The present invention is directed to a drive element for a gearbox output that can be readily removed from the drive line to decouple the gearbox output from a driven member.
Flexible rotatable drive shafts have been used in a variety of applications to transmit rotational force from one location to another. Traditionally, the flexible rotatable drive shaft has a male coupling for engaging a female coupling on a gearbox. When the male coupling engages the female coupling the flexible rotatable drive shaft is in a driving relationship with the gearbox. The gearbox in turn is drivingly coupled to a driven member by a drive element. Sometimes it is necessary is disengage the drive line. One way is to decouple the flexible rotatable drive shaft from the gearbox.
Flexible rotatable drive shafts have been proposed for use on agricultural seeding machines, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 718,664, and 4,779,471.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a drive element that is readily removable to decouple a gearbox output from a driven member.
The present invention allows the drive line between the flexible rotatable drive shaft and the input member of the seed meter to be decoupled without decoupling the flexible rotatable drive shaft from the gearbox. In this way the male drive portion of the flexible rotatable drive shaft is not exposed to dirt and other debris.
A gearbox driven by a flexible rotatable drive shaft is coupled to a seed meter by a drive element. The drive element comprises a drive shaft on which is mounted a multifaceted sleeve. The multifaceted sleeve is pinned to the drive shaft by a cotter pin. The cotter pin provides torque protection by defining a torque transmission limit. In the illustrated embodiment the multifaceted sleeve is a hexagonal sleeve. The hexagonal sleeve is driven by a gearbox output. The gearbox output is provided with a hexagonal opening into which the hexagonal sleeve is received. The drive shaft is provided with a drive coupling. In the illustrated embodiment the drive coupling comprises an annular axially extending bore having aligned transversely extending apertures passing therethrough. The drive coupling is coupled to a input member of a driven member. In the illustrated embodiment the input member is a spindle of seed meter. The spindle is received in the bore. The spindle is also provided with a transversely extending hole which is aligned with the transversely extending apertures on the drive coupling. A readily releasable pin is inserted through aligned apertures and hole thereby drivingly coupling the drive coupling to the input member. In the illustrated embodiment the readily releasable pin is a spring pin.