Patent ID: 6913265

Claim:
A brush seal assembly for sealing a gap between a high pressure area and a low pressure area comprising: at least one bristle strip including a bristle pack having a first end welded to at least one flexible, mounting rail by a weld pool having a depth and including a heat affected zone, the at least one flexible rail having a width greater than the combined depth of the weld pool and heat affected zone, and the bristle strip further including a free second end opposite the first end defining an inner diameter; at least one annular holder, the annular holder having an inner wall defining a channel, the channel having an inner diameter sized to receive the bristle strip therein and further including a first side and a second side, each of the first and second sides spaced from the bristle pack so as to form a gap between the bristle pack and each of the first and second sides; and wherein upon insertion of the at least one bristle strip within the at least one annular holder, the bristle pack is spaced from the at least one annular holder, such that the at least one annular holder is out of direct contact with the bristle pack.