Drive gear assembly

A motor-driven mechanical system comprising a drive gear assembly that includes:

• (a) a drive shaft;
• (b) a drive gear, either spur or helical, mounted on or integral with the drive shaft and rotatable therewith and being adapted to mesh with a spur or helical driven gear, the drive shaft extending from opposite ends of the drive gear;
• and
• (c) a self-aligning assembly that supports the drive shaft for rotation about an axis of the drive shaft and so that the drive gear can self-align with respect to the driven gear, the self-aligning assembly being arranged to pivot about a pivot axis, wherein the pivot axis is:
• (i) perpendicular to the drive shaft axis;
• (ii) in a plane that passes through a midpoint of an active face width of the drive gear and the driven gear and is perpendicular to the drive shaft axis;
• and
• (iii) passes through a pitch point of the drive gear and the driven gear at the midpoint of the active face width;
• and
• (d) the self-aligning assembly includes a support shaft mounted for rotation about the pivot axis and a support member mounted to the support shaft and to the drive shaft at opposite ends of the drive shaft, and wherein the support member is in the form of a yoke that includes a base and two arms extending from opposite ends of the base, with the base being coupled to the support shaft and the arms being coupled to the drive shaft at opposite ends of the drive shaft, and wherein the arms are coupled to the drive shaft via a pair of eccentric bearing cartridges that are carried by the arms.