Sealing gasket for electrochemical cells

Claim 1

In a sealed miniature cell comprising a container having a base, upright sidewall and an open end; an electrolyte, a cathode, an anode and a separator being disposed within said container and wherein said separator electrically insulates said cathode from said anode; a cell cover disposed and secured at the open end of said container with a sealing gasket between said container and said cover; the improvement wherein the cross-sectional area of the gasket in the plane containing the center axis of said sealing gasket and perpendicular to the base of said sealing gasket has a uniform cross-section and wherein said sealing gasket comprises a substantially upright annular sidewall having an inner surface, an outer surface, a top surface and an inwardly disposed flange at the base of said sidewall, said sidewall having a non-uniform thickness wherein said inner surface is linearly tapered above the intersection of said inner surface and said flange such that the bottom width of said sidewall is larger than the top width of said sidewall; an upper portion of said sealing gasket and container sidewall being crimped such that said upper portion of said sealing gasket is compressed between the peripheral edge of said cell cover and said upper portion of said container sidewall such that the uppermost bent over portion of said container sidewall is substantially parallel to said container base, and said uppermost bent over portion being disposed below the top surface of said cell cover.