Patent ID: 7913386

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a flat gasket, the flat gasket comprising at least one first sheet metal layer consisting of a spring steel and at least one second sheet metal layer consisting of a ductile steel, said first layer being provided with at least one sealing bead, and said second layer being provided in at least one edge area bordering on an edge of the second layer with at least one thickened zone as supporting element for receiving pressing forces acting on the flat gasket when said flat gasket is installed, wherein the method includes: forming the supporting element in an edge area of the second sheet metal layer that is delimited by a free edge, wherein the second layer is first fixed in a fixed area near to and along this edge area, and wherein at least one arch is then stamped into said edge area in such a way that the free edge is thereby drawn in the direction towards said fixed area of the second sheet metal layer and that said at least one arch extends approximately parallel to said free edge, and then compressing the at least one arch in such a way that the metal volume of the supporting element is a multiple of the total hollow space volume which said supporting element and two tangential planes abutting on the latter and extending parallel to the plane of the second layer include between them.