Composite connectors and methods of manufacturing the same
AssigneeCrompton Technology Group Limited
InventorsIoannis GIANNAKOPOULOS, Will POLLITT, James William BERNARD, Alexander D. TAYLOR, Daniel O. URSENBACH
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing a composite (e.g. fibre-reinforced polymer) connector comprises: manufacturing a tubular hub portion which extends substantially parallel to a central axis C, the hub portion comprising a thermoplastic polymer reinforced with continuous, circumferentially-oriented fibre reinforcement; placing the hub portion into a mould featuring at least one cavity; and introducing polymer into the mould so as to fill the at least one cavity to form a flange portion around the hub portion.
Claims14
A method of manufacturing a composite connector for a fluid transfer conduit, the method comprising:
- manufacturing a tubular hub portion which extends substantially parallel to a central axis, the hub portion comprising a thermoplastic polymer reinforced with continuous, circumferentially-oriented fibre reinforcement;
- placing the hub portion into a mould featuring at least one cavity;
- and
- introducing polymer into the mould so as to fill the at least one cavity to form a flange portion around the hub portion.
The method of manufacturing as claimed in 1, further comprising manufacturing a plurality of composite connectors for fluid transfer conduits, wherein the method comprises:
- manufacturing a plurality of common tubular hub portions;
- and
- placing the plurality of hub portions into a plurality of different moulds to form a respective plurality of different flange portions around the plurality of hub portions, so as to form a plurality of composite connectors with different flange portions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.