Gasket Formed from Various Material

Abstract

A gasket for creating a seal between two surfaces. The gasket may include a pervious base sheet and a permeating material applied to or incorporated into the base sheet. The gasket is formed by various methods disclosed herein. The gasket may include a base sheet, a primary sealing material covering the base sheet, and a secondary sealing material covering the primary sealing material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of the gasket of FIG. 1A taken along a plane including line 2-2;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of still another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 7A is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 7B is a schematic representation of the gasket segment of FIG. 7A after compression;

FIG. 8A is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of a further exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 8B is a schematic representation of the gasket segment of FIG. 8A after compression;

FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 9A is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 9B is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 10 depicts an enlarged portion of a plan view of the gasket of FIG. 9A;

FIG. 11 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 11A is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention; and

FIG. 15 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a segment of yet another exemplary gasket according to various aspects of the invention.

Claims

1. A gasket having an upper face and a lower face, the gasket comprising: a base sheet, the base sheet comprising a pervious material having interstitial spaces therein; anda permeating material at least partially covering the base sheet and at least partially filling the interstitial spaces, the permeating material comprising a polymer material and having an upper patterned surface on the upper face of the gasket and a lower patterned surface on the lower face of the gasket.

2. The gasket of claim 1 wherein the upper and lower patterned surfaces are contoured surfaces each comprising intersecting projections and recesses respectively between the intersecting projections.

3. The gasket of claim 2 wherein the contoured surfaces comprise substantially all of the surface area of the respective upper face and lower face.

4. The gasket of claim 3 wherein the intersecting projections and recesses comprise a grid pattern on each of the upper face and the lower face.

5. The gasket of claim 2 wherein the base sheet is a mesh material having parallel first elements and transversely extending second elements, the interstitial spaces being respectively between the intersecting first and second elements.

6. The gasket of claim 5 wherein the projections on the upper face project away from an upper surface of the first and second elements and the projections on the lower face project away from a lower surface on the first and second elements.

7. The gasket of claim 1 further comprising an embossment comprising an indentation in the upper face and a projection in the lower face.

8. The gasket of claim 1 wherein the permeating material comprises polyacrylate rubber (ACM).

9. The gasket of claim 1 wherein the permeating material comprises fluoroelastomer.

10. A gasket having an upper face and a lower face, the gasket comprising: a base sheet;a primary sealing material for providing a bulk seal of the gasket, the primary sealing material at least partially covering the base sheet; anda secondary sealing material at least partially covering the primary sealing material for providing an interfacial seal of the gasket.

11. The gasket of claim 10 wherein the base sheet comprises a pervious material having interstitial spaces and the primary sealing material at least partially fills the interstitial spaces.

12. The gasket of claim 10 wherein the primary sealing material comprises a first polymeric coating and the secondary sealing material comprises a second polymeric coating.

13. The gasket of claim 11 wherein the primary sealing material covers substantially all of the base sheet and the secondary sealing material covers substantially all of the primary sealing material.

14. The gasket of claim 11 wherein the gasket has an opening at least partially defined by an edge of the gasket and the secondary sealing material comprises at least one edge sealing projection that covers the primary sealing material adjacent the opening.

15. The gasket of claim 14 wherein the edge sealing projection substantially covers the edge of the gasket.

16. The gasket of claim 14 wherein the edge sealing projection is spaced inward from the edge of the gasket.

17. The gasket of claim 14 wherein the edge sealing projecting project above the base sheet at the upper face of the gasket.

18. The gasket of claim 17 wherein the edge sealing projection project below the base sheet at the lower face of the gasket.

19. The gasket of claim 14 further comprising an embossment comprising an indentation in the upper face and a projection in the lower face.

20. The gasket of claim 10 further comprising an embossment comprising an indentation in the upper face and a projection in the lower face, the secondary sealing material comprising a coating covering the primary sealing coating in the indentation.

21. The gasket of claim 10 wherein the upper and lower faces comprise respective patterned surfaces each comprising intersecting projections and recesses respectively between the intersecting projections.

22. The gasket of claim 21 wherein the contoured surfaces comprise substantially all of the surface area of the respective upper face and lower face.

23. The gasket of claim 22 wherein the intersecting projections and recesses comprise a grid pattern on each of the upper face and the lower face.

24. The gasket of claim 10 wherein the base sheet is a mesh material having parallel first elements and transversely extending second elements, the interstitial spaces being respectively between the intersecting first and second elements.

25. The gasket of claim 11 wherein the first polymeric coating is a relatively hard polymer and the second polymer is a relatively soft polymer.

26. The gasket of claim 11 wherein the first polymeric coating is a fluoroelastomer.

27. The gasket of claim 26 wherein the second polymeric coating is a polyacrylate (ACM).

28. The gasket of claim 26 wherein the second polymeric coating is a fluroelastomer.

29. The gasket of claim 25 wherein the first polymeric coating is a polyacrylate (ACM).

30. The gasket of claim 29 wherein the second polymeric coating is a fluoroelastomer.

31. The gasket of claim 29 wherein the second polymeric coating is a polyacrylate (ACM).

32. A method of forming a gasket having an upper face and a lower face, the method comprising: providing a base sheet having interstitial spaces;at least partially covering the base sheet with a permeating material and at least partially filling the interstitial spaces,forming an upper patterned surface on the upper face of the gasket; andforming a lower patterned surface on the lower face of the gasket.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the upper and lower patterned surfaces are contoured surfaces each comprising intersecting projections and recesses respectively between the intersecting projections.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the upper and lower patterned surfaces are formed on substantially all of the surface area of the respective upper face and lower face.

35. The method of claim 33 wherein the intersecting projections and recesses comprises a grid pattern formed on each of the upper face and the lower face.

36. The method of claim 32 wherein the base sheet is a mesh material having parallel first elements and transversely extending second elements, the interstitial spaces being respectively between the intersecting first and second elements.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein covering the base sheet comprises dipping the base sheet in a polymeric coating.

38. The method of claim 36 wherein covering the base sheet comprises spraying the base sheet with a polymeric coating.

39. The method of claim 32 further comprising forming an embossment including an indentation in the upper face and a projection in the lower face.

40. A method of forming a gasket having an opening, an upper face, and a lower face, the method comprising: providing a base sheet;at least partially covering the base sheet with a primary sealing material, the primary sealing material being for providing a bulk seal of the gasket;at least partially covering the primary sealing material with a secondary sealing material, the secondary sealing material being for providing an interfacial seal of the gasket.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein the base sheet has interstitial spaces and the at least partially covering the base sheet comprises at least partially filling the interstitial spaces therein

42. The method of claim 40 wherein the primary sealing material comprises a first polymeric coating and the secondary sealing material comprises a second polymeric coating.

43. The method of claim 41 wherein the first polymeric coating covers substantially all of the base sheet and the second polymer coating covers substantially all of the first polymeric coating.

44. The method of claim 40 further comprising cutting the base sheet to create the opening.

45. The method of claim 40 wherein the gasket has an edge margin adjacent the opening and the method further comprises forming at least one edge sealing projection from the secondary sealing material that covers the primary sealing material at the edge margin.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the edge sealing projection project above the base sheet at the upper face of the gasket.

47. The method of claim 45 wherein the edge sealing projection project below the base sheet at the lower face of the gasket.

48. The method of claim 45 further comprising forming an embossment in the gasket comprising an indentation in the upper face and a projection in the lower face.

49. The method of claim 45 wherein the secondary sealing material substantially fills the indentation.

50. The method of claim 40 further comprising forming an upper patterned surface on the upper face and forming a lowered patterned surface on the lower face.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein forming the upper and lower patterned surfaces comprising press-forming the secondary sealing material on the upper and lower face of the gasket into respective grid patterns.

52. The method of claim 50 wherein forming the upper and lower patterned surfaces comprises spraying the secondary sealing material onto the primary sealing material.

53. The method of claim 50 wherein forming the upper and lower patterned surfaces comprises printing the secondary sealing material onto the primary sealing material.

54. The method of claim 40 wherein at least partially covering the base sheet comprises at least one of spraying, dipping, printing, and jetting the primary sealing material onto the base sheet.

55. The method of claim 40 wherein the at least partially covering the primary sealing material comprises at least one of spraying, dipping, printing, and jetting the secondary sealing material onto the primary sealing material.

56. A gasket comprising: a base sheet formed of a mesh material;a coating of polymeric material on the based sheet, the coating being configured in a pattern defined by raised portions and lowered portions.

57. The gasket of claim 56 wherein the mesh material comprises a screen.

58. The gasket of claim 57 wherein the screen is formed of intersecting metal strands.

59. The gasket of claim 56 wherein the base sheet has first and second faces and the coating is configured in a pattern on at least one of the faces.

60. The gasket of claim 56 wherein the raised portions and lowered portions extend across substantially all of the surface area of the gasket.

61. The gasket comprising: a wire mesh base sheet having first and second faces;a coating of polymeric material on the base sheet, the coating being formed into a predetermined pattern on at least one face of the base sheet.

62. The gasket of claim 61 wherein the predetermined pattern extends across substantially all of the surface area of the at least one face.

63. The gasket of claim 61 wherein the base sheet comprises an embossment comprising an indentation in the first face and a projection in the second face.

64. The gasket of claim 63 wherein the coating comprises polymeric material at least partially covering the first face and at least partially filling the indentation.