Patent ID: 7806415

Claim:
A cylinder head gasket comprising an at least substantially metallic gasket plate with at least one sheet steel layer, screw holes for cylinder head screws, at least one combustion chamber through-opening, and a ring-shaped combustion chamber sealing element enclosing the combustion chamber through-opening and comprising an elastic metallic sealing strand having a longitudinal center axis, the combustion chamber sealing element being clamped between two supporting surfaces parallel to the gasket plane defined by the cylinder head gasket when the cylinder head gasket is installed, one of said supporting surfaces being formed at least predominantly by an engine component sealing surface of a cylinder head or of an engine block, the combustion chamber sealing element being shaped and held in the cylinder head gasket so that upon displacement of areas of the supporting surfaces, which are located opposite one another and are pressed against a section of the combustion chamber sealing element, parallel to the gasket plane and relative to one another, the sealing element section is elastically tiltable about the longitudinal center axis of the sealing strand, wherein the combustion chamber sealing element is held in the cylinder head gasket by flexible holding elements each of which has the shape of a web or tongue and which extend transversely outwardly from the combustion chamber sealing element and are at least substantially unpressed when the cylinder head gasket is installed, said holding elements being arranged in spaced relation to one another along the circumference of the combustion chamber sealing element, wherein said combustion chamber sealing element is the only sealing element for said combustion chamber through-opening, and wherein for pressing the combustion chamber sealing element against the engine component sealing surfaces of the cylinder head and engine block, the combustion chamber sealing element includes uncovered surfaces at the two main surfaces of the cylinder head gasket and, in cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal center axis of the sealing strand, is at each of said two main surfaces of such spherical shape there as to result, at the two main surfaces of the cylinder head gasket, in the uncovered surfaces of the combustion chamber sealing element, which are of convex cross section around the combustion chamber through-opening also when the gasket is installed and pressed, and the radius of curvature of which is greater than half the thickness of the combustion chamber sealing element measured perpendicularly to the gasket plane.