Drive shaft

A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft is a mechanical component for transmitting torque and rotation, usually used to connect other components of a drive train that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement between them.The term drive shaft first appeared during the mid 19th century. In Stover's 1861 patent reissue for a planing and matching machine, the term is used to refer to the belt-driven shaft by which the machine is driven. The term is not used in his original patent. Another early use of the term occurs in the 1861 patent reissue for the Watkins and Bryson horse-drawn mowing machine.Here, the term refers to the shaft transmitting power from the machine's wheels to the gear train that works the cutting mechanism.An automobile may use a longitudinal shaft to deliver power from an engine/transmission to the other end of the vehicle before it goes to the wheels. A pair of short drive shafts is commonly used to send power from a central differential, transmission, or transaxle to the wheels.Drive shafts have been used on motorcycles since before WW1, such as the Belgian FN motorcycle from 1903 and the Stuart Turner Stellar motorcycle of 1912. As an alternative to chain and belt drives, drive shafts offer long-lived, clean, and relatively maintenance-free operation. A disadvantage of shaft drive on a motorcycle is that helical gearing, spiral bevel gearing or similar is needed to turn the power 90° from the shaft to the rear wheel, losing some power in the process. On a power-driven ship, the drive shaft, or propeller shaft, usually connects the transmission inside the vessel directly to the propeller, passing through a stuffing box or other seal at the point it exits the hull. There is also a thrust block, a bearing to resist the axial force of the propeller. As the rotating propeller pushes the vessel forward, any length of drive shaft between propeller and thrust block is subject to compression, and when going astern to tension. Except for the very smallest of boats, this force isn't taken on the gearbox or engine directly.The Shay, Climax and Heisler locomotives, all introduced in the late 19th century, used quill drives to couple power from a centrally mounted multi-cylinder engine to each of the trucks supporting the engine. On each of these geared steam locomotives, one end of each drive shaft was coupled to the driven truck through a universal joint while the other end was powered by the crankshaft, transmission or another truck through a second universal joint. A quill drive also has the ability to slide lengthways, effectively varying its length. This is required to allow the bogies to rotate when passing a curve.The drive shaft has served as an alternative to a chain-drive in bicycles for the past century, never becoming very popular. A shaft-driven bicycle (or 'Acatane', from an early maker) has several advantages and disadvantages:Drive shafts are one method of transferring power from an engine and PTO to vehicle-mounted accessory equipment, such as an air compressor. Drive shafts are used when there isn't enough space beside the engine for the additional accessory; the shaft bridges the gap between the engine PTO and the accessory, allowing the accessory to be mounted elsewhere on the vehicle.Nowadays new possibilities exist for the production process of drive shafts. The filament winding production process is gaining popularity for the creation of composite drive shafts. Several companies in the automotive industry are looking to adopt this knowledge for their high volume production process.