United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Kenneth W Froemming

Eric J Ward

A gap seal for convergent/divergent flap hinge ends to spaced disc and wall surfaces in a 2-D nozzle of a gas turbine engine is provided. The seal employs at least two cups resiliently mounted to the hinge ends, which cups independently translate axially and resiliently to contact the spaced surfaces at different or varying gaps to seal same. The translating cup seals of the invention thus maintain a constant seal in the gaps between the hinge ends and such surfaces at varying C/D hinge positions and varying operating conditions in the 2-D nozzle. That is, the cups independently maintain their seals across gaps as they expand or contract due to thermal changes as well as across gaps of different sizes.

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Palm Beach Gardens, FL, United States of America

Kenneth W Froemming