Torsionally resilient coupling for transmitting rotary motion

A torsionally resilient coupling for transmitting rotary motion, comprising, in combination:

• a rotatable member which is to be rotatably driven, said rotatable member having a cylindrical track fixedly secured thereto;
• housing means;
• an input shaft rotatably supported from said housing means, said housing means being comparatively stationary, and said input shaft being rotatably driven in order to drive said rotatable member;
• a main roller fixedly secured upon said input shaft, said main roller rollingly engaging said track in order to drivingly rotate said rotatable member;
• a roller frame cooperatively associated with said track and rotatably secured to said main roller, said roller frame also having a pair of idler rollers associated therewith and rotatably supported thereon, said idler rollers also rollingly engaging said track and being circumferentially spaced thereon from each other and from said main roller;
• and
• bi-directional spring means coupled between said roller frame and said housing means and being resiliently deflectable so as to permit said roller frame to intermittently oscillate by a significant part of a revolution relative to said housing means;
• whereby in response to to a varying load upon said rotatable member, its rotation may be retarded or advanced relative to the rotation of said input shaft.

A torsionally resilient coupling for transmitting rotary motion from the main frame of a wheeled vehicle to a powered wheel of the vehicle, comprising, in combination:

• cylindrical track means disposed concentric to the wheel and fixedly secured thereto;
• housing means forming a part of the main frame of the vehicle;
• an input shaft rotatably supported from said housing means;
• a main roller fixedly secured to said input shaft and rollingly engaging said track means in order to drivingly rotate the wheel in response to the driven rotation of said input shaft, said main roller normally resting within the lower portion of the interior surface of said track means;
• a roller frame disposed in a vertical plane parallel to the plane of the wheel, said roller frame being rotatably secured to said main roller and also having a pair of idler rollers rotatably supported thereon which rollingly engage said track means at locations circumferentially spaced from said main roller;
• and
• resiliently deflectable, bi-directional spring means coupled between said roller frame and said housing means to permit said roller frame to intermittently rotate by a significant part of a revolution relative to said housing means.