Flat gasket

Flat gasket for sealing a sealing gap between sealing surfaces of machine components, said sealing surfaces being pressable against said flat gasket, said flat gasket comprising a gasket plate formed by at least a first sheet metal layer and a second sheet metal layer and defining a plane of said gasket plate, said gasket plate being provided with at least one elastomeric sealing element in a gasket plate area serving to seal a sealing gap area in which said sealing surfaces result in a locally varying sealing surface pressure at the flat gasket, said sealing element being applied onto the first sheet metal layer and, in a mounted state of the flat gasket, extending through a first cutout in the second sheet metal layer forming a first main surface of the gasket plate as far as the sealing surface adjacent to the second sheet metal layer, said second sheet metal layer having a surface contour at said first main surface of the gasket plate, and in an unmounted, unpressed state of the flat gasket, said surface contour defining at said first main surface of the gasket plate a plane of a maximum level of said surface contour parallel to said plane of the gasket plate, having the combination of the following features:

• a) the sealing element consists of a material applied onto said first sheet metal layer, said material being an elastomeric material curable in situ;
• (b) in the area of said sealing element, said first sheet metal layer is provided with a second cutout for entry of the sealing element material into said second cutout;
• (c) the material of the sealing element is initially capable of undergoing plastic deformation at least at operating temperature of the machine components and the flat gasket;
• (d) the gasket plate and the sealing element are so designed that in the unmounted, unpressed state of the flat gasket, the sealing element extends at the most as far as said plane of the maximum level.