Patent ID: 7644962

Claim:
A universal attachment flange adapted to connect to an attachment flange receiving connection, said universal attachment flange comprising: a body defining a pair of spaced apart faces, one of said faces adapted to be secured to the attachment flange receiving connection in face-to-face relation, a pattern of through holes extending completely through said body between said faces, said pattern comprising a combination of through holes configured to align with a plurality of different hole patterns presented by various attachment flange receiving connections wherein said pattern on said body is configured to align with and permit passage therethrough of bolts inserted into bolt holes presented by hole patterns located on any one of three bolt circles, a radially outer bolt circle, a middle bolt circle and a radially inner bolt circle, and wherein said pattern on said body is configured to align with sets of four (4) bolt holes in an attachment flange receiving connection which are located ninety degrees (90°) apart on any one of said bolt circles, and wherein said hole pattern on said body includes oblong holes having semi-circular end surfaces defined by a radius R, wherein the dimension twice R is greater than the diameter of the bolts used to secure the universal attachment flange to an attachment flange receiving connection.