the gasket shown in fig1 through 3 is a flat gasket which is placed between two surfaces which must be clamped and sealed together . such a gasket may be placed between the cylinder head and the casing of an engine . the gasket is particularly suitable for engines , transmissions , gear box sumps , intake elbows , and similar applications . the gasket comprises a core 1 of the thinnest cross - section possible , to which overlay 2 is applied on one side and overlay 2 &# 39 ; to the other . as shown in fig1 core 1 is in the form of a frame and is punched out of metal sheet having a thickness of a few tenths of a millimeter . the core has a large opening 3 in its center . one side of the frame consists of an approximately semi - circular frame section 4 which is joined to adjacent sides of frame 6 and 7 by means of two transition sections , respectively numbered 5 and 5 &# 39 ;, whose forms are quarter circles with their curves opposite to the curve of section 4 . core 1 may , in other embodiments , be comprised of synthetic incompressible material such as glass or even compressible materials such as rubber / asbestos , paper or pure asbestos . fastening holes 8 through 11 allow the gasket to be properly located and fastened between the surfaces to be sealed . as mentioned , core 1 has overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ; on its front and rear sides , comprised of elastomer . the overlays are fashioned in the form of a mesh or lattice as shown in fig3 . the mesh grid can assume any geometric form including polygonal , circular , ovoid or circular . mesh - like overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ; are applied over the entire core 1 , with particular attention given to critical sealing points , using the screen printing method . in the figured embodiment , the entire front and rear sides of core 1 are covered by overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ;. the overlays could also be placed on only one side of core 1 , or on only a part of each side of core 1 , as may be desired . using screen printing techniques , it is easy to modify and adapt the mesh - like covering of core 1 in numerous different ways so that even within the same overlay , the mesh &# 39 ; s structure and pattern can be changed to adapt to varying requirements . fig2 and 3 show mesh opening 12 and mesh bars 13 which make up overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ;. the amount of deformation of individual areas within the flat gasket can be adapted to the requirements existing within the gasket by proper choice of mesh shape , size and the ratio of the surface area of the mesh bars 13 to the surface area of the mesh opening 12 . a large amount of deformation and resilience for core 1 is ensured by mesh overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ;. in the figured embodiment , mesh bars 13 define an equal - sided hexagonal mesh opening 12 . the mesh shape of overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ; also provides a type of labyrinth effect , whereby small defects in individual bars 13 do not result in leakages , as the bars adjacent to the defective bar are unlikely to also be defective . a flat gasket of this type can be used in locations where hitherto only gaskets for liquids could be used . in the illustrated embodiment , the ability of the overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ; to deform may be reduced by keeping the surface area of core 1 covered by mesh opening 12 smaller than the surface area of core 1 covered by mesh bars 13 . conversely , the ability of overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ; to deform may be increased by keeping the surface area of core 1 covered by mesh bars 13 smaller than the surface area of core 1 covered by mesh openings 12 . the elastomeric material ( e . g . silicone or polyurethane ) comprising the mesh is processed by the manufacturer so as to be suitable for screen printing . the thickness of overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ; as determined by bars 13 may be only a few micrometers , for example , up to 0 . 3 mm . the figured gaskets use a bar height of 0 . 06 mm . at critical sealing points , for example curved section 4 , additional sealing reinforcements 14 may be provided , which , when the screen printing method is used , may be a bead of material in which one and / or the other overlay 2 and 2 &# 39 ; is embedded . reinforcements 14 likewise consists of elastomeric materials such as silicone . in a preferred embodiment , reinforcements 14 and overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ; are comprised of the same material and are applied in one operation . in the figured embodiment , reinforcement 14 extends in a curved manner substantially over the length of section 4 symmetrically with respect to the gasket &# 39 ; s central axis . here reinforcement 14 is continuous and projects a certain amount above overlay 2 . it extends over a plurality of mesh openings 12 within section 4 and covers the openings even in the transverse direction . the thickness and width of reinforcement 14 may be varied according to the sealing requirements . the thicker the reinforcement , the wider its width can be . thus the sealing contact force of reinforcement 14 can be easily adjusted by varying its height . reinforcements are applied wherever an increased ability to deform and consequent &# 34 ; tighter &# 34 ; sealing is a requirement . with screen printing techniques , individually tailored reinforcements can still be applied to core 1 in a single operation along with overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ;. the use of mesh honeycombs in overlays 2 and 2 &# 39 ; allows a sealing effect similar to that of an o - ring seal . the desired amount of gasket deformation can be adjusted by using the fact that mesh bars 13 may yield laterally into mesh openings 12 under contact pressure . for example , in a region of the gasket in which the contact pressure are higher , the mesh openings can be kept larger than in the other areas of the gasket . as many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims .