Patent ID: 7658678

Claim:
A shaft coupling comprising a flexible annular sleeve, a driver end piece, and a driven end piece; both said end pieces adapted to connect to a shaft and said driver end piece having a plurality of axially extending driver prongs, and said driven end piece having a corresponding plurality of axially extending driven prongs; the driver prongs fitting loosely into the spaces between the driven prongs with a gap between each pair of adjacent prongs, and said sleeve fitting snugly around the periphery of the prongs; each prong having a number of prong grooves in its outer periphery, said number of prong grooves being at least one; said sleeve comprising a plurality of axially extending teeth on its inner periphery including a plurality of groove teeth and a plurality of gap teeth arranged so that a number of groove teeth equal to said number of prong grooves alternate with a single gap tooth; said groove teeth meshing with said prong grooves; and said gap teeth meshing with said gaps; and said groove teeth being different from said gap teeth in at least one characteristic selected from size, profile, and shape.