Patent ID: 8690158
Filing Date: 2014-04-08
Classification: F01D,F05D,F16J

Abstract:
1. A seal assembly in a turbine engine having a housing and a rotatable shaft extending through the housing, the seal assembly being provided for effecting a seal preventing fluid flow in an axial direction through an annular space formed between the housing and the rotatable shaft, the axial direction extending parallel to a rotation axis about which said rotatable shaft rotates, 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 having forward and rearward planar faces extending radially through the annular space and having a radially outer end supported to said stator structure and a radially inner end comprising a tip portion extending widthwise in the axial direction for engaging in sliding contact with a peripheral surface of said rotatable shaft, wherein a thickness of each said seal strip extends in the circumferential direction between said forward and rearward faces, and each said seal strip further including a leading edge and a trailing edge that is spaced from the leading edge in the axial direction; said seal strips being mounted to said stator structure with the tip portions of the seal strips at an angle with respect to the axial direction; and each of said tip portions being formed with a continuous curvature in a radially extending plane between a leading edge and a trailing edge of each said seal strip and said curvature extending through the entire thickness of said seal strip between said forward and rearward faces of said seal strip, wherein said curvature of said tip portion of each said seal strip is defined by a reduced length of a mid-portion relative to a length of said seal strip at a location axially displaced from said mid-portion, said location being defined by at least one of said leading edge and said trailing edge of said seal strip.