Gasket having centering features

A gasket, comprising a sealing portion having two opposing, substantially flat sealing surfaces for placement between respective ends of two pipes so as to form a seal therebetween, and a centering portion disposed at a predetermined position in relation to said sealing portion and extending generally perpendicular to said sealing surfaces so as to engage the pipe ends when the gasket is placed therebetween and thereby align the gasket and the pipe ends along a common central axis, wherein said centering portion is switchable to a flush configuration of the gasket.

A gasket, comprising a sealing portion having two opposing, substantially flat sealing surfaces for placement between respective ends of two pipes so as to form a seal therebetween, and a centering portion disposed at a predetermined position in relation to said sealing portion and extending generally perpendicular to said sealing surfaces so as to engage the pipe ends when the gasket is placed therebetween and thereby align the gasket and the pipe ends along a common central axis, wherein the respective ends of said pipes include respective pipe flanges, wherein said centering portion is switchable to a flush configuration of the gasket.

A gasket, comprising a sealing portion having two opposing sides for placement between respective ends of two pipes, and a centering portion disposed at a predetermined position in relation to said sealing portion and extending in a direction generally perpendicular to at least one of said sides so as to engage at least one of the pipe ends when the gasket is placed therebetween and thereby align the gasket and the pipe ends along a common central axis, said centering portion being formed integrally with the gasket, the width of the centering portion being substantially less than the width of the sealing portion at the location where the centering portion joins the sealing portion, to facilitate removal of the centering portion from the gasket without corrupting the integrity of the sealing portion.

A gasket, comprising a radially extending, annular sealing portion having two opposing, substantially flat sealing surfaces defining a first width of the gasket for placement between respective ends of two pipes so as to form a seal, a second annular region of reduced width relative to said first width attached to said sealing portion at a radially outwardmost periphery thereof, said second annular region supporting at least one centering portion disposed at a predetermined position in relation to said sealing portion and extending generally perpendicular to said sealing surfaces so as to engage the pipe ends when said gasket is placed therebetween and thereby align the gasket and the pipe ends along a common central axis.