A composite transmission shaft includes a shaft portion, and a flanged end fitting. The flanged end fitting comprises a flared sleeve comprising a tubular portion and a flared portion, and a reinforcement portion fixed to the flared portion of the sleeve. The flanged end fitting and shaft portion have been resin transfer moulded together to form the transmission shaft.

A holding jig for a glass former and a method for shaping an end of a breathing tube are described. The holding jig includes a glass former having an interior shaping cavity for receiving the end of the breathing tube. The holding jig also includes a floating balance plate that abuts the glass former. A base plate has a seat recess for receiving the balance plate, and a tube hole for receiving the breathing tube. A grip plate is releasably secured to the base plate, and includes a grip hole sized to receive a portion of the glass former. An adjustment plug is used to selectively position the balance plate within the seat recess to align a longitudinal axis of the glass former with a longitudinal axis of the tube hole of the base plate.

The high straightness arrow in the present invention is designed to improve the straightness of the archery arrow by adopting new manufacturing technique and method. Chamber and post are made of dissimilar metals and the chamber includes a wall that creates an external housing and defines an internal airspace. Once the post with shaft is positioned through chamber, nuts are tightened securely, forming an assembly, to straighten post. Due to the different coefficients of thermal expansion of chamber and post, when they are heated simultaneously, the chamber expands more than the post, creating a natural tension along post which results in a near perfectly straight shaft. As the assembly cools, the post and chamber return to their original length, yet the shaft retains its straightened form and thus this manufacturing process yields an arrow shaft that is straighter than shafts made of the same materials but with a traditional manufacturing technique.

A method of manufacturing a composite (e.g. fibre-reinforced polymer) connector for a fluid transfer conduit comprises: providing a tubular mandrel which extends substantially parallel to a central axis C; winding continuous fibre reinforcement, impregnated with a thermosetting polymer, around the mandrel to form a tubular hub portion which extends substantially parallel to the central axis C; curing the hub portion; 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.

A method of manufacturing a composite (e.g. fibre-reinforced polymer) connector for a fluid transfer conduit comprises: providing a tubular mandrel which extends substantially parallel to a central axis C; winding continuous fibre reinforcement, impregnated with a thermosetting polymer, around the mandrel to form a tubular hub portion which extends substantially parallel to the central axis C; curing the hub portion; 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.

A method of manufacturing a composite (e.g. fibre-reinforced polymer) connector for a fluid transfer conduit comprises: providing a tubular mandrel which extends substantially parallel to a central axis C; winding continuous fibre reinforcement, impregnated with a thermosetting polymer, around the mandrel to form a tubular hub portion which extends substantially parallel to the central axis C; curing the hub portion; 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.

A method of manufacturing a composite (e.g. fibre-reinforced polymer) connector for a fluid transfer conduit comprises: providing a tubular mandrel which extends substantially parallel to a central axis C; winding continuous fibre reinforcement, impregnated with a thermosetting polymer, around the mandrel to form a tubular hub portion which extends substantially parallel to the central axis C; curing the hub portion; 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.

Die sets and tools using such die sets, are described which promote axial alignment of the dies during die closure. In addition, jaw sets for tools are described that promote axial alignment of the jaws during die closure. Also described are related methods using the die sets and/or tools with such die sets.

A method and apparatus for forming at least one external annular flange (48 or 49) adjacent one end of a fiber reinforced thermoplastic tube (10) in which the tube (10) is mounted on a mandrel (12) and a first end portion of the tube is clamped in a collar (13) having at least one internal annular cavity (18 or 19) for forming a flange, a second end portion of the tube in the region (R1, R2) of the cavity is heated to soften the thermoplastic, and an axial load (L) is applied to the end of the tube by a piston (24) causing the softened tube to flow into the cavity (18, 19) in the collar (13) to form a flange on the tube.

A method and apparatus for forming at least one external annular flange (48 or 49) adjacent one end of a fiber reinforced thermoplastic tube (10) in which the tube (10) is mounted on a mandrel (12) and a first end portion of the tube is clamped in a collar (13) having at least one internal annular cavity (18 or 19) for forming a flange, a second end portion of the tube in the region (R1, R2) of the cavity is heated to soften the thermoplastic, and an axial load (L) is applied to the end of the tube by a piston (24) causing the softened tube to flow into the cavity (18, 19) in the collar (13) to form a flange on the tube.