A rotational driving force transmission mechanism includes a cylindrical shaft made of fiber reinforced plastic, and a first constant velocity joint. The shaft is joined to the first constant velocity joint via a metallic intervening member which is attached to one end of the shaft in the axial direction. The intervening member includes a shaft portion and a main body portion. The shaft portion is inserted into the one end of the shaft from a distal end side thereof. The main body portion is of a bottomed tubular shape made up from a bottom part joined to a proximal end side of the shaft portion, and a tubular portion fitted over the one end of the shaft. The first constant velocity joint includes an inner ring fitted externally over the tubular portion of the intervening member.

To provide a method of manufacturing a shaft-shape composite member in which a bent section is suitably treated. A plurality of thermosetting fiber-reinforced resin materials made of a UD material is supplied to a bending section of a mold in a state of being aligned in parallel to an axial direction of a cavity to form a UD material layer. Subsequently, after forming a tubular member having the UD material layer by the metal mold, by thermally curing the tubular member, the shaft-shape composite member having the bent section can be obtained. When manufacturing the shaft-shape composite member, a cross-section orthogonal to the axial direction of each of the fiber-reinforced resin materials has a circular shape.

A connecting shaft including a first shaft made of metal, a second shaft made of resin, and a collar made of metal including a first fitting portion fitting on an outer peripheral surface of the first shaft and a second fitting portion fitting on an outer peripheral surface of the second shaft. A gap between the outer peripheral surface of the second shaft and an inner peripheral surface of the second fitting portion is filled with an adhesive agent, and the adhesive agent is applied to an outer peripheral surface of the collar to cover an end face of the second fitting portion in an axial direction.

A drive shaft includes a first shaft member made of metal, a tubular member made of CFRP, and a first exterior sleeve. The first shaft member is capable of being attached on one end side thereof to a first constant velocity joint, and has a first serrated part on which serrations are formed on another end side thereof. The tubular member is formed with a first fitting part fitted externally over the first serrated part. The first exterior sleeve covers the first fitting part by being disposed to extend over outer circumferential surfaces of the first shaft member and the tubular member. A film provided with a bonding assistance region and an adhesive are interposed between the outer circumferential surface of the tubular member and the inner circumferential surface of the first exterior sleeve.

A shaft assembly includes one or more axially-arranged plies having a plurality of bundles of strands. Each strand is formed of a ultra-high modulus carbon fiber material. One or more strands of glass fiber are wrapped around each bundle of the plurality of bundles. A volume of resin injected into the one or more axially-arranged plies and the assembly is cured via a resin transfer molding process. A method of forming a shaft assembly includes arranging a plurality of strands of ultra-high modulus carbon fiber material into a plurality of bundles. Each bundle of the plurality of bundles is wrapped with one or more strands of glass fiber material. The plurality of bundles are arranged into one or more axially-extending plies at a mandrel. A volume of resin is injected into the plurality of bundles and is cured to form the shaft assembly.

The invention relates to a method for producing a transmission shaft (1) comprising a body (2) made from composite and a coupling piece (3) at one end of the body (2), said coupling piece (3) being hollow and having splines (4) on the inner surface thereof, the base (6) of the splines (4) delimiting the perimeter of a circle of diameter D2 and the head (5) of the splines (4) delimiting the perimeter of a circle of diameter D1, characterized in that said method comprises the successive steps of:—providing a mandrel (10) having an expandable part (12) and a non-expandable part (11);—producing the body (2) by winding pre-impregnated fibre filaments around the mandrel (10);—positioning the coupling piece (3) around the body (2) on the expandable part (12) of the mandrel;—expansion of the expandable part (12) of the mandrel (10) in order to fill the base (6) of the splines (4) with the impregnated fibres of the body (2);—curing the body (2) provided with the coupling piece (3).

A core metal includes, on an outer circumference thereof, a plurality of attachment surfaces to which a plurality of strings are attached, and a plurality of guided portions are formed along an axial direction of the core metal and disposed between two of the attachment surfaces. A string supply device includes a string supply unit that supplies the strings to the outer circumference of the core metal, an attaching unit that arranges and attaches the strings on the attachment surfaces of the core metal in a circumferential direction of the core metal, and a plurality of guiding units, in contact with the guided portions of the core metal, which guides the core metal.

A process for forming a flexible composite driveshaft includes providing a mandrel having a rigid region and a compressible region, applying fiber tape to the mandrel using automated fiber placement with in-situ laser curing in the rigid region and without in-situ laser curing the compressible region, and compressing the fiber tape and compressible material in the compressible region to form diaphragms that extend radially outward to a diameter that is at least twice the size of a diameter of the composite driveshaft in the rigid region.

A transmissive joint has an elastic response for transmitting a torsional load capable of ensuring the transmission in the absence of coaxiality between two actuating and actuated devices, and allowing the internal passage of cabling or possible accessory components along the axis of transmission/torsion.

An intermediate shaft assembly and method of assembly thereof. The intermediate shaft assembly includes a first shaft extending between a first end and a second end. The first shaft has a tubular wall portion with an inner surface bounding a hollow bore extending into said first end. The inner surface has a plurality of female splines and the tubular wall portion has at least one through opening. A second shaft extends between a coupling end and a connection end. The connection end has an outer surface sized for a clearance fit within the hollow bore. The outer surface has a plurality of male splines configured for an interdigitated fit with the female splines. The interdigitated fit establishes a clearance gap between the male splines and the female spines. A polymeric material at least partially fills the clearance gap and extends into the at least one through opening.