Patent ID: 7829001

Claim:
A method for forming a shaped gasket of the type for sealing two mating surfaces over a complex geometrical contact region, said method comprising the steps of: providing a length of hollow, resilient tube extending continuously between first and second opposing and disjointed ends while the other end remains open and unobstructed; filling the entire length of the tube with an uncured liquid rubber compound through one of the first and second ends; preventing escape of the uncured liquid rubber compound from the first and second ends of the tube by joining the ends of the tube together with a loose-piece connector bridging the first and second ends; providing a mold form having a complex geometrical feature replicating the complex geometrical contact region of the two mating surfaces to be sealed; laying up the tube filled with uncured liquid rubber compound in the mold form; curing the liquid rubber compound while holding the tube stationary relative to the mold form; removing the tube filled with cured rubber compound from the mold form such that the tube retains the complex geometrical shape of the mold form feature; compressing the tube filled with cured rubber compound between the two mating surfaces to perfect a seal therebetween; and wherein said step of curing the liquid rubber compound includes hardening the liquid rubber to a final specified durometer, and further including the step of forming the connector from a resilient rubber material having a durometer measure generally equal to the specified durometer of the cured liquid rubber compound.