Shaft and hub connection assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11680607-B2
Application number	US-202117411388-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2021
Priority date	Aug 28, 2020
Publication date	Jun 20, 2023
Grant date	Jun 20, 2023

Abstract

A shaft and hub connection assembly including a shaft and a hub each extending along and rotatable about an axis. One of the shaft and the hub defines a male connection portion, and the other of the shaft and the hub defines a female connection portion. The female connection portion has a radially inner surface comprised of a plurality of inside faces. The male connection portion has a radially outer surface comprised of a plurality of outside faces that nest within the inside faces. A plurality of outside transition regions are located between the outside faces in a circumferential direction and are blended at an outside radius. A plurality of inside transition regions are located between the inside faces of the female connection portion in the circumferential direction and are blended at an inside radius. A gap is provided between the outside and inside transition regions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A shaft and hub connection assembly for transmitting torque, comprising:
a shaft extending along and rotatable about an axis and terminating axially at a shaft end;
a hub extending along and rotatable about the axis and terminating axially at a hub end;
a first flange extending outwardly from the shaft in spaced relationship with the shaft end and extending annularly about the shaft;
a second flange extending from the hub adjacent to the hub end and positioned in abutting axially end-to-end relationship with the first flange;
a fixing mechanism engaged with and biasing the first and second flanges toward one another;
one of the shaft end of the shaft and the hub end of the hub defining a male connection portion, and the other of the shaft end of the shaft and the hub end of the hub defining a female connection portion for receiving and being coupled with the male connection portion;
the female connection portion having a radially inner surface defined by a plurality of inside faces;
the male connection portion having a radially outer surface defined by a plurality of outside faces nested within the plurality of inside faces for coupling the male and female connection portions to one another;
the radially outer surface of the male connection portion having a plurality of outside transition regions with each one of the plurality of outside transition regions disposed between and interconnecting adjacent ones of the plurality of outside faces in a circumferential direction along an outside radius, and the radially inner surface of the female connection portion having a plurality of inside transition regions with each one of the plurality of inside transition regions disposed between and interconnecting adjacent ones of the plurality of the inside faces in the circumferential direction along an inside radius; and
a first gap defined between adjacent ones of the plurality of outside and inside transition regions for providing tolerances in the radial direction during fabrication of the male and female components.

2. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the outside radius is larger than the inside radius to define the gap between the outside and inside transition regions.

3. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the outside faces of the male connection portion are concave along a first circumferential radius, and wherein the inside faces of the female connection portion are convex along a second circumferential radius that is substantially the same as the first circumferential radius.

4. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:
a first axial radius defined between the first flange and one of the radially outer and inner surfaces, and a second axial radius defined between the second flange and the other of the radially outer and inner surfaces; and
a second gap defined between the first axial radius and the second axial radius such that all contact between the male and female connection portions occurs along the outside and inside faces.

5. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 4 , further comprising a seal disposed axially between the first and second flanges for preventing fluid from passing between the first and second flanges.

6. The shaft and hub assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the fixing mechanism is a clamp.

7. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the outside and inside faces each taper radially inwardly such that axially moving the male connection portion into the female connection portion wedges the male connection portion into the female connection portion.

8. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the shaft end of the shaft defines an indentation extending axially into the shaft.

9. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 1 , wherein each of the radially outer surface of the male connection portion and the radially inner surface of the female connection portion have a generally polygonal shape.

10. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the plurality of outside faces of the radially outer surface is comprised of six outside faces, and wherein the plurality of inner faces of the radially inner surface is comprised of six inside faces.

11. A shaft and hub connection assembly for transmitting torque, comprising:
a shaft extending along and rotatable about an axis and terminating axially at a shaft end;
a hub extending along and rotatable about the axis and terminating axially at a hub end;
one of the shaft end of the shaft and the hub end of the hub defining a male connection portion, and the other of the shaft end of the shaft and the hub end of the hub defining a female connection portion for receiving and being coupled with the male connection portion;
the female connection portion having a radially inner surface defined by a plurality of inside faces;
the male connection portion having a radially outer surface defined by a plurality of outside faces and nested within the plurality of inside faces for coupling the male and female connection portions to one another;
a first flange extending outwardly from the shaft in spaced relationship with the shaft end;
a second flange extending from the hub adjacent to the hub end and positioned in abutting axially end-to-end relationship with the first flange;
wherein a first axial radius is defined between the first flange and one of the radially outer and inner surfaces, a second axial radius is defined between the second flange and the other of the radially outer and inner surfaces, and a gap is defined between the first axial radius and the second axial radius such that all contact between the male and female connection portions occurs along the outside and inside faces.

12. The shaft and hub connection assembly for as set forth in claim 11 ,
wherein each of the plurality of outside faces of the male connection portion being concave or convex shaped along a first circumferential radius and each of the plurality of inside faces of the female connection portion being concave or convex shaped along a second circumferential radius being substantially the same as the first circumferential radius.

13. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the shaft end of the shaft defines an indentation extending axially into the shaft.

14. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 11 , wherein the first axial radius is larger than the second axial radius of to define the gap.

15. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set forth in claim 11 , wherein the radially outer surface of the male connection portion has a plurality of outside transition regions with each one of the plurality of outside transition regions disposed between and interconnecting adjacent ones of the plurality of outside faces in a circumferential direction along an outside radius, wherein the radially inner surface of the female connection portion has a plurality of inside transition regions with each one of the plurality of inside transition regions disposed between and interconnecting adjacent ones of the plurality of the inside faces in the circumferential direction at an inside radius, and wherein a first gap is defined between adjacent ones of the plurality of outside and inside transition regions for providing tolerances in the radial direction during fabrication of the male and female components.

16. The shaft and hub connection assembly as set

Assignees

• Neapco Intellectual Property Holdings Llc

Inventors

• Dubiel Nick

Classifications

• F16D2001/102

  the torque is transmitted via polygon shaped connections · CPC title

• F16D1/112 Primary

  the interengaging parts comprising torque-transmitting surfaces, e.g. bayonet joints · CPC title

• F16D1/076 Primary

  by clamping together two faces perpendicular to the axis of rotation, e.g. with bolted flanges · CPC title

• F16D3/2055

  having three pins, i.e. true tripod joints · CPC title

• F16D2300/08

  Details or arrangements of sealings not provided for in group F16D3/84 · CPC title