Apparatus for machining splines on a tubular member
AssigneeMacTaggart Scott (Holdings) Limited
InventorCharles M. Bennett
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus for machining splines on the internal surface of a tubular member comprising cutter means for forming the splines on the internal surface; a carrier for the tubular member for enabling the tubular member to be moved in an axial direction relative to the cutter means; and means for angularly indexing the cutter means relative to the tubular member whereby splines at angularly predetermined intervals can be provided around the interval circumference of the tubular member.
Claims7
Apparatus for machining splines on an internal surface of an elongated tubular member having a bore;
- said apparatus comprising elongated cutter means for forming the splines on said internal surface;
- a carrier for said tubular member;
- carriage means for effecting relative axial movement between the tubular member and the cutter means, said cutter means comprising a drivable cutter head and a radial indexing flange operatively connected to said cutter adjacent that end of the cutter means remote from the cutter head;
- angular indexing means for effecting angular indexing of the indexing flange and associated cutter head relative to the tubular member whereby splines can be provided at a plurality of predetermined, angular intervals around the internal circumference of the tubular member, said splines extending over at least a substantial portion of the length of said member;
- and stabilizing means carried by said cutter means and adapted to be radially expanded into engagement with the inner surface of the tubular member being machined in order to rigidify the cutter means during a cutting operation.
A method of machining splines on the internal surface of an elongated tubular member comprising locating spline-forming cutter means incorporating a cutter head for movement relative to the tubular member to machine splines on said internal surface, and indexing the cutter head by means of a radial indexing flange connected to said cutter head at that end of the cutter means remote from the cutter head whereby the cutter head can be indexed angularly at predetermined intervals after each pass so as to produce splines around the internal circumference of the tubular member and stabilizing the cutter means against the tubular member during a cutting operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.