Ken Gralow
Gray Electric Co.
Schenectady, New York
Technical Education Committee Member

Shaft couplings are devices that connect two rotating shafts together. They efficiently transfer motion and power from the drive unit to the driven unit without adversely impacting either piece of rotating equipment. Under ideal conditions, both shafts should function as a continuous unit.

The design of a flexible coupling is to accommodate small amounts of shaft misalignment. Coupling manufacturers have designed their couplings to withstand the forces resulting from excessive shaft misalignment. Unfortunately, shaft alignment tolerances have sometimes been governed by the coupling manufacturers’design speecifications. These are maximum values that are dimensionally possible for a specific coupling. The coupling misalignment tolerances reported by coupling manufacturers apply ONLY to the coupling.

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