Patent ID: 6837482

Claim:
A thermally assisted sealing arrangement, comprising: (a) a fluid containment member; (b) a joining structure adapted to interface with said fluid containment member, said fluid containment member and said joining structure cooperating to form an annular sealing cavity interposed between said fluid containment member and said joining structure, said sealing cavity having a central portion and two end portions, one of the end portions being radially inward of the central portion with the other end portion being radially outward of the central portion, each of said end portions of the cavity being configured to converge in a direction away from the central portion; (c) an annular sealing member disposed in said sealing cavity, said sealing member being operative to change radial dimension in response to temperature changes by an amount that is substantially different than the change of radial dimension of the cavity in response to temperature changes; and (d) clearance gaps at opposite ends of the sealing cavity wherein the converging end portions of the cavity converge to and communicate with the clearance gaps, the annular sealing member extending at least partially into the clearance gaps at each end of the sealing cavity. whereby a change in temperature will tend to cause the sealing member to move radially relative to the cavity into one of the converging end portions of the cavity and enhance the sealing pressure between the sealing member and the end portion of the cavity.