Patent ID: 7938407

Claim:
A seal compressible between a pair of mating surfaces, comprising: a jacket; a spring member disposed within the jacket, the spring member comprising a cast blade alloy, whereby the jacket is movable by the spring member to maintain a seal against at least one of the mating surfaces, the spring member including one or more flexible support elements, the support elements having at least one side which is inclined relative to a corresponding one of the mating surfaces; the single crystal cast blade alloy has a softer crystallographic direction and a harder crystallographic direction; a first support element of the one or more flexible support elements defines a length extending along a first direction relative to the jacket, the softer crystallographic direction of the single crystal cast blade alloy being substantially parallel to the length defined by the first support element; and a second support element of the one or more flexible support elements defines a length extending along a second direction relative to the jacket, the softer crystallographic direction of the single crystal cast blade alloy being substantially parallel to the length defined by the second support element; wherein the spring member comprises a plurality of separate spring member segments disposed in a side-by-side manner within and about a circumference of the jacket; the first support element of each spring member segment and the second support element of each spring member segment have a common fixed end; the first support element of each spring member segment is inclined at a first angle relative to the common fixed end, extends from an outer periphery of the jacket toward an inner periphery of the jacket, and defines a first free end opposing the common fixed end; and the second support element of each spring member segment is inclined at a second angle relative to the common fixed end, the second angle opposing the first angle, extends from the outer periphery of the jacket toward the inner periphery of the jacket, and defines a second free end opposing the common fixed end.