Patent ID: 8167033

Claim:
A packer for sealing a casing with an inner diameter, the packer comprising: a mandrel having an outer diameter; a plurality of slips securing the mandrel to the casing; at least one forcing cone slidable along the mandrel, the forcing cone having an inclined face; a non-extrusion ring abutting the forcing cone, the non-extrusion ring having an upper surface and a lower surface and being comprised of: a plurality of segments arranged in a vertically overlapping manner, each segment having an outer surface, an inner surface, an upper surface and slanted end surfaces, the outer surfaces of the segments having a curvature that approximates the inner diameter of the casing; and a flexible matrix surrounding the segments and maintaining the segments in the vertically overlapping manner while in a relaxed state, but allowing the segments to move radially when force is exerted on the non-extrusion ring; a support ring abutting the lower surface of the non-extrusion ring, the support ring having an inner diameter and an outer diameter; an inner ring having an inner diameter, an outer diameter, a thickness and a height, the outer diameter of the inner ring being approximately the same as the inner diameter of the support ring such that the inner ring may slide within the support ring; a principal element abutting the support ring.