Telescopic guard for coupled shafts

Abstract

A guard for covering the union of two rotating drive shafts that are movable in a telescoping manner through a travel distance along a shaft axis includes inner, center and outer guard sleeves disposed about the shafts along the shaft axis. The sleeves are preferably cylindrical and concentric with the shaft axis. The center guard sleeve is radially disposed between the inner and outer guard sleeves in axially overlapping relation. A spring applies an axial force acting on the inner and center guard sleeves to maintain the overlap between the center guard sleeve and both of the inner and outer guard sleeves throughout the travel distance of the shafts. The center and inner guard sleeves are linked by a radial tab slideably retained in a slot in the inner guard sleeve.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.