Patent ID: 7748716

Claim:
Flat gasket with a gasket plate comprising at least one sheet metal layer and having a plurality of apertures, said plurality of apertures comprising at least one fluid through-opening to be sealed and a plurality of screw through-openings for the passage of screws therethrough for clamping the flat gasket between sealing surfaces of components, said sheet metal layer having at least one supporting element for receiving pressing forces acting on the flat gasket when the flat gasket is installed, and said supporting element comprising at least one non-sealing bead stamped into the sheet metal layer and having a bead crest forming a continuous line, said bead forming with its bead crest, in a plan view of the sheet metal layer, an endless continuous line closed within itself, so that the bead does not have any free bead ends, wherein at least one of said at least one supporting element is located in an area of the gasket plate that is free of any of said apertures so that the at least one bead of said supporting element does not enclose anyone or a group of said apertures, and wherein, in a plan view of the sheet metal layer, said bead has a meandering shape over a major part of the total length of said bead and comprises at least substantially straight bead sections joined to one another by arc sections of said bead.