Patent ID: 8899592

Claim:
A method for sealing an annular-shaped space defined by a cavity having predominately straight inner sidewalls, including a top surface, a bottom surface in a radial direction, an inboard and an outboard surface in a longitudinal direction, the method comprising: inserting a seal having a rounded-corner rhomboid or obround cross-section into the space without radial interference inboard or outboard; engaging first and second end portions of the seal with said top and bottom surfaces of the space while said seal separated from, and not in contact with, said inner sidewalls; compressing the seal between the top and bottom surfaces, the compressing causing the first and second end portions to contact the top and bottom surfaces of the space, respectively, such that the seal separates a first region of the space from a second region of the space; exposing the seal to an operational pressure difference in either the first region of the space or the second region of the space, which strains and shifts the seal to rotate a cross-section of the seal to bias the seal into engagement with only one of the inboard and outboard surfaces of the space and at least the top or bottom side, but not both the top and bottom sides.