Importance

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Abstract

A spiral wound gasket comprises an annulus constituted by a plurality of superposed turns of a profiled metal strip wound upon itself to form a spiral and, interposed between at least some of said superposed turns, a number of turns of a relatively soft sealant material in strip form, the width of said metal strip being selected so that prior to use the wound metal spiral is essentially flush with the surface of an associated guide ring and the width of the strip of relatively soft sealant material being selected so that prior to use, it projects a significant distance on both sides of the gasket from said superposed metal turns axially of said annulus. The preferred relatively soft sealant material is exfoliated graphite foil or a fluorocarbon resin, unsintered PTFE being particularly preferred. The sealant material preferably projects from the metal spiral to define an overall gasket thickness on the order of 25 to 40 percent greater than that of the guide ring.

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First Claim