Abstract:
A quick disconnect coupling including a first hub, a shaft fixedly connected to the first hub, the shaft being non-round in cross-section, and a second hub having a non-round recess extending therethrough, the non-round recess being sized to closely receive the shaft such that the second hub is capable of sliding along the shaft and is prevented from rotating about the shaft, wherein rotation of the first hub results in corresponding rotation of the second hub.

Description:
This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 11/980,343, filed Oct. 31, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,849,991, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 11/094,870, filed Mar. 31, 2005, now abandoned, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent App. No. 60/558,535 filed on Apr. 1, 2004, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference and to which priority is claimed. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present application relates to coupling devices and, more particularly, to coupling devices capable of being quickly disconnected. 
     Coupling devices are typically used on various types of equipment to transfer power from a first rotating shaft to a second rotating shaft. It is often desirable to disconnect a coupling such that equipment embodying the coupling may be cleaned. However, often times, it may be quite time consuming to disconnect the couplings. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for coupling devices that may be quickly disconnected and reconnected. 
     SUMMARY 
     A first aspect of the quick disconnect coupling includes a first hub, a shaft fixedly connected to the first hub, the shaft being non-round in cross-section, and a second hub having a non-round recess extending therethrough, the non-round recess being sized to closely receive the shaft such that the second hub is capable of sliding along the shaft and is prevented from rotating about the shaft, wherein rotation of the first hub results in corresponding rotation of the second hub. 
     A second aspect of the quick disconnect coupling includes a male coupling member having at least two jaws thereon, a female coupling member having at least two recesses for receiving the jaws, and a spider having at least four wings extending therefrom, the spider being shaped to be received within the female coupling member such that each of the recesses includes at least two of the wings, wherein each jaw of the male coupling member is positioned between two wings of the spider when the male coupling member is engaged with the female coupling member. 
     A third aspect of the quick disconnect coupling includes a drive shaft, a motor, and a coupling device for transferring rotational power from the motor to the drive shaft, the coupling device including a first hub, a non-round shaft fixedly connected to the first hub, a second hub closely and slidably received over the non-round shaft, the second hub having a recess for receiving the drive shaft, and a spring for biasing the first hub away from the second hub, wherein the first hub is connected to the motor and the second hub is selectively connectable to the drive shaft. 
     Other aspects of the quick disconnect coupling will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a front perspective view of a first aspect of the quick disconnect coupling; 
         FIG. 1B  is a side elevational view of the quick disconnect coupling of  FIG. 1A ; 
         FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of the quick disconnect coupling of  FIG. 1A  embodied on a motor for use with a piece of equipment having a drive shaft; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of a second aspect of the quick disconnect coupling; 
         FIG. 4A  is a front perspective view of the quick disconnect coupling of  FIG. 3  in an engaged position; and 
         FIG. 4B  is a front elevational view, in section, of the quick disconnect coupling of  FIG. 4A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , a first aspect of the quick disconnect coupling, generally designated  10 , includes a male hub  12 , a female hub  14 , a non-round shaft  16 , a spring  17  and a pin  22 . 
     The non-round shaft  16  may be attached to or integral with (i.e., shaft  16  is connected to) the male hub  12  and may include a slot  18  extending axially along the non-round shaft  16  and through a surface of the non-round shaft  16 . The non-round shaft  16  may have any shape in cross-sectional view (taken perpendicular to the axis of the shaft) other than circular, hence the designation as non-round. For example, in cross-sectional view, the non-round shaft  16  may be square, rectangular, triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal or elliptical. 
     The female hub  14  may include a first end  24 , a second end  36  and a non-round recess  20  extending axially through the length of the female hub  14 . The non-round recess  20  is non-round in shape, as described above, and has a shape corresponding to the shape of the non-round shaft  16  such that the non-round shaft  16  may be closely received within the non-round recess  20 . The female hub  14  may slide relative to the male hub  12  along the non-round shaft  16  and rotation of the male hub  12  (and corresponding rotation of the non-round shaft  16 ) results in rotation of the female hub  14  due to the non-round shape of the shaft  16  and recess  20 . 
     The spring  17  may be a coil spring and may be position coaxially over the non-round shaft  16  and between the male hub  12  and female hub  14  to bias the female hub  14  away from the male hub  12 . The pin  22  may be inserted through an opening  21  in the first end  24  of the female hub  14  such that the pin  22  engages the slot  18  in the non-round shaft  16 , thereby restricting movement of the female hub  14  relative to the male hub  12  along the shaft  16 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the quick disconnect coupling  10  may be attached to a motor  26  for connecting the motor  26  to a drive shaft  34  of a piece of equipment  28 . The drive shaft  34  may include an end portion  42  and may be shaped to be received within the recess  20  of the female hub  14  (i.e., non-round in shape) such that rotation of the female hub  14  results in corresponding rotation of the drive shaft  34  when the drive shaft  34  is received within the recess  20 . 
     The motor  26  may be slideably mounted onto the piece of equipment  28  by sliding a pair of wings  32  of the piece of equipment  28  between the body of the motor  26  and flanges  30 . 
     The male hub  12  of the coupling  10  may be fixedly attached to the shaft (not shown) of the motor  26 . The female hub  14  may then be attached to the drive shaft  34  of the equipment  28  as follows: First, the female hub  14  is retracted against the bias of the spring  17  and toward the male hub  12 . Then, the motor  26  may be slid onto the equipment  28  as described above (i.e., via flanges  30 ). When the female hub  14  is released, thereby allowing the spring  17  to bias the female hub  14  to its forward and engaged position, the drive shaft  34  of the equipment  28  is received within the recess  20  of the female hub  14  such that power from the motor  26  may be transferred to the drive shaft  34  by rotation of the male hub  12  which results in rotation of the non-round shaft  16  which results in rotation of the female hub  14  and corresponding rotation of the drive shaft  34 . 
     The quick disconnect coupling  10  may be disconnected from the drive shaft  34  as follows: The female hub  14  may be retracted against the bias of the spring  17  into close proximity with the male hub  12  such that the drive shaft  34  is no longer received within the recess  20  and the second end  36  of the female hub  14  is cleared from an end portion  42  of the drive shaft  34 . The motor  26  may then be slid off of the equipment  28 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 ,  4 A and  4 B, a second aspect of the quick disconnect coupling, generally designated  50 , includes a male coupling member  52 , a female coupling member  54 , a spider  56  and a connector such as a washer  58  and screw  60  assembly. 
     The male coupling member  52  may be generally cylindrical in shape and include a first end  71  and a second end  73 . Three jaws  62  may be spaced equidistantly about the periphery of the second end  73  and extend axially from the male coupling member  52 . Each jaw  62  may include a beveled surface  63  and be tapered to a point  65 . The first end  71  may include a recess  70  having a slot  72  therein. The recess  70  may receive a first shaft (not shown) having a notch (not shown) that engages the slot  72  for preventing rotation of the first shaft relative to the male coupling member  52  such that rotation of the first shaft results in corresponding rotation of the male coupling member  52 . 
     The female coupling member  54  may be generally cylindrical in shape and include a first end  80  and a second end  82 . Three recesses  64  may be spaced equidistantly about the periphery of the first end  80  for receiving the three jaws  62  of the male coupling member  52 . Each recess  64  may additionally include a secondary recess  69  for receiving the tapered point  65  of the jaw  62 . As shown in  FIG. 4B , the second end  82  may include a recess  84  having a slot  86  therein. The recess  84  may receive a second shaft (not shown) having a notch (not shown) that engages the slot  86  for preventing rotation of the second shaft relative to the female coupling member  54  such that rotation of the second shaft results in corresponding rotation of the female coupling member  54  and rotation of the female coupling member  54  results in corresponding rotation of the second shaft. 
     As best shown in  FIG. 3 , the spider  56  includes six wings  66  equidistantly spaced and extending radially from the center of the spider  56 . The spider  56  is received within the first end  80  of the female coupling member  54  such that each recess  64  receives two wings  66  of the spider  56 . The spider  56  may be made of a soft or hard polymeric material such as urethane or any other suitable rigid material. 
     The spider  56  may be fixedly attached to the female coupling member  54  by any suitable connector, such as a washer  58  and screw  60  assembly such that the spider  56  is fixed onto the female coupling member  54  thereby preventing the spider  56  from easily falling away from the coupling assembly  50  when the coupling assembly  50  is disconnected. 
     Accordingly, the male coupling member  52  may be connected to a first shaft (not shown) and the female coupling member  54  may be connected to a second shaft (not shown) and the two shafts may be coupled by engaging the male coupling member  52  with the female coupling member  54 , as shown in  FIG. 4A . The spider  56  creates a tight fit between the jaws  62  and recesses  64  and allows for the transfer of rotational power between the male and female coupling members  52 ,  54  even if the first and second shafts are not perfectly aligned. The beveled surface  63  and tapered point  65  of each jaw  62  guide the jaws  62  into engagement with the recesses  64  such that each jaw  62  is positioned between two wings  66  in the recess  64  and the tapered point  65  engages the secondary recess  69 . Therefore, as the male coupling member  52  rotates due to the rotation of the first shaft, the female coupling member  54  and second shaft rotate accordingly. 
     The coupling assembly  50  may be disconnected by withdrawing the jaws  62  of the male coupling member  52  from the recesses  64  of the female coupling member  54 . When disconnected, the spider  56  remains connected to the female coupling member  54  by the washer  58  and screw  60  assembly, thereby simplifying the disassembly process. 
     Although the quick disconnect coupling is shown and described with respect to certain aspects, it is obvious that modifications will occur to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification. The quick disconnect coupling includes all such modifications and is limited only by the scope of the claims.