Sealing gasket with hard interior backbone and integral crush limiters

摘要

A gasket for sealing the connection between a cylinder head and a valve cover. The gasket has a sheet metal backbone having a main body with spaced stations having holes therethrough for cap screws fastening a valve cover to a cylinder head. A finger-like tab extends inwardly from the stations. Each tab has a cap screw hole at the distal end thereof. The tabs are bent back over the main body so as to be in contact with the spaced stations and with the holes in the tabs and stations in alignment. The backbone has a rubber based material subsequently molded therearound. The result of the folded construction is a double thickness of metal in the areas surrounding the cap screw holes to form positive stops to limit the compression loads applied to the rubber based seal of the gasket by the cap screws when the valve cover is fastened to the cylinder head. The compression loads are thereby limited and the gasket is protected from damage by excessive loads so that effective sealing and long service life is assured.