Roller spline

An electromagnetic coupling comprising an armature plate, a hub member disposed substantially concentric to said armature plate for supporting said armature plate for rotation therewith, a pole assembly, said pole assembly and armature plate having an engaged position establishing a driving relationship therebetween and a disengaged position, a coil energizable to effect engagement of said pole assembly and armature plate, roller coupling means for coupling said armature plate and hub member and compensating for misalignment therebetween,

• said hub member including an outer surface having a plurality of first arcuate recesses disposed therein,
• said armature plate including an inner surface having a plurality of second arcuate recesses disposed therein,
• said plurality of first and second arcuate recesses forming a plurality of sets of first and second complementary recesses, each of said plurality of sets of complementary recesses defining a substantially cylindrical opening between said outer surface of said hub and said inner surface of said armature plate, and
• said roller coupling means including a plurality of rotatable cylindrical pins, one of which is disposed in each of said cylindrical openings for coupling said armature plate and hub member together,
• said cylindrical pins having a diameter less than the diameter of said cylindrical openings to establish a diametric clearance between said cylindrical pins and said cylindrical openings which allows relative axial movement between said armature plate and hub member in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of said armature plate and hub member and which compensates for misalignment therebetween,
• said cylindrical pins being deformable to enable said cylindrical pins to conform to the shape of said substantially cylindrical openings while compensating for misalignment of said armature plate and hub member.