Patent ID: 6974137

Claim:
Flat exhaust manifold gasket for sealing a sealing gap between sealing surfaces facing one another on machine components that comprise a cylinder head and a flange of an exhaust manifold of an internal combustion engine, said machine components containing several exhaust gas passages opening into exhaust gas ports formed at locations opposite one another in the machine component sealing surfaces, said gasket having a gasket plate which is to be clamped between the machine component sealing surfaces and comprises at least one sheet metal layer having for each pair of said ports located opposite one another on the two machine components an exhaust gas passage opening, associated with which is at least one sealing element of the gasket plate, which encloses the exhaust gas passage opening and is capable of undergoing elastic deformation in a direction perpendicular to the gasket plate, and the gasket plate having adjacent to the exhaust gas passage openings several screw holes for the passage of threaded shafts serving to clamp the flat gasket between the machine component sealing surfaces, wherein the gasket plate has for at least a first one of its exhaust gas passage openings in the area of at least one screw hole adjacent to this exhaust gas passage opening at least one spring element which is subjected to pressure when the gasket is fitted, and is capable of undergoing elastic deformation in both directions perpendicular to the gasket plate, and wherein the gasket plate has for only a single second one of its exhaust gas passage openings adjacent thereto at least one screw hole without such a spring element to thereby prevent at this spring element-free screw hole relative sliding movement of said machine components along the gasket and allow relative sliding movement of said machine components along the gasket at the at least one screw hole associated with said at least one spring element during operation of the internal combustion engine.