Flexible coupling
AssigneeReliance Gear Company Limited
InventorsAllistair David Durie, Robert Michael Barton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A flexible coupling for connecting a pair of rotating elements, comprising a body part (10) adapted at each end to receive part of the rotating elements, and comprising four slits (20a) each slit being longitudinally and angularly spaced from the other slits, each slit terminating in a concave face (24). The invention provides advantages over known flexible couplings since the provision of arcuate and concave end faces on each slit produces an increased material overlap with adjacent slits which decreases variations in torsional stiffness but does not affect the flexibility of the coupling.
Claims14
A flexible coupling for connecting a pair of elements which are capable of at least limited rotational movement, said flexible coupling comprising a body having two longitudinally spaced ends and a center line extending between said ends, each end being connectable to a respective one of the pair of elements, said body having at least four slits therein, each slit extending through said body in a radial direction to a depth beyond the center line of the body and terminating in a concave face, wherein each slit is spaced from the others in said longitudinal direction between the ends of the body, and wherein said slits are angularly spaced around a circumference of said body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.