Dr. Ing. Leonhard Geislinger invented the torsionally Elastic coupling in 1958. It is also called flexible coupling. It was originally a side product of the development for thermo-pneumatic locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

s, but unlike the trains, it was a big success.

The function principle is targeted for longest lifetime and minimized maintenance, resulting in full steel design and highest manufacturing quality. It connects the engine

Engine

An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion. Heat engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to create motion...

 with the driven unit, transmits the torque

Torque

Torque, moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....

, allows misalignments between the shafts, moves resonance

Resonance

In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at a greater amplitude at some frequencies than at others. These are known as the system's resonant frequencies...

s and dampens vibration

Vibration

Vibration refers to mechanical oscillations about an equilibrium point. The oscillations may be periodic such as the motion of a pendulum or random such as the movement of a tire on a gravel road.Vibration is occasionally "desirable"...

s.

The coupling primarily consists of three main parts:

• the primary section
• the steel spring packs
• the secondary section

Elastic Steel Spring Coupling
The whole coupling is filled with pressurized oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

, which is responsible for lubrication

Lubrication

Lubrication is the process, or technique employed to reduce wear of one or both surfaces in close proximity, and moving relative to each another, by interposing a substance called lubricant between the surfaces to carry or to help carry the load between the opposing surfaces. The interposed...

, damping

Damping

In physics, damping is any effect that tends to reduce the amplitude of oscillations in an oscillatory system, particularly the harmonic oscillator.In mechanics, friction is one such damping effect...

 and cooling. The oil is generally supplied from the engine via a drilling in the crankshaft

Crankshaft

The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...

.

Function

The primary part is mounted to the drive side, the secondary section is connected with the driven side. Between these, the steel spring packs are mounted, the outer end to the primary section, the inner side is guided in groovings in secondary part. In case of torque irregularities caused by misfireings in the engine or vibrations caused from a propeller

Propeller

A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...

 (in ship

Ship

Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...

 applications), a relative movement between inner and outer part occurs. This movement leads to an elastic deformation of the leaf springs, which push oil from one chamber to the other. This causes hydraulic friction and thus is responsible for damping the vibrations. The damping can be adjusted independently from the stiffness via the damping gaps.

Advantages:

• High damping
• Wide range of stiffness variation, stiffness and damping adjustable independent to each other
• Technical data remain unchanged during lifetime
• High permissible torques (up to 6500 kNM
  Newton metre
  A newton metre is a unit of torque in the SI system. The symbolic form is N m or N·m, and sometimes hyphenated newton-metre...
  
  ) and vibratory torques
• Unaffected by hot and oily environment
• Compact design
• No ageing