Seal assembly for rotary heat-exchanger

Claim 2

A seal assembly for a rotary heat-exchanger of a gas turbine, said rotary heat-exchanger including a housing having therethrough a low pressure gas passage and a high pressure air passage, and a regenerative rotor rotatable within said housing across said passages to effect the heat exchange between gas flowing through said low pressure gas passage and air flowing through said high pressure air passage, said seal assembly being positioned between said housing and said regenerative rotor to seal between said passages and comprising: a sliding pad of a solid lubricant having an inner and outer peripheries and opposite surfaces, one of said opposite surfaces being adapted to be in slidable contact with said regenerative rotor to support the same; a backing of a thin sheet metal in flat contact with the other surface of said sliding pad and having an inner and outer peripheral edges respectively swaged over the inner and outer peripheral edges of said sliding pad to hold the same; said thin sheet metal backing having formed therein with a plurality of spaced slits extending from the inner periphery toward the outer periphery of said thin sheet metal backing; and a resilient seal interposed between said sliding pad and said thin sheet metal backing.

Claim 3

A seal assembly defined in claim 1, wherein said resilient seal comprises an adhesive layer extending over at most the outer peripheral region extending from the outer periphery of said thin sheet metal backing to the outer ends of said slits therein.

Claim 4

A seal assembly defined in claim 1, wherein said resilient seal comprises a gasket.

Claim 5

A seal assembly defined in claim 2 or 3, wherein said thin sheet metal backing has its thickness of approximately 0.5 mm.

Claim 6

A seal assembly defined in claim 4, wherein said plurality of slits are equi-distantly spaced from each other approximately 10 mm.

Claim 7

A seal assembly defined in claim 5, wherein said sliding pad includes a portion of a ceramic-type solid lubricant which is exposed to the gas and a portion of a carbon-type solid lubricant which is exposed to the air.

Claim 8

A seal device for a rotary heat-exchanger of a gas turbine, said rotary heat-exchanger including a housing having therethrough a low pressure gas passage and a high pressure air passage, and a regenerative rotor rotatable within said housing across said passages to effect the heat exchange between gas flowing through said low pressure gas passage and air flowing through said high pressure air passage, said seal device being positioned between said housing and said regenerative rotor to seal between said passages and comprising a seal assembly and resilient means for urging said seal assembly against said regenerative rotor, said seal assembly including: a sliding pad of a solid lubricant having an inner and outer peripheries and opposite surfaces, one of said opposite surfaces being adapted to be in slidable contact with said regenerative rotor to support the same; a backing of a thin sheet metal in flat contact with the other surface of said sliding pad and having an inner and outer peripheral edges respectively swaged over the inner and outer peripheral edges of said sliding pad to hold the same; said thin sheet metal backing having formed therein with a plurality of spaced slits extending from the inner periphery toward the outer periphery of said backing; and a resilient seal interposed between said sliding pad and said thin sheet metal backing; wherein said resilient means is disposed between said thin sheet metal backing and said housing to resiliently urge said thin sheet metal backing toward said regenerative rotor to urge said sliding pad thereagainst.

Claim 9

A seal device for a rotary heat-exchanger of a gas turbine, said rotary heat-exchanger including a housing having therethrough a low pressure gas passage and a high pressure air passage, and a regenerative rotor rotatable within said housing across said passages to effect the heat exchange between gas flowing through said low pressure gas passage and air flowing through said high pressure air passage, said seal device being positioned between said housing and said regenerative rotor to seal between said passages and comprising a seal assembly and resilient means for urging said seal assembly against said regenerative rotor, said seal assembly including: a sliding pad of a solid lubricant having an inner and outer peripheries and opposite surfaces, one of said opposite surfaces being adapted to be in slidable contact with said regenerative rotor to support the same; a backing of a thin sheet metal in flat contact with the other surface of said sliding pad and having an inner and outer peripheral edges respectively swaged over the inner and outer peripheral edges of said sliding pad to hold the same; said thin sheet metal backing having formed therein with a plurality of spaced slits extending from the inner periphery toward the outer periphery of said backing; and a resilient seal interposed between said sliding pad and said thin sheet metal backing; wherein said resilient means is disposed between said thin sheet metal backing and said housing to resiliently urge said thin sheet metal backing toward said regenerative rotor to urge said sliding pad thereagainst.

Claim 10

A seal device defined in claim 7, wherein said resilient seal comprises an adhesive layer extending over at most the outer peripheral region extending from the outer periphery of said thin sheet metal backing to the outer ends of said slits therein.

Claim 11

A seal device defined in claim 7, wherein said resilient seal comprises a gasket.

Claim 12

A seal device defined in claim 8 or 9, wherein said thin sheet metal backing has its thickness of approximately 0.5 mm.

Claim 13

A seal device defined in claim 10, wherein said plurality of slits are equi-distantly spaced from each other approximately 10 mm.

Claim 14

A seal device defined in claim 11, wherein said sliding pad includes a portion of a ceramic-type solid lubricant which is exposed to the gas and a portion of a carbon-type solid lubricant which is exposed to the air.