Abstract:
A method of providing a flanged component and a flanged component constructed by such method. The method includes providing a shaft, providing a flange with an aperture, passing the aperture of the flange over the shaft and securing the flange to the shaft. The flange may be provided at one end portion of the shaft and a connector may be provided at the other end portion of the shaft to connect the flanged component to another component. The connector may be, for example, an integral flange, a further flange with an aperture or a threaded end portion of the shaft.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is continuation of co-pending International Application No. PCT/GB06/000310 filed Jan. 27, 2006, which application designated the United States, and which application claims priority to Great Britain Patent Application No. 0502164.7, filed Feb. 2, 2005, the disclosure of each of which applications is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to the provision of a flanged component. The flanged component may have a flange, as shown at  1  and  2 , provided on each axial side of an undercut,  3 , to provide a twin flanged component as shown in the cross sectional view of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0003]     The flanges and undercut generally, but not exclusively, have a circular cross-section. At least one of the flanges is provided with holes therethrough as shown by the broken lines such as referenced at  4  in  FIG. 1 . The holes are generally provided around the circular periphery of the flange for bolts to be passed therethrough to connect the flanges to other components. The bolts will generally be secured with nuts. The undercut is required to provide access to allow the nuts and bolts to be fitted.  
         [0004]     The twin flanged component shown in  FIG. 1  is currently manufactured from a single piece of material, preferably by forging to enable the grain flow of the material used to follow the shape of the component and provide the inherent strength the component requires in use. The component can be formed by either closed die forging with a relatively small amount of subsequent machining required to achieve the final shape of the component or by open die forging with a relatively large amount of subsequent machining required to achieve the final shape of the component.  FIG. 2  shows an example of a twin flanged component with an outline on the left hand side showing the shape, as at  5 , that is typically achieved as a result of closed die forging and an outline on the right hand side showing the shape, as at  6 , that is typically achieved as a result of open die forging. As can be seen, only a relatively small amount of machining will be required for the component manufactured by closed die forging in order to achieve the final shape of the component. However, in order to be able to provide a range of different sizes of flange, as will be required by a range of users, a different tooling set has to be provided for each size. This considerably increases costs, for both acquisition and maintenance of the plurality of tooling sets required. A component manufactured by open die forging can be machined to produce a flange of a number of different seizes. However, machining to produce the undercut requires machining across the grain of the component which produces a point of weakness which is liable to fail during use. Furthermore, attempts to forge newer materials can prove troublesome. For example attempts to forge Inconel 625 with large shape changes such as the undercut  3  shown in  FIG. 1  have shown that it is susceptible to cracking.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     According to a first aspect to the present invention, there is provided a method of providing a flanged component, the method comprising 
        providing a shaft;     providing a flange with an aperture;     passing the aperture of the flange over the shaft and     securing the flange to the shaft.        
 
         [0010]     Such a flanged component overcomes or alleviates the problems discussed above, such as the weakness at the undercut of machined open die forged components, the expensive tooling required to be able to provide varieties of sizes of closed die forged components and the possible problems associated with forging materials such as Inconel 625 and others.  
         [0011]     In the present invention, each of the shaft and the flange may be manufactured individually, preferably by the less expensive open die forging to reduce costs as they each have final shapes which are close to those produced by open die forging such that only minimal machining is required.  
         [0012]     Flanges may be any shape and orientation.  
         [0013]     The components can also be formed in such a way as to create an adaptor flange.  
         [0014]     The shaft may have an integral flange such that the attaching of the flange with a central aperture produces a twin or two-flanged component. Even if the flanges are different sizes, a final component may still be termed a twin or two flanged component.  
         [0015]     A flange of any one of a variety of sizes may be secured to the shaft providing considerable flexibility.  
         [0016]     According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a flanged component constructed by the method of the first aspect of the present invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]     An example of the present invention will now be described by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0018]      FIG. 1  shows a cross-sectional view of a twin flanged component in accordance with the prior art;  
         [0019]      FIG. 2  shows an example of a twin flanged component with an outline on the left hand side indicating the shape that is typically achieved as a result of closed die forging and an outline on the right hand side indicating the shape that is typically achieved as a result of open die forging;  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  shows a cross-sectional view of a shaft with an integral flange to be used in a first example of the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 4  shows the shaft of  FIG. 3  with a flange with an aperture fitted over the shaft;  
         [0022]      FIG. 5  shows the shaft of  FIG. 4  with a pair of split rings attached thereto;  
         [0023]      FIG. 6  shows the component of the first example complete with the flange with an aperture secured to the shaft;  
         [0024]      FIG. 7  shows a perspective view of the complete component of the first example;  
         [0025]      FIG. 8  shows a schematic cross-section through a shaft used in a second example of the present invention;  
         [0026]      FIG. 9  shows the shaft of  FIG. 8  with flanges fitted thereto;  
         [0027]      FIG. 10  shows a schematic cross-section through a shaft used in a third example of the present invention; and  
         [0028]      FIG. 11  shows the shaft of  FIG. 10  with a flange attached thereto. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0029]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a shaft  10  with an integral flange  11 . The line  20  shown around the shaft  10  and integral flange  11  shows the shape that is typically achieved by lower cost open die forging of this component. As can be seen, only minimal machining is required to achieve the final shape. The shaft  10  of this example is connected to integral flange  11  by a base portion  12 . A frusto-conical portion  13  interconnects the base portion  12  to a main portion  14  of the shaft. The main portion  14  of this example has an annular groove  15  to accommodate split rings for securing a flange with an aperture (to be described later). It should be noted that the groove and/or split ring do not have to have a square/rectangular section nor does it need to be a pair of split rings or even necessarily a complete ring, it could be just half a ring for example. Above the main portion  14  is an optional arrangement  16  to mate with another component to be joined to the complete double flange and shaft component. The details of the shaft  10  described in this example are optional and any suitable shaft  10  profile will be suitable provided it can be joined to a flange with an aperture.  
         [0030]      FIG. 4  shows the shaft  10  of  FIG. 3  with a flange  30  having a central aperture  31  fitted over the shaft  10 . This flange  30  has a recess  32  on the inside surface of the central aperture  31  to engage with split rings to be described later.  
         [0031]      FIG. 5  shows the shaft  10  with a pair of split rings  40 ,  41  inserted into the annular groove  15 . Instead of the pair of split rings  40 ,  41 , a single or three or more split rings could be provided in the groove  15 . Furthermore it or they do not need to be a complete ring.  
         [0032]      FIG. 6  shows the component complete with the flange  30  slid up the shaft  10  into engagement with and restrained by the split rings  40 ,  41  as is well known by those skilled in the art.  
         [0033]      FIG. 7  shows a perspective view of the complete component. As can be seen, integral flange  11  and flange  30  are each provided with holes  11   a ,  11   b ,  11   c  and  30   a ,  30   b ,  30   c ,  30   d ,  30   e  respectively for connecting means such as bolts to be passed through (not shown) to secure the flanges  11 ,  30  to adjacent components (not shown).  
         [0034]      FIG. 8  shows a schematic cross-section through a shaft  100  to be used in a second example of the present invention. In this example the shaft  100  is provided with two axially spaced annular grooves  110  to accommodate split rings for securing flanges with apertures. The annular grooves  110  and split rings do not need to have a square or rectangular cross-section as shown, but could have any suitable cross-section. Nor do the split rings need to comprise a pair of split rings, but could be any suitable number. The split ring or rings do not even need to be a complete ring.  
         [0035]     Flanges  130  are slid over the end portion(s) of the shaft  100  and temporarily rest on the shaft  100  between annular grooves  110  whilst split rings  140  are fitted into the annular grooves  110  and the flanges  130  are then slid into engagement with the split rings  140  held in annular grooves  110  as shown in  FIG. 9 .  
         [0036]     One or both flanges  130  may be provided with holes (not shown) for connecting means such as bolts to be passed through to secure the flanges  130  to adjacent components (not shown).  
         [0037]     It is often necessary to align the holes of each flange  11 ,  30 ;  130  relative to each other for appropriate relative orientation of the components to which the flanges  11 ,  30 ;  130  are to be attached. This may be achieved by providing corresponding interlocking profiles on the outside surface of the shaft  10 ;  110  and the inside surface of the aperture  31  of the flange  30 ;  130  or the inside surface of the mating components (not shown). For example, a portion of the outside surface of the shaft  10 ;  110  to which the flange  30 ;  130  is secured may be provided with a suitable profile, such as hexagonal, circular with a flat, square or triangular to engage a corresponding profile on the inside surface of the aperture  31  of the flange  30 ;  130 .  
         [0038]      FIG. 10  shows a schematic cross-section through a shaft  200  to be used in a third example of the present invention. In this example the shaft  200  is provided with an annular groove  210  to accommodate one or more split rings for securing a flange with an aperture. The annular groove  210  and one or more split rings do not need to have a square or rectangular cross-section as shown, but could have any suitable cross-section. Nor do the split rings need to comprise a pair of split rings, but could be any suitable number. The split ring or rings do not even need to be a complete ring. One end portion of the shaft  200  is threaded  220  to enable it to be joined via the threads to another component (not shown).  
         [0039]     A flange  230  is slid over an end portion of the shaft  200  and temporarily rests on the shaft  200  whilst one or more split rings  240  are fitted into the annular groove  210  and the flange  230  is then slid into engagement with the split ring  240  held in annular groove  210  as shown in  FIG. 11 .  
         [0040]     The flange  230  may be provided with holes (not shown) for connecting means such as bolts to be passed through to secure the flange  230  to an adjacent component (not shown).  
         [0041]     The flange  30 ;  130 ;  230  may be held in place on the shaft  10 ;  100 ;  200  by any suitable means such as the split rings  40 ,  41 ;  140 ;  240  described above or, for example by engagement with the shaft  10 ;  100 ;  200  in some other suitable manner such as by the provision of one or more restraining means such as bolts to be passed through the flange  30 ;  130 ;  230  and into engagement with the shaft  10 ;  100 ;  200 .  
         [0042]     Many variations may be made to the examples described above without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the shaft  10 ;  100 ;  200 , integral flange  11  and flange  30 ;  130 ;  230  could be made from any suitable material. The profile of the shaft  10 ;  100 ;  200  could be a cylinder or any suitable elongate shape.  
         [0043]     As it is anticipated that certain changes may be made in the present invention without departing from the precepts herein involved, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. All references including any priority documents cited herein are expressly incorporated by reference.