MANUALLY CONNECTABLE FLEXIBLE MECHANICAL COUPLING

摘要

A flexible mechanical coupling for torque transmission is capable of being connected and disconnected by only manual manipulation. The collar of the coupling has diametrically opposed cutouts in its sidewall for loosely receiving complementally shaped resilient locking members which in turn are held in place by a sleeve telescopically disposed over the collar. Flats formed in the shaft beneath each cutout are engaged by the respective members for locking the shaft and the collar against relative rotation. A removable roll pin passing through the shaft and the resilient members restricts axial movement between the collar and shaft. The sleeve is releasably restrained in position over the locking members by a pair of manually removable elastic bands on the collar. One embodiment of the invention provides the manual connection feature for both shafts in the coupling, while in the preferred embodiment only one shaft in the coupling has this feature.