High-pressure compression failure resistant and high sealing gasket

Abstract: A gasket which is compression-failure resistant, even at operating flange pressures in the range of from about 211 bar (3000 psi) to about 1050 bar (15 000 psi) and also has a good sealing ability, comprises a soft gasket material (13) having two opposed, facial surfaces and an aperture (33) with an edge surface (23) perpendicular to the facial surfaces, wherein the edge surface (23) of the aperture (33) has a polymer coating (A,14) for a good sealing ability.

Description: The invention relates to a gasket comprising a soft gasket sheet, having two opposed facial surfaces and an edge surface around an aperture of the soft gasket sheet, the edge surface being substantially perpendicular to the facial surfaces, wherein the edge surface is entirely provided with a material giving the gasket a good sealing ability. Such a gasket is desribed in GB 2 019 507 A. The material giving the gasket a good sealing ability consists of an insert of a fluoro polymer. The insert has an opening, the shape of which is predetermined by the use for which the gasket is provided. At least one insert is placed in a mould and polymerized there together with the soft gasket material, usually normal butyl rubber. The gasket consists of two parts, the fluoro-polymer insert sealingly connected to the aperture edge of the soft gasket sheet of butyl rubber, such that the fluoro-polymer does not cover the facial surfaces of the butyl rubber sheet. Performance characteristics required of many gaskets includes both compression failure resistance and sealing ability. Gaskets frequently must operate under pressures in the range of from about 211 bar (3 000 psi) to about 2110 bar (30 000 psi). At the same time the gasketing is also required to provide a seal against fluids. In some instances, in order to provide a good seal, gasketing is coated to get sealing ability. Fibrous gaskets or soft porous materials are types of gasketing which is given coatings since this gasketing is very porous and has problems in giving an adequate seal for use. Unfortunately, the coating used to give sealing ability penetrates the gasket, and reduces the ability of the gasket to withstand pressure. It would be beneficial to develop a gasket which delivers good sealing ability which, at the same time, is compression-failure resistant, especially if the gasket could operate at flange pressures in the range of from about 1,4 bar (20 psi) to about 2110 bar (30 000 psi). Gasketing which is presently known in the art includes gaskets described by U.S. 3,661,901 which requires that the gasketing be given a coating which covers the walls of the apertures in addition to the gasketing faces. Such gasketing, however, being completely coated, will perform poorly at such high pressures. This severely limits the field of use of the gaskets. It is the object of the invention to provide gaskets of the generic kind which have an adequate sealing ability, which are compression failure resistant, which are capable of withstanding operating pressures of at least 211 bar (3000 psi), which operate well in the range of from about 1,4 bar (20 psi) to about 700 bar (10 000 psi), and which are capable of sealing at both high and low flange pressures. This object is obtained with the gasket of claim 1 embodiment of which are subjects of subclaims 2 to 12. The gasket has both the aperture's edge coated and a coating on a portion of at least one face which abuts an aperture and forms a border around the aperture. The edge coat is arbitrarily designated coating A (in this description) while the coating on the face abutting the aperture is designated coating B; a coating on the edge which is around the outside (periphery) of the gasket material is coating C. Different coating materials may be used to form coating A and B, although it is also permissible to coat the different areas with the same coating material. As more coating for sealing ability is put on the gasket faces, i.e. the facial surfaces, the performance of the gasket in response to higher pressures will deteriorate, even if the coating on the face is limited to a strip of coating abutting the aperture's coated edge on at least one side of the gasket. For this reason, therefore, it is preferred that coating B, abutting the aperture's coated edge should be limited in width, so that it covers only a limited portion of the gasket face(s). Preferably, the coating (coating B) on at least one gasket face, abutting the aperture's coated edge can be up to about 1,5 cm wide on the face. Preferably, such coating strips, on the face of the gasket and abutting the aperture, can cover up to about 50% of one or both faces. As the data of Example 8 herein demonstrates, for preferred embodiments it can also be important to limit the thickness of the coating on each gasket face. The thicker the coating on the face of the gasket the lower the pressure at which compression failure of the gasket occurs. Thus, coatings for sealing which are put on the gasket face are preferred to be a maximum of about 0,28 mm (11 mils) thick. Any porous material can take advantage of the present invention. Any soft gasket material which has at least one edge can also take advantage of the present invention. A soft gasket material is a gasket sheet material which typically is compressible, flexible and porous. Many types of soft gasket materials comprise fiber and a binder, other types of soft gasket materials comprise a binder and a filler, such as, for example, rubber and cork; preferred soft gasket materials comprise fiber, binder, and filler. Soft gasket materials have pores along the vertical edges of the aperture. These pores are detrimental to the sealing ability of the gasket. A soft gasket material can be given an edge seal on an aperture exposed to fluids and obtain a seal against the fluid. Surprisingly, there is no need to change the composition of the sheet material for any significant improvement in sealing ability. The edge coating delivers the seal. Surprisingly, in many cases there is no need for significant sealing ability in the base sheet. Furthermore, a base sheet with the edge seal can accommodate many different types of flanges without any change being made to the base sheet. Gaskets which are particularly suited to the present invention are soft gasket materials having apertures that were cut in the material. The cut edges of soft gasket materials are more typically more porous since the material was cut to expose the open space inside the sheet. Generally, the cut edge is more porous than the face of the gasket. It is highly preferred to put a coating seal on an aperture edge which must seal against fluids. Since the fluid generally contacts the gasket first at the aperture edge, coating this edge is referred to as a primary seal. Preferred gaskets that can use the present edge seal with improved compression failure resistance are gaskets for intake manifolds; oil pan gaskets (sealing against oil); covering gaskets such as valve coverings (which seal against oil) and axle coverings (which seal against gear lubricant); water pump gaskets which seal against water and antifreeze; and compressor gasketing applications which are frequently exposed to refrigerants such as freon; gas meter gaskets, exposed to gases; and industrial flanges, exposed to steam and chemicals. The type of coating for each application is important to achieve preferred embodiments since some particular types of coatings will hold the particular fluid better than others (some coatings have chemical interaction with the fluid). The wide edge sealing design has been found to be surprisingly suited for sealing oil pans of diesel engines, for sealing oil coolers in diesel engines, and for sealing vacuum in intake manifolds against air and fuel mixtures. Chloroprene polymer or acrylonitrile are the preferred coatings for embodiments with exposure to the refrigerants; acrylic or acrylonitrile are the preferred coatings for embodiments with exposure to oil. A preferred gasket sheet has planar faces, although suitable gaskets for the present invention include gaskets having such features as embossing on one or both faces, or tapering of the gaskets at the edges of one or both faces. The gaskets, however, have opposed, planes, herein referred to as "facial surfaces" or "facial planes" and "corner planes". The corner planes go through a corner between a face and an edge. The planes extend infinitely and the facial planes go through substantially flat portions of each face. The edge is substantially perpendicular to these facial planes. The corner plane is either the same as the facial plane or is parallel to it. Compression failure resistance is the ability of a gasket structure to withstand pressure without deforming the gasket to the point of failure. The crush test (shown in example 1) is an industry accepted measurement of compression failure resistance. The degree of compression failure resistance a gasket must have is set by the load that it will experience in a particular application or in the particular flange that it is used in. In one embodiment of the present invention the gasket sheet has a coating which penetrates the pores along the vertical edge of the aperture which is perpendicular to the opposed planes of the two planar faces of the gasket. The penetration of the coating material into the pores provides the gasket sheet material with a better sealing ability. When the gasket sheet material comprises fiber and binder, in most cases, a filler is also present. The gasket sheet should have at least 1% by wt. of the binder and at least 5% by wt. of the fiber. Filler can also be added at a minimum level of about 1%. Suitable ranges are from about 3 to about 40% by wt. of the binder, from about 5 to about 70% by wt. of the fiber, and from about 1 to about 92% by wt. of the filler. Coating the gasket aperture's edge can be done in any film-forming manner such as, for example, dipping or melting (while protecting the gasket portions not to be coated) or painting. This coating on the edge provides sealing ability. The coating can be organic, inorganic, or a hybrid of both. When the vertical edge is one which encounters fluids during use, however, a polymer coating is particularly useful and preferred. In such cases, preferably, the entire edge is coated to obtain the best sealing ability possible from the coating. In such a case the coating on the aperture edge is herein referred to as a "primary seal". The coating on the aperture's edge is particularly desirable when the gasket must seal against fluids. The edge coating in such a case prevents penetration of the fluid into the sheet. The coating strip (coating B) can be put on one or both faces completely around an aperture, so that it abuts the edge perpendicular to each face and also abuts or even joins with the coating on the aperture's edge (coating A). The coating strip can be beneficially used where the flanges do not fit together tightly to form a fitted seal against fluids. If, for example, a flange is warped even slightly so that it curves away from a planar (facial) surface, the coating strip can be useful in providing a better seal against fluid leakages. For such applications, the coating strip will, preferably be put around the aperture where fluids are encountered in use. Preferably, coating A is wider than the gasket and coating B combined, so that coating A protrudes at least about 0,025 mm (1 mil) beyond coating B on at least one face (coating A, thus forming a lip above coating B); more preferably it protrudes at least about 0,127 mm (5 mils), and most preferably it protrudes at least about 0,254 mm (10 mils, wherein 1 mil is 1/1000 of an inch). A preferred range for coating A protruding beyond coating B is from about 0,127 mm (5 mils) to about 2,03 mm (80 mils) and more preferably from about 0,254 mm (10 mils) to about 2,03 mm (80 mils). The invention is further explained referring to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of a gasket of the present invention, Fig. 2 is the section 2-2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a partly sectional view of a second embodiment of the gasket, Fig. 4 is a partly sectional view of a third embodiment of the gasket, Fig. 5 is a partly sectional view of a forth embodiment of the gasket, The gasket of Fig. 1 has a soft gasket material 10 which has been cut for a flange. The gasket has a large aperture 33 and four smaller bolt holes 32. The gasket has a strip 11 of coating B around the aperture 33 on the face of the gasket. The gasket also has coating A, 12 on the vertical edge 23 around the aperture 33. The coating 12 covers the entire vertical edge 23 and is made of a different coating material than the strip 11 of coating B. Fig. 2 gives another view of the gasket shown in Fig. 1. The soft gasket material 10 is seen with a coating strip 11 on each face around and abutting the aperture 33. On the edge 23 which is perpendicular to each face and is around the aperture 33 is the coatings A 12. Fig. 3 shows coating 18 covering part of face 17 and all of edge 72. The coating 18 goes to the corner between edge 72 and face 51. The thickness of coating 18 of Fig. 3 and of coating 22 of Fig. 4 is also wider than the vertical edge 72 and 74 of the gaskets and where the coating abuts the gasket. In addition to this, in Fig. 3, the slight tapering of one horizontal face of the gasket 17 narrows one vertical edge slightly, and allows coating 18 to lap up onto the face 17 of the gasket. In Fig. 4, both horizontal faces of the gasket taper next to the edge of the gasket and the edge coating covers the gasket slightly on each horizontal face. The tapering of the horizontal face of the gasket abutting the aperture is a preferred, optional embodiment. A coating can also be put on the gasket face abutting the vertical edge without the tapering of the gasket faces next to the edge. A good to excellent and even total seal can be achieved without tapering the faces of the gasket on the horizontal face. Tapering of the gasket thickness on the horizontal face near the coated vertical edge (as shown by Fig. 3 and Fig. 4) is an optional, preferred embodiment. Another preferred embodiment is the lapping of the coating (coating A) over the corner of the edge of the gasket onto the face (where it is then referred to as coating B). The coating can be lapped over the corner of the vertical edge of one or both sides of the gasket (whether or not the thickness at the horizontal face near the edge is tapered) (shown in Figs. 3 and 4). For example such tapering of the gasket thickness can be done at a distance of from about 6,2 mm (1/4 inches) away from the vertical edge up to the vertical edge. It can also be noted that coating 18 of Fig. 3 is slightly wider than the gasket thickness where the coating abuts the vertical edge of the gasket. Fig. 10 shows facial, corner planes 39 and 65. Fig. 5 shows an aperture coating 27 on edge 76 which is between face 25 and 53. The coating is suitable and effective to give an adequate seal. More preferably, the coating can protrude (having a width greater than the width of the gasket edge 36) going at least about 0,025 mm (1 mil) past the facial plane 25, 53 and any facial coating thickness, even more preferably it protrudes (in a direction parallel to the gasket edge 76), at least about 0,127 mm (5 mils), and most preferably it protrudes at least about 0,254 mm (10 mils) past the facial plane 25, 53, and past any facial coating thickness. Optionally, each gasket face can be given a release coating (to make the gasket easier to remove from the flange after use) which do not substantially affect compression failure resistance. A release coating is typically less than 0,025 mm (1 mil) in thickness. For the best performance the release coating should not substantially penetrate the gasket structure. The high degree of compression failure which is caused by sealing coatings is, thus, not typically found with release coatings. Furthermore, a sealing coating frequently penetrates the gasket structure. The present invention provides compression failure resistance and sealing ability to the gaskets. Coatings on the gasket face which enhance or provide sealing performance of the gasket will detrimentally effect the compression failure resistance and these must be limited. Such coatings are generally done with a heavier coating material than the release coatings. In other embodiments, the edge coating on the vertical edge of the gasket can be lapped over onto either face of the gasket (such as, for example, is shown by Fig. 3 and Fig. 4). Alternatively, another coating can be added to the face abutting the edge as is shown by Fig. 2. In order to obtain the compression failure resistance, this overlap and the added coating should be limited in both thickness and in width. Preferably, the sealing coating can, however, extend up to about 1,5 cm on the face of the gasket, as long as the coating of the gasket face is limited to preserve compression failure resistance, more preferably not covering more than about 50% of the facial surfaces. More preferably, it extends a maximum of about 5 mm across the face of the gasket. Most preferably for even better compression failure resistance, the overlap of edge coating (coating A) onto the horizontal face of the gasket is a maximum of about 1 mm. The sealing coating which is allowed to coat the gasket face next to the vertical edge of the gasket should preferably be limited in thickness in order to preserve the gasket's resistance to failure under pressure. Preferably, the coating abutting the edge on the face of the gasket should be 0,28 mm (11 mils) or less in thickness. More preferably the coating will be a maximum of 0,18 mm (7 mils) in thickness even more preferably it will be a maximum of about 0,1 mm (4 mils) in thickness and most preferably it will be about 0,063 mm (2.5 mils) in thickness or less. The thicker the edge coating (adjacent to and abutting the coated, vertical edge of the gasket) the lower the pressure at which the compression failure of the gasket will occur. Practicality is the factor limiting the thickness of the coating directly on the vertical edge, both in the direction parallel to the vertical edge and perpendicular to the vertical edge. Very small thicknesses, however, have been found to be effective. Since a relatively thin coating is effective it will be cost effective to limit the thickness and width of the coating on the vertical edge of the gasket aperture. The coating on the gasket aperture's edge where the gasket is to be sealed should coat the entire edge from one side to the other in order to complete the seal. The coating thickness in the direction perpendicular to the vertical edge is not critical. The coating preferably is a minimum of at least about 0.1 mm thick and preferably can be up to about 2 mm thick. The coating on the vertical edge is intended to seal the gasket; thus the coating should have a minimum thickness needed to seal the gasket. Suitably the sealing coating on the vertical edge should be at least about 0,025 mm (1 mil) in thickness (extending in a direction perpendicular to the vertical edge). or a larger portion of the facial surface coated. When the coating A extends onto the face of the gasket and become Coating B, suitably Coating A extends at least about 0,127 mm (5 mils) onto the face of the gasket. More preferably the overlap onto the face extends onto the face a distance of 0,254 mm (10 mils) or more, although it can preferably be extended to form coating B up to a distance of 1,5 cm while not covering more than about 50% of the gasket surfaces. A coating is any material which puts on a coat. This includes powders, filled polymers, and 100% solid fluids. Inorganic materials which can be used to coat the edge (forming any of coating A, B and/or C) include chemically delaminated mica and vermiculite coatings. Preferred coatings are polymers (including organic and inorganic hybrids and inorganic/organic hybrids) as well as filled polymers. The polymer coatings can be used to form either coating A, coating B, and coating C. Suitably the polymer coating materials are coatings selected from the group consisting of acrylic, acrylonitrile, acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), fluoro polymers, hydrogenated NBR, styrene butadiene polymer, fluoroelastomer polymer, acrylicacrylonitrile polymers, carboxylated acrylonitrile polymer, carboxylated styrene butadiene polymer, polyvinylidene chloride, chloroprene rubber polymer, ethylene propylene rubber polymer, ethylene/vinyl acetate polymer, epoxy, fluorosilicones, polyurethane, and silicone rubber coatings (both UV curable and room temperature curable) and mixtures thereof can be used. A preferred polymer coating is a filled polymer having silica, carbon black and/or clay filler. Any latex may be used. Any elastomer can be used. Also suitable as a coating are polymer powders which are heated to melt them on to the surface of the gasket. In fact, any powder which can be fused can be used to coat and seal the edge. Polymer coatings A, B, and C can be different polymer coatings or they can be the same polymer coating. The present invention may be better understood from the examples which follow. These examples, however, are included to illustrate the invention and not to limit it. All parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated. Example 1 A. Crush Test - ASTM F1574-95 Identical annular gaskets were cut from a cellulose based paper gasket sheet material. Each gasket formed a circle and had the following measurements: inner diameter 13 mm (.515 inches) (distance from the center to the inner edge of the ring), outer diameter 24 mm (.950 inches), ring width 5,5 mm (.2175 inches). The gasket rings under a which are indicated in Table 1 below, as the control, were left completely uncoated; under b, each gasket ring sample had the inner vertical edge (13,1 mm (.515 inches) from the center) coated with NBR latex for the gasket samples under c, the gasket ring had both the inner vertical edge coated with the NBR latex, and having a strip of room temperature vulcanizable silicone coating (from Loctite Corp.) coated on each face of the gasket. This strip of coating was put onto each face so that the coating strip touched the coating on the vertical edge. The coating strip was 0,1 mm (4 mils) thick and 3,2 mm (1/8 inch) wide. The gasket samples under d had a coating of the room temperature vulcanizable silicone coating (from Loctite Corp.) over the entire surface of the gasket. To test the compression strength under elevated temperatures, each gasket ring was put under a controlled amount of pressure at 149°C (300°F) under uniform load conditions and the deformation of the sample was measured as a percent change (increase) in area. This is a common test of gasketing, known as the crush test, and it can be found described under ASTM: F1574-95. The results of this comparison is given in Table 1 below. In the table the values under each pressure level for each gasketing type is given in terms of percent change in area. It is considered a failure when the value is greater than 10. The higher the number, the worse is the performance and the more undesirable the gasketing. Pressure bar (psi) a b c d 176 (2500) - - - 2 229 (3250) - - - 21 352 (5000) 1 1 1 60 703 (10 000) 2 1 9 -- 1050 (15 000) 2 4 35 -- The above data shows that the coated gasketing (d) cannot withstand the pressures of even 229 bar (3250 psi) without distorting to an undesirable degree. The performance of the uncoated gasket (under a) and of the gasket which is edge coated (under b) and edge coated with a strip of coating around the aperture (under c) shows much better performance and an ability to withstand even higher pressures of 1050 bar (15 000 psi) without significant distortion (less than 10% change in area). Gaskets c having both the edge coating and the strip of coating on the surface from this test is seen to be preferred for flange pressures up to 703 bar (10 000 psi). B. Sealing Ability Test Gaskets were cut from a cellulose based paper gasket sheet material. The gaskets tested were gasket a (uncoated), gasket b which had the inner vertical edge of the aperture coated with NBR latex for the gasket samples under c the gasket ring had both the inner vertical edge of the aperture coated with the NBR latex, and having a strip of room temperature vulcanizable silicone coating (from Loctite Corp.) coated on each face of the gasket (the strip on each gasket face was 4,8 mm (3/16 inch) wide). These gasket samples were put into a cylinder which could be pressurized with nitrogen. For this test the nitrogen pressure in the cylinder was brought up to 1 bar (14 psi), and the number of minutes which elapsed while the pressure decayed to 0,9 bar (13 psi) was measured. This test was done on a smooth flange, measuring 18 Ra (Ra is the average roughness value and this is measured in micro-inches; MS indicates micro-inches, 1 micro-inch = 25,4·10 -6 mm) and the test was also done on a rough flange, measuring 250 Ra. The results are given in Table 2 below. Gasket Time (min) Flange Pressure Flange Roughness a 1.5 148 bar (2100 psi) 18 Ra a 1.0 148 bar (2100 psi) 250 Ra b 11.0 148 bar (2100 psi) 18 Ra b 11.0 148 bar (2100 psi) 250 Ra c Total Seal 21,1 bar (300 psi) 18 Ra c Total Seal 21,1 bar (300 psi) 250 Ra Significantly, where the gasket was both edge sealed at the vertical edge of the aperture, and also given a coating strip on each face, the gasket could give a perfect seal even at a flange pressure as low as 21,1 bar (300 psi) on both the smooth and the rough flange. In applications where sealing ability is important, therefore, the more preferred embodiment of the present invention has both an edge seal coating and a coating strip on at least one gasket face around the aperture, to cover up to about 50% of the gasket face. Even more preferably up to about 30% of each gasket face can be covered. Example 2 An annular gasket identical to those used in Example 1 was cut from the same gasketing material as was used for Example 1. A silicone coating was used to coat the gasket ring sample on the inner vertical edge of the ring aperture. The coating was put onto the vertical edge so that in a direction parallel to the vertical edge of the gasket the coating was thicker than the gasket thickness next to the vertical edge of the gasket and the coating overlapped on one horizontal face of the gasket (as shown by Fig. 3). From the vertical edge of the gasket going through the coating in a direction perpendicular to the vertical edge, the coating was measured to be approximately 0,4 mm at the center of the vertical edge. The gasket was tested in a cylinder which could be pressurized with nitrogen (as described in Example 1). The nitrogen pressure in the cylinder was brought up to 1 bar (14 psi), and if the flange did not have a total seal at a given flange pressure, the number of minutes which elapsed while the pressure decayed to 0,91 bar (13 psi) was measured. The lower the flange pressure at which a total seal is achieved, the better the results, and if a total seal cannot be achieved at any flange pressure, the longer the pressure is held, the better the result. This test was done on a smooth flange measuring 18 Ra. The control of this test is the result reported for gasket a of Example 1, which held the pressure only for 1,5 minutes and required a flange pressure of 148 bar (2100 psi). The edge sealed gasket of this example delivered a total seal (pressure never decreased in the cylinder) at the flange pressure of 148 bar (2100 psi). Example 3 An annular gasket identical to those used in Example 1 was cut from the same gasketing material as was used for Example 1. A silicone coating was used to coat the gasket ring sample on the inner vertical edge of the ring aperture. The coating was put onto the vertical edge so that in a direction parallel to the vertical edge of the gasket the coating was thicker than the gasket thickness next to the vertical edge of the gasket, and the coating overlapped on each horizontal face of the gasket (as shown by Fig. 4). The coating extended onto each horizontal face of the gasket for a distance which was measured at approximately 0,38 mm. The gasket was tested in a cylinder which could be pressurized with nitrogen (as described in Example 1). The nitrogen pressure in the cylinder was brought up to 1 bar (14 psi), and if the flange did not have a total seal at a given flange pressure, the number of minutes which elapsed while the pressure decayed to 0,91 bar (13 psi) was measured. The lower the flange pressure at which a total seal is achieved, the better the results, and if a total seal cannot be achieved at any flange pressure, the longer the pressure is held, the better the result. This test was done on a smooth flange measuring 18 Ra. The control of this test is the result reported for gasket a of Example 1, which held the pressure only for 1,5 minutes and required a flange pressure of 21 bar (2100 psi). The edge sealed gasket of this example delivered a total seal (pressure never decreased in the cylinder) at the flange pressure of only 21 bar (300 psi).

Claims: A gasket (10) comprising a soft gasket sheet having two opposed facial surfaces (17, 51; 25, 53) and an edge surface (23, 72, 74, 76) around an aperture (33) of the soft gasket sheet, the edge surface (23, 72, 74, 76) being substantially perpendicular to the facial surfaces (17, 51; 25, 53), wherein the edge surface (23, 72, 74, 76) is entirely provided with a material giving the gasket (10) a good sealing ability, characterized in that the material of the edge surface (23, 72, 74, 76) is provided with is a coating (A, 18, 22, 27) and that a further coating (B, 18, 22, 27) is provided on a portion of at least one facial surface (17, 25, 53) abutting or joining the aperture's coated edge surface (23, 72, 74, 76). A gasket according to claim 1, characterized in that the further coating (B) is a strip (11) on one or both facial surfaces extending around the aperture (33) so that it abuts or even joins with the coating (A) on the edge surface (23) of the aperture (33). A gasket according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the coating (27) on the edge surface (76) is wider than the gasket sheet and the further coating on at least one facial surface (25, 53) so that the coating (27) on the edge surface (76) protrudes at least 0,025 mm (1mil) beyond the facial surface (25, 53). A gasket according to claim 3, characterized in that the coating (18, 27) on the edge surface (72, 76) protrudes from about 0,127 mm (5mils) to about 0,254 mm (10 mils) past the facial surface (25, 53). A gasket according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the coating (B, 11) on opposed facial surfaces (17, 25, 53) has a maximum thickness of about 0,28 mm (11mils). A gasket according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the coating (B, 11) abutting the aperture (33) has a maximum width on the facial surface (17; 25, 53) of 1,5 cm covering about 50% or less of the facial surface (17; 25, 53). A gasket according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the edge surface (23, 72, 74, 76) of the aperture (33) has pores into which the coating (A, 18, 22, 27) has penetrated. A gasket according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the coating (A; 18, 22, 27) of the edge surface (23; 72, 74, 76) of the aperture (33) is a polymer. A gasket according to claim 8, characterized in that the polymer is selected from the group consisting of acrylic, acrylonitrile, acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, fluoro polymers, hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, styrene butadiene polymer, fluoroelastomer polymer, acrylicacrylonitrile polymers, carboxylated acrylonitrile polymer, carboxylated styrene butadiene polymer, polyvinylidene chloride, chloroprene rubber polymer, ethylene propylene rubber polymer, ethylene/vinyl acetate polymer, epoxy, fluorosilicones, polyurethane, and silicone rubber and mixtures thereof. A gasket according to one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the coating (A; 18, 22, 27) of the edge surface (23; 72, 74, 76) of the aperture (33) is a latex. A gasket according to one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the coating (A; 18, 22, 27) of the edge surface (23; 72, 74, 76) of the aperture (33) is a powder fused on the edge surface (23; 72, 74, 76). A gasket according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the coating (18, 22, 27) of the edge surface (72, 74, 76) of the aperture and the coating (18, 22, 27) of the at least one facial surface (17; 25, 53) consist of the same coating material.

Inventors: FORRY JOHN S, LEHR BRIAN C, FORRY, JOHN S., LEHR, BRIAN C.
Applicants: INTERFACE SOLUTIONS INC, INTERFACE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: F16J15
IPC codes: F16L23, F16J15, C09K3, B32B37