Patent ID: 8196845

Claim:
A fuel injector for a gas turbine engine comprising: a) an injector body having a feed arm with a nozzle body connected thereto; b) a fuel conduit fluidly connecting a fuel inlet portion of the feed arm to a fuel circuit in the nozzle body to form a fuel path through the injector body; c) an outer feed arm wall outboard of the fuel conduit; d) a prefilmer within the nozzle body operatively connected to the fuel conduit of the feed arm to define a portion of the fuel circuit in the nozzle body, wherein the fuel conduit of the feed arm and the prefilmer of the nozzle body form portions of an interior wall of the injector body; e) an outer nozzle body wall outboard of the prefilmer, wherein the outer nozzle body wall and outer feed arm wall form portions of an exterior wall of the injector body; f) a main insulative gap defined between the interior and exterior walls of the injector body to thermally insulate the fuel path of the injector body from ambient conditions; g) a fuel swirler wall disposed radially inward of the prefilmer, with a prefilmer chamber defined therebetween; h) an inner air swirler disposed radially inward of a portion of the fuel swirler wall; i) an inner insulative gap defined between the fuel swirler and the inner air swirler, the inner insulative gap being in fluid communication with the main insulative gap; and j) a flexure seal for isolating the main insulative gap from ambient fluid entering into the main insulative gap therethrough and providing relative axial and radial movement between the interior and exterior walls of the injector body, the flexure seal forming part of the exterior wall of the injector body joining the outer feed arm wall to the outer nozzle body wall, wherein the flexure seal has a cross-section with a generally sigmoid portion that is mounted to the prefilmer.