Patent ID: 7578509

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, and a fixed portion that is angled relative to the free portion; and a support having a substantially frusto-conically shaped support portion facing a high pressure side of the leaf seal for supporting the free portion from a radially inward position relative to the free portion and a mount portion for coupling to a non-rotatable component, wherein the free portion contacts only a proximate end of the support portion adjacent to the mount portion in an unpressurized state of the leaf seal and the free portion contacts both the proximate end and a distal end of the support portion in a pressurized state of the leaf seal, the free portion being closer to the rotatable component during the pressurized state than in the unpressurized state.