Patent ID: 7063789

Claim:
A filtration assembly comprising: a first spiral element comprising a spiral wound membrane enclosed within an elongated rigid outerwrap a coupler joined with said first element and comprising a center support, a plurality of spokes extending outwardly from said center support, and a rim coupled with said spokes at one end, said rim forming a circle having a radius corresponding to the radius of said outerwrap and said rim having a face which lies in a plane perpendicular to the axis of said rigid outerwrap, said face comprising a channel, said rim presenting a planar surface comprising a plurality of circumferentially spaced receptacles along said surface; a second spiral element comprising a spiral wound membrane enclosed within a rigid outerwrap; another one of said couplers joined with said second element; a compressible seal positioned in the opening presented by said channels when said couplers are placed in face to face relationship; a plurality of keepers positioned within the openings presented by said receptacles when said couplers are placed in aligned face to face relationship whereby said elements are joined so that a force applied to one element will also be applied to the other element.