A length-adjustable steering shaft for a motor vehicle may include a hollow outer shaft with an unround inner cross section, in which an inner shaft is received in a torque-locked and axially movable manner. A profiled sleeve may be arranged between the inner shaft and the outer shaft, and the profiled sleeve may have a fastening portion connected to the inner shaft. The inner shaft may be configured at least in part as a hollow shaft that has an interior that is open towards the end that is inserted into the outer shaft. To reduce the outlay in terms of production and assembly, the fastening portion may extend from the end into the interior of the inner shaft and is connected to an inner surface of the interior.

The present invention discloses a system and a method for manufacturing fittings and connections for biaxially-oriented plastic tubes in an integral way from straight preformed tubes, with the possibility of adjusting and distributing the thicknesses as well as adjusting the specific stretching in the different areas of the fittings, allowing them to be reinforced or optimized during the method itself and without causing an increase in the production time or an increase in the raw material used, such that it allows for the manufacture of fittings of different geometric shapes (curves, tapers, couplers, branches, etc.)

Methods and structures are disclosed. An example method includes: rotating a tubular mandrel about a longitudinal axis of the tubular mandrel; depositing a composite material on an inner surface of the tubular mandrel to form a composite tubular member on the inner surface of the tubular mandrel; inserting and expanding an inner expandable mandrel within the composite tubular member to cause the inner expandable mandrel to press the composite tubular member against the inner surface of the tubular mandrel; curing the composite tubular member; removing the inner expandable mandrel; placing a frame within the composite tubular member; and removing the tubular mandrel so as to obtain the composite tubular member with the frame placed therein.

An expansion tool includes a housing, a motor supported within the housing, a mandrel, and a drive mechanism configured to convert a rotational input from the motor into translational movement of the mandrel. The drive mechanism includes a cam and a drive shaft coupled to the cam. The expansion tool further includes a frame including a hub and a neck extending from the hub and having an opening. A working element is coupled to the neck and has a plurality of jaws movable from a closed position toward an expanded position in response to movement of the mandrel from a retracted position toward an extended position. The mandrel extends through the opening to engage the jaws, and the drive shaft is rotatably supported by the hub.

A method of installing a liner assembly for pipeline repair or reinforcement includes: pulling a prepared liner assembly into position in the pipeline, the liner assembly including a tubular liner wetted with a curable compound; introducing fluid into the inflatable bladder to bring the tubular liner into firm contact with an interior surface of the pipeline; flowing the fluid continuously through the bladder and discharging the fluid into the pipeline, while maintaining the liner assembly in an inflated condition; measuring a flow rate and a temperature of the fluid entering the bladder; calculating a time period sufficient for the tubular liner to cure based on: an amount of heat required for curing, based on dimensional information of the liner, and the measured flow rate and temperature of the fluid; and maintaining the liner assembly in an inflated condition for the time period sufficient for the tubular liner to cure.

An extruder for multi-lumen tubular products with multi-coronal arrangement comprises a main body (2) defining a passage cavity (2a) and an average outflow direction (2b), as well as an input surface (3) and an exit surface (4) respectively formed on opposite faces of the main body (2) and defining respective entry areas afferent to and efferent from the passage cavity (2a); the extruder further comprises an expansion portion (4a) associated with the exit surface (4) and adapted to mutually orient spontaneous expansive flows of said extrusion material through the exit surface (4) in reciprocal directions of mutual intersection.

Described are novel composite structural panels and methods of forming such panels. In some examples, a method comprises wrapping a mandrel with a composite tape to form a composite tube. This wrapping operation allows forming composite tubular structures with any cross-sectional profiles defined by the mandrel. The wrapping is also used to control the fiber orientations in the composite tubular structures. The composite tube is then cut into composite tubular structures. In some examples, the composite tube is partially cured prior to the cutting, which allows removal of the mandrel while preserving the shape of the composite tube. This cutting operation allows forming composite tubular structures with different lengths, shapes, and orientations of the ends. The composite tubular structures are disposed on a support structure and are bonded to each other. In some examples, this bonding operation also involves final curing of the composite tubular structures.

A method of manufacturing a liner for reinforcing a pipe includes providing a continuous first reinforcing fibers extending in a first direction, moving the first reinforcing fibers in a machine direction such that the first direction is parallel to the machine direction, providing sheets of a material having second reinforcing fibers extending in a second direction, placing the sheets onto the moving first reinforcing fibers such that the second direction is substantially perpendicular to the first direction, and folding the sheets into a closed shape.

A fiber reinforced polymer composite pipe includes first and second ends and defines a central axis running in a longitudinal direction from the first end to the second end, and the pipe including at least one non-linear portion along the central axis between the first end and the second end. A first material extends continuously from the first end to the second end, the first material being a fiber reinforced polymer material comprising fiber reinforcement in a polymer matrix and having an electrical resistivity determined by an electrically conductive fiber reinforcement and/or an electrically conductive additive in the polymer matrix; and a second material arranged at the at least one non-linear portion and extending discontinuously between the first end and the second end, and has an elastic modulus greater than the elastic modulus of the first material in the longitudinal direction.

Various embodiments provide for bistable collapsible tubular mast (Bi-CTM) booms. Various embodiments provide CTM booms that may be bistable in nature, thereby achieving intrinsic benefits bistability may bring. Bistability may be achieved in various embodiments through specific combinations of the thin-shell cross-section geometry and the composite laminate selected for each thin-shell segment. Additionally, in various embodiments, the thin-shell geometry of each boom half may be different. Various embodiments may include combinations of circular, ellipsoidal, or parabolic segments that form each shell.