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US 6,912,929 B2Granted
Multi-piece crankshaft construction
AssigneePanther Machine, Inc.
InventorDonald G. Leith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A multi-piece crankshaft having a shaft with two ends and in which the shaft is adapted to rotate about its shaft axis and a crankpin with at least one indentation. The shaft and crankpin are placed within a mold having a first mold cavity corresponding in shape to the desired counterweight and the other end of the shaft is positioned within a second mold cavity corresponding in shape to a flywheel taper support for the crankshaft. The counterweight and flywheel taper support are then both formed by simultaneously casting a liquid material, such as zinc, into both the first and second mold cavities.
Claims9
A crankshaft comprising:
- a shaft solid in cross section and having two ends and an axis, said shaft adapted to rotate about said shaft axis,
- a counterweight secured to one end of said shaft,
- a portion of said shaft adjacent the other end of said shaft having at least one indentation,
- a crankpin solid in cross section secured to said counterweight so that an axis of said crankpin is parallel to and radially spaced from said shaft axis,
- a flywheel support taper coaxially attached to said shaft adjacent the other end of said shaft and around said at least one indentation, said flywheel support taper being formed by casting a liquid thermosetting material around said portion of said shaft,
- wherein said liquid material fills said at least one indentation and, upon hardening, locks said flywheel support taper to said shaft against both axial and rotational movement.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.