effected by said perforations is greater in the circumferential direction than in the axial direction.