Shaft coupling

摘要

A shaft coupling between telescopically overlapped ends of a first shaft and a second shaft including a plurality of inside linear grooves in the first shaft, a plurality of outside linear grooves in the second shaft cooperating with the inside linear grooves in defining a plurality of linear cylindrical passages between the first and the second shafts, and an elastomeric bearing in each of the linear cylindrical passages consisting of a pair of barrel-shaped lugs at opposite ends of an integral beam spring. The barrel-shaped lugs couple together the first and the second shafts for unitary rotation about and for relative linear translation in the direction of a longitudinal centerline of the shaft coupling. The inside and outside grooves bear tangentially against the barrel-shaped lugs. The beam springs maintain substantially zero angular lash between the first and the second shafts by resiliently tipping the barrel-shaped lugs endwise in the linear cylindrical passages.