Regenerator seal

Claim 1

A ROTARY REGENERATOR COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, STATIONARY STRUCTURE INCLUDING A BULKHEAD HAVING AN OPENING, A PERVIOUS HEAT EXCHANGE MATRIX, MEANS MOUNTING THE MATRIX FOR MOVEMENT SUCH THAT THE MATRIX PASSES THROUGH THE OPENING, THE MATRIX BEING PERVIOUS TO FLUID FLOW IN A DIRECTION GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE BULKHEAD, THE MATRIX HAVING A SEALING SURFACE THROUGH WHICH FLUID FLOWS, AND INCLUDING A GRID-LIKE STRUCTURE DIVIDING THE SURFACE INTO CELLS AND BLOCKING FLUID FLOW BETWEEN THE CELLS, THE CELLS BEING MUCH WIDER IN THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF THE MATRIX THAN IN THE TRANSVERSE DIRECTION, A SEAL ON THE BULKHEAD EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF THE MATRIX IN CONTACT WITH THE SAID SEALING SURFACE, THE WIDTH OF THE SEAL IN THE DIRECTION OF MATRIX MOVEMENT BEING LEAST APPROXIMATELY TWICE THE WIDTH OF THE CELLS IN SUCH DIRECTION, THE FACE OF THE SEAL IN CONTACT WITH THE MATRIX BEING RELIEVED TOWARD THE TRAILING PORTION THEREOF SO THAT THE CONTACT AREA DECREASES GRADUALLY FROM CONTINUOUS CONTACT TO NO CONTACT OVER APPROXIMATELY THE TRAILING HALF OF THE WIDTH OF THE SEAL.