Patent ID: 8596973

Claim:
A seal assembly for sealing against a rotatable component having a longitudinal axis, the seal assembly comprising: a leaf seal including a plurality of staggered leaf seal members, each leaf seal member including: a free portion arranged at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the rotatable component, wherein the free portion includes a free end positioned substantially adjacent a circumferential surface of the rotatable component; and a fixed portion angled relative to the free portion; and a polymer member disposed on a high pressure side of the leaf seal for substantially preventing axial flow of a fluid between the plurality of staggered leaf seal members, wherein the polymer member is concentrically positioned around the rotatable component and the leaf seal, and wherein the polymer member includes: a free portion arranged at an acute angle substantially similar to the acute angle of the free portion of each leaf seal member, the free portion of the polymer member having a free end positioned substantially adjacent the circumferential surface of the rotatable component and extending substantially beyond the free end of the free portion of each leaf seal member; and a fixed portion angled relative to the free portion of the polymer member.