Resilient shaft coupling

• US 5,066,263 A
• Filed: 11/02/1990
• Issued: 11/19/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hackforth GmbH & Company KG Heerstrasse
• Original Assignee: Hackforth GmbH & Company KG
• Inventors: Lunke, Manfred, Walter, Jurgen, Falz, Ulrich
• Primary Examiner(s): Stodola, Daniel P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): GAYOSO, TONY
• Application Number:
  US07/608,291
• Time in Patent Office: 382 Days
• Field of Search: 464/96, 464/98, 464/92, 464/87, 464/99, 464/162, 464/106
• US Class Current: 464/96
• CPC Class Codes: F02B 3/06 with compression ignition compression ignition engines using air or gas for blowing fuel into compressed air in cylinder F02B13/02
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 3/74 the intermediate member or members being made of rubber or other rubber-like flexible material

Abstract

A resilient shaft coupling, especially for Diesel engine drives, essentially comprises two rigid coupling parts such as a hub on the drive side of the shaft coupling and a flange ring on the end of the drive shaft opposite to the drive side, whereby the hub and the flange ring are connected in an elastic rotating manner via a series of identical elastic annular connecting links. Radial supports for the elastic annular connecting links are provided at one of the rigid coupling parts in order to avoid improperly restraint masses that cause imbalance of the shaft due to centrifugal forces. In order to improve the angular movability of the resilient shaft coupling, the radial supports are provided with angular movability. This is achieved by a metallic ring membrane which provides angular movability between two axially neighboring annular connecting links, whereby the ring membrane is clamped between the connecting rims of the annular connecting links. The ring membrane is equipped with a boring, that tightly embraces the hub, and is thereby supported in a radially rigid, but axially and in a circumferential direction flexible fashion that also allows angular motion. The support at the hub is achieved by a sliding sleeve. Each metallic ring membrane may consist of one or more segments, successively arranged in its circumferential direction.

Claims

1. A resilient shaft coupling essentially comprising a hub on a drive side of said shaft coupling, a flange ring on an end of said drive shaft opposite to said drive side, said hub and said flange ring being connected in a torsionally resilient manner via a series of identical elastic annular connecting links, connected in series, which annular connecting links are formed by two abutting ring halves that are mirror-symmetrical to a dividing plane perpendicular to a rotation axis of said shaft coupling, each said ring half being provided with outer metallic ring plates, which are composed of congruent ring segments whereby said congruent ring segments are connected by rubber segments of identical surface areas which are vulcanized to said ring segments and have in their axial plane a trapezoidal cross-sectional shape with a radially outwardly increasing width, with said ring segments of said one ring half being staggered, and said outer metallic ring plates of said two abutting respective ring halves at said dividing plane being clamped at first connecting rims, and adjoining ones of said outer metallic ring plates of neighboring ones of said annular connecting links being clamped at second connecting rims, with a radial support being also provided at said hub;

said resilient shaft coupling further comprising;

a metallic ring membrane being clamped between said second connecting rims of each two of said neighboring ones of said annular connecting links, with each of said ring membranes having a boring, that tightly embraces said hub through sliding means, so as to support said ring membrane at said hub in a radially rigid, but axially and in a circumferential direction flexible fashion that also allows angular motion.

2. A resilient shaft coupling according to claim 1, in which a radially extending flange ring of a sliding sleeve that is supported at said hub is secured to each said metallic ring membrane in the vicinity of said boring, with said sliding sleeve effecting said tight embracement of said hub.

3. A resilient shaft coupling according to claim 1, in which each of said metallic ring membranes is comprised of at least two ring membrane segments, successively arranged in a circumferential direction.