Drive apparatus for rolling rolls

A drive assembly for a rolling roll comprising:

• a driven shaft extending fron one end of a rolling roll axially thereof and formed on its peripheral surface with two parallel diametrically opposed planar surface portions on opposite sides of the shaft, the planar surface portions being positioned adjacent one end of the driven shaft,
• an intermediate shaft,
• a driven fitting yoke connected to one end of said intermediate shaft by a universal joint assembly,
• a coupling connected to the other end of the intermediate shaft by another universal joint assembly and fittable to the driven shaft, the coupling having a fitting bore for releasably receiving therein the driven shaft with a loose fit, the fitting bore being provided with two flat-bottomed liner grooves of suitable width diametrically opposed to each other on opposite sides of the fitting bore and extending in an axial direction thereof in parallel to each other in corresponding facing relation to the parallel planar surface portions of the driven shaft,
• inner and outer wedge-shaped liners positioned in each of said liner grooves, said inner and outer liners having facing flat slanting surfaces slanted with respect to the axis of the coupling in contact with each other, the outer liners having an outer surface positioned on the flat bottom of their respective liner groove in a manner permitting movement of the outer liner in an axial direction in its respective liner groove in the coupling, the inner liners being positioned in their respective liner grooves in superimposed relation to and inwardly of the outer liners and having an inwardly facing planar surface engagable with one of the planar surfaces of the driven shaft and oriented parallel to the outer surfaces of the outer liners,
• holding means comprising a plurality of locking bolts radially mounted on the coupling and screwed into threaded holes in the inner liners for securely holding each combination of the outer liner and inner liner in each of the liner grooves, each outer liner having axially elongated slots for passing the bolts therethrough so as to permit movement of the outer liners in an axial direction in their respective liner groove in the coupling;
• and
• positioning means mounted in the coupling for axially moving the outer liners to consequently effect movement of the inner liners radially of the fitting bore to vary the distance between the inwardly facing surface of the inner liners and the outwardly facing surfaces of the respective outer liners.