Metallic flat gasket

Abstract

Flat gasket including a gasket plate, which has at least two gasket layers arranged on each other and in which a through-opening to be sealed is formed, the gasket plate including a supporting device which increases the total material thickness of the gasket plate and is formed by several folded-over gasket layer sections. To achieve a supporting device with locally different effective height, the flat gasket is configured such that the gasket plate has a first gasket layer with a first layer area and having a first layer thickness and in which a first folded-over gasket layer section of a supporting device is formed, and the gasket plate has a second gasket layer with a second layer area and having a second layer thickness and in which a second folded-over gasket layer section of this supporting device is formed, the first and second layer thicknesses being different.

1 . A flat gasket comprising an at least substantially metallic gasket plate, which has at least two gasket layers arranged on each other and in which at least one through-opening to be sealed is formed, the gasket plate comprising at least one supporting device which increases the total material thickness of the gasket plate in areas thereof and is formed by several folded-over gasket layer sections, the gasket plate having at least one first gasket layer with at least one first layer area in which the first gasket layer has a first layer thickness and in which at least one first folded-over gasket layer section of a supporting device is formed, and the gasket plate having at least one second gasket layer with at least one second layer area in which the second gasket layer has a second layer thickness and in which at least one second folded-over gasket layer section of this supporting device is formed, the first and second layer thicknesses being different from each other and this supporting device, therefore, having different total material thicknesses in areas thereof 
     
     
         2 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein at least one gasket layer comprises a sealing bead which—in a plan view of the gasket plate—has a supporting device configured as stopper for the bead associated with and adjacent to it. 
     
     
         3 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the at least one gasket layer comprises a sealing bead enclosing a fluid through-opening, and the supporting device is arranged—in relation to the through-opening—radially outside of the sealing bead. 
     
     
         4 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein at least one supporting device is provided at the periphery of the gasket plate. 
     
     
         5 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the layer thickness of the first gasket layer is different from the layer thickness of the second gasket layer. 
     
     
         6 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 5 , wherein the first and second gasket layers comprise sheet metal layers of sheet metals of different sheet thickness. 
     
     
         7 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein at least when the flat gasket is installed, the folded-over gasket layer sections of a supporting device all lie on a first main surface of a gasket layer. 
     
     
         8 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 7 , wherein the first main surface forms a first outer side of the multilayered gasket plate. 
     
     
         9 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein at least one folded-over gasket layer section is formed by a gasket layer which forms the second outer side of the gasket plate and engages over the first outer side thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the gasket layer sections are of tongue-shaped configuration and are folded over around the respective tongue root. 
     
     
         11 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the gasket layer sections are of strip-shaped configuration and are folded over at a longitudinal edge of the respective gasket layer section. 
     
     
         12 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein at least one supporting device—in a plan view of the gasket plate—is of elongate configuration and is formed by at least two folded-over gasket layer sections lying one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the supporting device, the total material thicknesses of the gasket plate in the areas of at least two gasket layer sections being different from each other. 
     
     
         13 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 12 , wherein the layer thicknesses of at least two gasket layer sections are different from each other. 
     
     
         14 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 12 , wherein the supporting device is formed by at least two first folded-over gasket layer sections provided in the longitudinal end areas of the supporting device and at least one second folded-over gasket layer section provided in a central area of the supporting device, the total material thicknesses of the gasket plate in the areas of the first gasket layer sections and in the area of the second gasket layer section being different from one another. 
     
     
         15 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 14 , wherein—in a plan view of the gasket plate—the elongate supporting device extends between two screw holes for the passage of assembly screws, and the total material thickness of the supporting device in areas near the screw holes is less than in a central area of the supporting device lying between these areas near the screw holes. 
     
     
         16 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the gasket plate comprises at least one thicker and one thinner gasket layer, and the supporting device comprises at least two gasket layer sections of the thicker gasket layer, a first one of which is folded over onto the thicker gasket layer and a second one of which is folded over onto the thinner gasket layer. 
     
     
         17 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 16 , wherein the thinner gasket layer has a recess which—in a plan view of the gasket plate—accommodates the folded-over first gasket layer section at least substantially, and the total material thickness formed by the thicker and thinner gasket layers in the area of the folded-over second gasket layer section is, therefore, greater by the layer thickness of the thinner gasket layer than in the area of the folded-over first gasket layer section. 
     
     
         18 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the two gasket layers extend at least substantially over the entire gasket plate. 
     
     
         19 . A flat gasket comprising an at least substantially metallic gasket plate, which has at least two gasket layers arranged on each other and in which at least one through-opening to be sealed is formed, the gasket plate comprising at least one supporting device which increases the total material thickness of the gasket plate in areas thereof and is formed by several folded-over gasket layer sections, the gasket plate having at least one first gasket layer with a first layer thickness and a second gasket layer with a second layer thickness, the first layer thickness being greater than the second layer thickness, and the supporting device comprising at least one first and one second folded-over gasket layer section of the first gasket layer, the first gasket layer section being folded over onto the first gasket layer, and the second gasket layer section being folded over onto the second gasket layer. 
     
     
         20 . The flat gasket in accordance with  claim 19 , wherein the second gasket layer has a recess which—in a plan view of the gasket plate—accommodates the folded-over first gasket layer section at least substantially, and the total material thickness formed by the first and second gasket layers in the area of the folded-over second gasket layer section is, therefore, greater by the second layer thickness than in the area of the folded-over first gasket layer section.