Method of making a shaft assembly

Claim 1

The method of making a shaft assembly comprising a rigid elongated frame tube for physically connecting a driving head at one end to a driven tool at the other end, said tube being bent so as to dispose the driven tool on an axis at an angle to the axis of the driving head, and a bendable rigid sheath tube of substantially smaller diameter than said frame tube extending generally concentrically through the bent frame tube for closely containing a flexible drive shaft for drivingly connecting the driving head to the driven tool, which method comprises assembling onto a straight length of bendable sheath tube an elongated, thick-walled tubular continuous bushing of semirigid material, said bushing closely surrounding the sheath tube and extending along the length of the sheath tube which is later to be bent, inserting the resulting subassembly, together with a spacer bushing at each end of the sheath tube, in an enclosing outer shaft tube extending over the whole length of such subassembly and closely surrounding the said spacer bushings and continuous bushing, thereafter subjecting the resulting final assembly of shaft tube and subassembly to a bending operation so as to bend the shaft tube over a length of the assembly in which the sheath tube is surrounded by the continuous semirigid bushing, and thereby cause the semirigid bushing to transmit bending force to the sheath tube while maintaining the sheath tube substantially concentric with the shaft tube over the bent length thereof, and leaving the semirigid bushing in place in the bent assembly to support the sheath tube in use.

Claim 2

The method of making a shaft assembly comprising a rigid elongated frame tube for physically connecting a driving head at one end to a driven tool at the other end, said tube being bent so as to dispose the driven tool on an axis at an angle to the axis of the driving head, and a bendable rigid sheath tube of substantially smaller diameter than said frame tube extending generally concentrically through the bent frame tube for closely containing a flexible drive shaft for drivingly connecting the driving head to the driven tool, which method comprises assembling onto a straight length of bendable sheath tube an elongated, thick-walled tubular continuous bushing of semirigid material, said bushing closely surrounding the sheath tube and extending along the length of the sheath tube which is later to be bent, inserting the resulting subassembly, together with a spacer bushing at each end of the sheath tube, in an enclosing outer shaft tube extending over the whole length of such subassembly and closely surrounding the said spacer bushings and continuous bushing, thereafter subjecting the resulting final assembly of shaft tube and subassembly to a bending operation so as to bend the shaft tube over a length of the assembly in which the sheath tube is surrounded by the continuous semirigid bushing, and thereby cause the semirigid bushing to transmit bending force to the sheath tube while maintaining the sheath tube substantially concentric with the shaft tube over the bent length thereof, and leaving the semirigid bushing in place in the bent assembly to support the sheath tube in use.

Claim 10

The method of making a shaft assembly as for connecting a driving head to a driven tool on an axis at an angle to the axis of the driving head, which comprises assembling onto a straight length of bendable sheath tube an elongated, thick-walled tubular continuous bushing of semirigid material along the length of the sheath tube which is later to be bent, a rigid spacer bushing at each end of the sheath tube, and bushing means along the portion of the sheath tube which is to remain straight, securing the spacer bushings at the ends of the sheath tube against removal by flaring the outer ends of the sheath tube, inserting the resulting subassembly in an enclosing outer shaft tube extending over the whole length of such subassembly and closely surrounding the said bushings and bushing means, and thereafter subjecting the resulting final assembly of shaft tube and subassembly to a bending operation so as to bend the shaft tube over a length of the assembly in which the sheath tube is surrounded by the continuous semirigid bushing, and thereby cause the semrigid bushing to transmit bending force to the sheath tube while maintaining the sheath tube substantially concentric with the shaft tube over the bent length thereof.

Claim 11

The method of making a shaft assembly as for connecting a driving head to a driven tool on an axis at an angle to the axis of the driving head, which comprises assembling onto a straight length of bendable sheath tube an elongated, thick-walled tubular continuous bushing of semirigid material along the length of the sheath tube which is later to be bent, a rigid spacer bushing at each end of the sheath tube, and bushing means along the portion of the sheath tube which is to remain straight, securing the spacer bushings at the ends of the sheath tube against removal by flaring the outer ends of the sheath tube, inserting the resulting subassembly in an enclosing outer shaft tube extending over the whole length of such subassembly and closely surrounding the said bushings and bushing means, and thereafter subjecting the resulting final assembly of shaft tube and subassembly to a bending operation so as to bend the shaft tube over a length of the assembly in which the sheath tube is surrounded by the continuous semirigid bushing, and thereby cause the semrigid bushing to transmit bending force to the sheath tube while maintaining the sheath tube substantially concentric with the shaft tube over the bent length thereof.

Claim 13

The method of making a shaft assembly as for connecting a driving head to a driven tool on an axis at an angle to the axis of the driving head, which comprises assembling onto a straight length of bendable sheath tube an elongated, thick-walled tubular continuous bushing of semirigid material along the length of the sheath tube which is later to be bent, a rigid spacer bushing at each end of the sheath tube, and bushing means along the portion of the sheath tube which is to remain straight, inserting the resulting subassembly in an enclosing outer shaft tube extending over the whole length of such subassembly and closely surrounding the said bushings and bushing means, thereafter subjecting the resulting final assembly of shaft tube and subassembly to a bending operation so as to bend the shaft tube over a length of the assembly in which the sheath tube is surrounded by the continuous semirigid bushing, and thereby cause the semirigid bushing to transmit bending force to the sheath tube while maintaining the sheath tube substantially concentric with the shaft tube over the bent length thereof, said method also including the step of locally deforming the outer shaft tube of the final assembly at the location of one or more spacer bushings to secure the same against displacement.

Claim 14

The method of making a shaft assembly as for connecting a driving head to a driven tool on an axis at an angle to the axis of the driving head, which comprises assembling onto a straight length of bendable sheath tube an elongated, thick-walled tubular continuous bushing of semirigid material along the length of the sheath tube which is later to be bent, a rigid spacer bushing at each end of the sheath tube, and bushing means along the portion of the sheath tube which is to remain straight, inserting the resulting subassembly in an enclosing outer shaft tube extending over the whole length of such subassembly and closely surrounding the said bushings and bushing means, thereafter subjecting the resulting final assembly of shaft tube and subassembly to a bending operation so as to bend the shaft tube over a length of the assembly in which the sheath tube is surrounded by the continuous semirigid bushing, and thereby cause the semirigid bushing to transmit bending force to the sheath tube while maintaining the sheath tube substantially concentric with the shaft tube over the bent length thereof, said method also including the step of locally deforming the outer shaft tube of the final assembly at the location of one or more spacer bushings to secure the same against displacement.

Claim 15

The method of making a shaft assembly as for connecting a driving head to a driven tool on an axis at an angle to the axis of the driving head, which comprises assembling onto a straight length of bendable sheath tube an elongated, thick-walled tubular continuous bushing of semirigid material along the length of the sheath tube which is later to be bent, a rigid spacer bushing at each end of the sheath tube, and bushing means along the portion of the sheath tube which is to remain straight, inserting the resulting subassembly in an enclosing outer shaft tube extending over the whole length of such subassembly and closely surrounding the said bushings and bushing means, thereafter subjecting the resulting final assembly of shaft tube and subassembly to a bending operation so as to bend the shaft tube over a length of the assembly in which the sheath tube is surrounded by the continuous semirigid bushing, and thereby cause the semirigid bushing to transmit bending force to the sheath tube while maintaining the sheath tube substantially concentric with the shaft tube over the bent length thereof, said method also including the step of forming a grease hole through the outer shaft tube, an underlying spacer bushing and the sheath tube, and mounting a grease fitting in such hole to secure the bushing in place.

Claim 16

The method of making a shaft assembly as for connecting a driving head to a driven tool on an axis at an angle to the axis of the driving head, which comprises assembling onto a straight length of bendable sheath tube an elongated, thick-walled tubular continuous bushing of semirigid material along the length of the sheath tube which is later to be bent, a rigid spacer bushing at each end of the sheath tube, and bushing means along the portion of the sheath tube which is to remain straight, inserting the resulting subassembly in an enclosing outer shaft tube extending over the whole length of such subassembly and closely surrounding the said bushings and bushing means, thereafter subjecting the resulting final assembly of shaft tube and subassembly to a bending operation so as to bend the shaft tube over a length of the assembly in which the sheath tube is surrounded by the continuous semirigid bushing, and thereby cause the semirigid bushing to transmit bending force to the sheath tube while maintaining the sheath tube substantially concentric with the shaft tube over the bent length thereof, said method also including the step of forming a grease hole through the outer shaft tube, an underlying spacer bushing and the sheath tube, and mounting a grease fitting in such hole to secure the bushing in place.

Claim 17

The method of making a shaft assembly having an outer shaft tube and an inner sheath tube for a flexible drive shaft, and having an arcuate portion, which comprises assembling within a prefabricated straight length of rigid but bendable outer shaft tube: a straight length of rigid but bendable sheath tube of substantially smaller diameter than the shaft tube and disposed coaxially therewith, and bushing means interposed between the inner and outer tubes in closely fitting relation with both and including a prefabricated length of thick-walled continuous tubular bushing or semirigid material extending over the length of the tubes which are to form the arcuate portion of the assembly, and subjecting the resulting straight assembly to a bending operation to form the arcuate portion of the assembly, in which the bending forces are applied to the outer shaft tubing and the semirigid bushing transmits bending forces therefrom to the sheath tube to bend the same while maintaining the sheath tube substantially concentric with the shaft tube, and leaving the semirigid bushing in place to support the sheath tube in use.

Claim 18

The method of making a shaft assembly having an outer shaft tube and an inner sheath tube for a flexible drive shaft, and having an arcuate portion, which comprises assembling within a prefabricated straight length of rigid but bendable outer shaft tube: a straight length of rigid but bendable sheath tube of substantially smaller diameter than the shaft tube and disposed coaxially therewith, and bushing means interposed between the inner and outer tubes in closely fitting relation with both and including a prefabricated length of thick-walled continuous tubular bushing or semirigid material extending over the length of the tubes which are to form the arcuate portion of the assembly, and subjecting the resulting straight assembly to a bending operation to form the arcuate portion of the assembly, in which the bending forces are applied to the outer shaft tubing and the semirigid bushing transmits bending forces therefrom to the sheath tube to bend the same while maintaining the sheath tube substantially concentric with the shaft tube, and leaving the semirigid bushing in place to support the sheath tube in use.