Rod end made of thermoplastic fiber-reinforced plastic
AssigneeAlbany Engineered Composites, Inc.
InventorVolker Schimmelpfennig
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention achieves a high mechanical load capacity of a rod end by means of a component loop that passes around a bearing, where the component may be made of continuous-fiber reinforced composite material with thermoplastic matrix and where the continuous-fiber reinforced composite material with thermoplastic matrix may extend into a threaded stem of the rod end, and the component made of continuous-fiber reinforced composite material with thermoplastic matrix may be enclosed by short-fiber reinforced, long-fiber reinforced, or unreinforced thermoplastic. The threaded stem can be implemented with an external or an internal thread.
Claims17
A rod end comprising a bearing, wherein the bearing is at least partially enclosed by a component comprising a first plastic, wherein the first plastic is a fiber-reinforced first plastic that extends, at least partially, in the form of a loop around the bearing, wherein the fiber-reinforced first plastic forming the loop around the bearing extends at least partially into a threaded stem, wherein a ring encircles at least a portion of the fiber-reinforced first plastic in the threaded stem, wherein the ring is a continuous-fiber reinforced ring, and wherein the bearing, component, and/or ring is at least partially enclosed by a second plastic.
A rod end comprising a bearing, wherein the bearing is at least partially enclosed by a component comprising a first plastic, wherein the first plastic is a fiber-reinforced first plastic that extends, at least partially, in the form of a loop around the bearing, wherein the fiber-reinforced first plastic forming the loop around the bearing extends at least partially into a threaded stem, wherein the component comprising the first plastic is at least partially enclosed by a second plastic, and wherein the first plastic is complementary to a shape of the second plastic in the threaded stem such that the first and second plastics fit and lock into one another in the threaded stem.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.