Patent ID: 7458897

Claim:
An apparatus for transmitting torque from a driving unit to a driven unit, comprising: a first unit serving as the driving unit, which is rotatable around a central axis thereof; a second unit serving as the driven unit, which is rotatable around a central axis thereof; a plurality of torque transmission units for transmitting torque from said first unit to said second unit, said plurality of torque transmission units enabling a relative displacement between said first unit and said second unit in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of said first unit in a state in which the central axis of said first unit and the central axis of said second unit are kept in parallel with each other, said plurality of torque transmission units being placed at different positions from the central axis of said first unit; and an intermediate unit disposed between said first unit and said second unit, said intermediate unit having a first surface facing said first unit and a second surface facing said second unit; wherein: each of said plurality of torque transmission units comprises: a first rail mounted on said first surface of said intermediate unit, said first rail extending linearly in a predetermined direction; a first connection block mounted on said first unit to slidably support said first rail; a second rail mounted on said second surface of said intermediate unit, said second rail extending linearly in a different direction from said predetermined direction along which said first rail extends; and a second connection block mounted on said second unit to slidably support said second rail.