Crankshaft with laminated counterweight

Claim 1

A crankshaft with a laminated counterweight, comprising: a stack of a plurality of identical, pressed together, substantially flat plates, each plate having a first and a second shaft mounting hole therethrough, at least one depression in one side, and at least one boss projecting as a stud from and integral with the other side, said depression and boss of each plate being coaxially aligned with each other, said depression and said boss of each plate being coaxially aligned with each other, said depression and said boss being peripherally bounded by geometrically similar walls which extend substantially normal to the sides of said plate, the bottom of said depression being located between said sides at a spacing from the side from which said boss projects, whereby to leave a substantial shear web between said two sides, between the bottom of said depression and the base of said boss, said plates being stacked parallel to one another, with the boss of one plate in the depression of its neighbor plate and making a net or tighter fit, all of said first holes being coaxial, and all of said second holes being coaxial; a first shaft tightly fitted in said first holes and projecting from a first side of the stack; and a second shaft tightly fitted in said second holes, and projecting from a second side of the stack.