Patent ID: 7097423

Claim:
A steam turbine comprising: a rotor carrying a plurality of circumferentially spaced buckets and forming a part of a stage of a steam turbine; a diaphragm assembly surrounding the rotor including a plurality of nozzles and inner hooks and forming another part of the steam turbine stage; said inner hooks carrying a plurality of circumferentially extending packing seal segments about said diaphragm assembly for sealing between said rotor and said diaphragm assembly; each of said segments having endfaces respectively in circumferential registry with opposed endfaces of circumferentially adjacent segments, said endfaces including slots opening circumferentially and in general circumferential registration with one another, each said slot having a predetermined depth from said endface thereof; and a spline seal extending between each of said opposed endfaces of circumferentially adjacent packing ring segments and in said slots for minimizing or precluding steam leakage past said registering endfaces, the spline seal having a width less than the combined depths of said circumferentially registering slots of said opposed endfaces.