Seal assembly

Patent · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2001

OSTI ID:873575

Johnson, Roger Neal ^[1]; Longfritz, William David ^[2]

---

1. Hagaman, NY
2. Fonda, NY

A seal assembly that seals a gap formed by a groove comprises a seal body, a biasing element, and a connection that connects the seal body to the biasing element to form the seal assembly. The seal assembly further comprises a concave-shaped center section and convex-shaped contact portions at each end of the seal body. The biasing element is formed from an elastic material and comprises a convex-shaped center section and concave-shaped biasing zones that are opposed to the convex-shaped contact portions. The biasing element is adapted to be compressed to change a width of the seal assembly from a first width to a second width that is smaller than the first width. In the compressed state, the seal assembly can be disposed in the groove. After release of the compressing force, the seal assembly expands. The contact portions will move toward a surface of the groove and the biasing zones will move into contact with another surface of the groove. The biasing zones will bias the contact portions of the seal body against the surface of the groove.

• Research Organization: GENERAL ELECTRIC CO
• DOE Contract Number: AC21-87MC23170
• Assignee: General Electric Company (Schenectady, NY)
• Patent Number(s): US 6193240
• OSTI ID: 873575
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

/277/415/
adapted
assembly
bias
biasing
biasing element
center
center section
change
compressed
compressing
comprises
concave-shaped
connection
connects
contact
convex-shaped
disposed
elastic
elastic material
element
expands
force
form
formed
gap
gap formed
groove
material
move
opposed
portions
release
seal
seal assembly
seals
section
surface
width
zones