Press-in place gaskets and fabrication methods

A press-in-place gasket for sealing between two opposed surfaces, at least one of the opposed surfaces having a shaped groove formed therein, the press-in-place gasket comprising:

• an elongate strand of gasket stock having a length and ends, the gasket stock comprising:
• a core of stiff but bendably deformable material configured to readily bend and deform into a bent shape under application of an applied force within a first plane that is co-planar with the length of the elongate strand and maintain the bent shape after release of the applied force, and to resist bending within a second plane that is transverse to the first plane;
• and
• a jacket encasing the core, the jacket comprising a compressible material configured to form a seal when compressed between the two opposed surfaces,
• wherein the gasket stock is configured to maintain a free-standing bent shape after being deformed by bending and releasing the gasket stock within the first plane;
• and
• the ends of the strand being bondable to each other when the strand is bent into a closed configuration form a press-in-place gasket configured for insertion into the shaped groove in the at least one opposed surface.

A method of fabricating a press-in-place gasket for sealing between two opposed surfaces, at least one of the opposed surfaces having a shaped groove formed therein, the method comprising:

• obtaining a linear gasket stock comprising:
• a core of stiff but bendably deformable material configured to readily bend and deform into a bent shape under application of an applied force within a first plane that is co-planar with the length of the gasket stock and maintain the bent shape after release of the applied force, and to resist bending in a second plane that is transverse to the first plane;
• and
• a jacket encasing the core, the jacket comprising a compressible material configured to form a seal when compressed between the two opposed surfaces,
• wherein the gasket stock is configured to maintain a free-standing bent shape after being deformed by bending and releasing the gasket stock within the first plane;
• advancing the gasket stock to a predetermined position within a bending head aligned with the first plane;
• activating the bending head to form a bend in the gasket stock within the first plane at the predetermined position;
• and
• repeating the steps of advancing the gasket stock and activating the bending head to form an additional bend in the gasket stock within the first plane until a desired gasket shape configured for insertion into the shaped groove in the at least one opposed surface is obtained.