Pre-compressed seal including removable pre-compression member

Abstract

A seal is provided that includes a resilient, arc-shaped body having a pair of sealing portions movable between a pre-compressed state and a compressed state. A removable pre-compression member slidingly engages the seal body along at least a portion of its length to hold the sealing portions in the pre-compressed state. In an embodiment, the seal body includes a pair of first retaining features and the pre-compression member includes a retaining portion having a pair of second retaining features that engage the pair of first retaining features to hold the sealing portions in the pre-compressed state. A strap portion extends from and between each retaining portion to allow the pre-compression member to flex during assembly of the seal to accommodate the radius of the seal body.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.