Flexitallic Investments Incorporated

Stephen Woolfenden

Stephen Peter Bond

Anthony Russell Currie

Dean John Kirby

John Robert Hoyes

Neal Skipper

David Anthony Thomas

Richard Rodgers

Henry Vincent Dunn

Richard Rogers

John Hoyes

A water resistant sealing material suitable as a gasket or valve seal is described. The sealing material comprises modified chemically exfoliated vermiculite (CEV) in a proportion of 30-70% w/w sealing material and a filler in a proportion of 70-30% w/w sealing material, and optionally other additives in a proportion of 0-10% w/w sealing material. The modified CEV comprises water resistance enhancing monovalent cations. The sealing material is particularly useful to provide improved water resistance in gaskets and valve seals.

Sealing material

A gasket material comprising a fibre component, a rubber component and a further resilient material is described. The further resilient material comprises chemically exfoliated vermiculite (CEV). A novel process of production is also described. The product has high stress retention and excellent sealing performance at high temperatures. Preferably, the gas permeability of the gasket material is less than 1.0 ml/min and the hot creep of the gasket material is less than 15%.

Gasket material and its process of production

A method for fluidly sealing two conduits having mating surfaces is described. The method includes positioning a gasket between the surfaces, securing the two conduits together with the gasket interposed between the mating surfaces wherein the gasket includes an outer seal with a first thickness and an inner seal with a thickness greater than that of the outer seal. The step of positioning and/or the step of securing includes compressing the thickness of the inner seal. Methods of making the gaskets are also disclosed.

Gasket

Gaskets for sealing two mating surfaces are described. The gaskets have an outer portion including a core between two sealing layers and an inner portion made of a deformable material and located in an aperature in the outer portion. The thickness of the inner portion is greater than the thickness of the outer portion. The inner portion may include a chemical treatment agent that can provide chemical protection to the mating surfaces. Methods of producing the gaskets and methods of using the gaskets for sealing joints, including corroded joints, are also described.

The gasket includes a sealing strip comprising a resilient material, the resilient material comprising a chemically exfoliated vermiculite (CEV) component in a proportion of at least 25% w/w of the sealing strip, the said CEV component being at least partially derived from dry CEV, wherein the sealing strip does not include a carrier strip, made by the process of the application of a wet sealing strip material to a forming sheet to form a layer; partially drying the wet sealing strip layer on the forming sheet; removing the layer from the forming sheet; and (d) cutting the layer into strips suitable for use in the formation of a spirally wound gasket.

Gaskets

Flange joint sealing gasket

Flange joint sealing gasket with a handle

Gasket with a handle

The invention is concerned with gasket sealing foils having a sealing layer with enhanced properties which is based upon chemically exfoliated vermiculite. The method of producing a sealing foil for gaskets is described. The method comprises the steps of: (a) the application of a wet sealing foil material to a forming sheet to form a layer, (b) partially drying the said wet sealing foil layer on the forming sheet; (c) removing the said layer from the forming sheet to form a core free gasket sealing foil; and (d) forming, preferably cutting, the layer into at least one suitable shape for use in the formation of a gasket The sealing foil comprises a resilient material, which comprises a CEV component in a proportion of at least 25% w/w of the sealing foil, the CEV component being at least partially derived from dry CEV. The sealing foil layer may be combined with a gasket support layer prior to or after the cutting step.

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Rochdale, United Kingdom

Stephen Woolfenden