Low leakage finger seal
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorsJorge Farah, Laura Newell, Debora Kehret
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A seal for an exhaust duct includes a metal mesh member sandwiched between an outer plate and an inner plate. The seal includes a plurality of flexible members defined by a plurality of slots in both the inner and outer plates. The flexible members provide for expansion and contraction along with creating flexibility in the region of contact between the seal land and the seal. The metal mesh member substantially eliminates gaps and leak paths created through the slots. The metal mesh member is composed of a plurality of interwoven wire strands impregnated with a high temperature elastomeric sealant. The impregnation of high temperature elastomeric sealant over the metal mesh member improves sealing while maintaining the desired flexibility of the seal.
Claims14
A seal assembly comprising:
- a first sheet including a first plurality of slots;
- a second sheet including a second plurality of slots;
- and
- a flexible metal member disposed between said first sheet and said second sheet, said flexible metal member including a plurality of intermeshing metal strands disposed within a high temperature elastomeric sealant, wherein said flexible member includes a welded joint to at least one of the first sheet and said second sheet.
An exhaust duct assembly comprising:
- a fixed member;
- a movable member;
- a seal fixed to one of said fixed member and said movable member, said seal including an outer layer having a first plurality of slots, an inner layer having a second plurality of slots, and a metal mesh member impregnated with a high temperature elastomeric sealant disposed between said outer layer and said inner layer, wherein sad metal mesh member includes a welded joint to at least one of the inner layer and the outer layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.