Patent ID: 6053503
Filing Date: 2000-04-25
Classification: F16J

Abstract:
A cylinder head gasket with a gasket plate having several sheet-metal layers and at least one combustion chamber aperture, wherein a first outer sheet-metal layer is provided with an annular sealing element surrounding the combustion chamber aperture, projecting in a direction towards an adjacent, second sheet-metal layer and abutting against said second layer, said sealing element being elastically deformable perpendicularly to the gasket plate, wherein to limit the deformation of the sealing element a metal spacer ring is attached by a welded seam to one of said first and second layers radially adjacent to the sealing element, said spacer ring facing the other one of said first and second layers, surrounding the combustion chamber aperture and being covered by said first and second layers, said spacer ring having a thickness measured at right angles to the gasket plate that is only a fractional part of the thickness of each of said first and second layers, and wherein the spacer ring is attached by a continuous-wave laser welded seam to said one of said first and second layers such that said welded seam (i) is a continuous, annular welded seam closed upon itself, (ii) provides for a gas-tight connection between the spacer ring and said one of first and second layers, (iii) is uniform except for an area of overlap, and (iv) is doubled in said area overlap.