Patent ID: 7261515

Claim:
A shaft sealing mechanism having an annular shape and being installed in an annular space between a rotor and a stator, the shaft sealing mechanism comprising: a plurality of stacked thin plates, each of the thin plates having an outer peripheral fixed end and an inner peripheral free end, wherein the inner peripheral free ends of the thin plates come into sliding contact with the rotor such that a surface of the rotor and the thin plates form an acute angle so as to partition the annular space into a high-pressure region and a low-pressure region; at least one divided portion circumferentially dividing portions of the shaft sealing mechanism along the plurality of thin plates; a first low-pressure gap in the low-pressure region, the first low-pressure gap extending in an axial direction of the rotor and in the circumferential direction of the rotor near the at least one divided portion; and a second low-pressure gap in the low-pressure region, the second low-pressure gap extending in the axial direction of the rotor and in the circumferential direction of the rotor at a position other than that of the first low-pressure gap, wherein the first low-pressure gap is larger than the second low-pressure gap into axial direction of the rotor.