The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 20, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 26, 1999
Toray Industries, Inc., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A propeller shaft for automobiles includes a cylindrical main body,made of FRP and joints,that are joined to the ends of this main body by press fitting, the main body,having a main layer,extending over the entire length thereof and including reinforcing fibers helically wound at an angle of ±5˜30° with respect to the axial dimension of the main body, and sub-layers,formed at the ends of the main body so as to be integral with and internally of the main layer,and including hooped reinforcing fibers. Each joint,has a slope,descending toward the joint surface between this joint and the main body,, an erect surface,having an outer diameter not larger than the outer diameter of the sub-layers,and abutting the end surface of the associated sub-layer,, or a wedge,the tip of which is opposed to the interface between the main layer,and the associated sub-layer,. When an axial compressive load is applied to the joints,, the slopes,, the erect surfaces,or the wedges,cause the main layer,and the sub-layers,to be separated from each other to cause rupture of the main body to proceed, thereby enabling the energy absorbing effect due to a crashable body structure to be realized.