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HowaCVJointWorks

HowaCVJointWorks
"CVjoint"isshortforconstantvelocityjoint,anexampleofatypeofmechanismsthatconnectstwointersectingrotatingshaftsmakingananglewithoneanother,especially
whenthisanglevariesinservice.CVjointsarenowverywidelyusedinfrontwheeldrivecarsattheconnectionofahalfaxlewithawheel.Theytransmittorqueevenlywhen
thewheelmovesinsteeringorsuspension.ForabriefdescriptionofatypicalCVjoint,seethelinktotheWikipediaarticlegivenintheReferences.
Neitherthisarticle,northoseIsearchedforonGoogle,actuallyexplainedhowtheCVjointworked.Thisarticlepresentsmybestunderstandingatthemoment,whichis
certainlynotcomplete.
Nearlyparallelshaftsmaybejoinedwithflexiblecouplings,whichprovideasmallamountofangular,torsionalandlongitudinalflexibilitytoeasealignmentdifficulties.There
aremanytypesofflexiblecouplings,suchasThomasorOldhamcouplings.TheThomascouplingusesaflexiblelaminatedsteelring,theOldhamacrosskeyedsteelslider.
Suchcouplingsdonotprovidesufficientangularflexibilityforautomotiveapplications,butarewidelyusedinmachinery.
Universaljoint,orUjoint,isthegeneralnameforamechanismthattransmitstorquefromoneshafttoanotherwhentheshaftsmeetatapointbutmaybeataconsiderable
anglewithoneanother.Iftheangleisconstant,bevelgearssatisfytherequirementverywell,butcannotbeusedwhentheanglevariesinservice.AsimpleUjointforsmall
shaftscanbealengthofrubbertubingslippedovertheendsoftheshafts.Clearly,thiscannotbeusedforseriousmachinery.ThemostfamiliarUjointistheHooke,Cardanor
HardySpicerjoint.TheendsoftheshaftsareforkedinaUshape,andjoinedbyacrossshapedpiecewithfourbearings,twoineachfork.Thisworksverywellwhenthe
anglebetweentheshaftsissmall,anditsfunctioningiseasytounderstand.UjointsofthiskindareusedintheHotchkissrearwheeldriveforcars,withoneateachendofthe
propellershaft.Thedriveflexibilityaccommodatesthespringingoftherearwheels.
ThedifficultywiththeCardanjointisthattheoutputangularvelocityofthedrivenshaftisnotconstantwhentheanglebetweentheshaftsisnotsmall,butpulsatestwicein
everyrevolution.Generally,Cardanjointsarerestrictedtoanglesof15orless.Asaresult,theCardanjointisnotsatisfactoryfortransmittingtorquetoafrontwheel,when
thewheelmayturnatupto30orevenmoreonitskingpin,nottomentiontheangularmotionwithsuchashorthalfaxlewhenthewheelmovesupanddown.Thesolutionto
thisproblemisanewkindofjoint,inventedaround1928byA.H.RzeppaatFordMotors.ThisistheballandgrooveCVjointforwhichinputandoutputangularvelocitiesare
equalatallanglesofrotation.AsimilarjointistheBendixWeissjoint.
TheRzeppajointconsistsofasphericalballandsocketconnectedbysixsteelballsthatruninlongitudinalgroovesintheballandsocket,andwhichareheldinacagebetween
theballandsocket.Oneshaftisconnectedwiththesocket,theotherwiththeball,usuallybyasplinedshaftallowingsomelongitudinalmotion.Thecagealwaysassumesa
positionmakingequalangleswiththeinputandoutputshafts.Thisisprobablytheresultoftheshapeofthegroovesinwhichtheballsmove(asintheBendixWeissjoint,which
usesfourballsandacentralballtohandlethethrust),butIdonotknowthereasonforthisexactlyintheRzeppajoint.Asthejointrotates,theindividualballsmovebackwards
andforwardsalongthegrooves,withgreateramplitudesforgreaterangles.
Thepositionoftheballsisindicatedinthefigureontheright.Theinputshaftrotatestheballs,whichdrivetheoutputshaft.Sincetherelationoftheballstotheshaftsisthe
sameforinputandoutput,theymustrevolveatthesamerate.Whentheanglebetweentheshaftsiszero,theballsareintheequatorialplaneandonlyrotateabouttheaxis,not
movingbackwardsandforwardsinthegrooves.Centrifugalforcewouldkeeptheballsinthedesiredlocation,butIamnotsureifitcanbereliedupontodothis.
CVjointsareusuallylubricatedwithMoS2grease,andgiveremarkablylittletrouble.
http://mysite.du.edu/~etuttle/tech/cv.htm

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HowaCVJointWorks

References
WikipediaarticleontheCVjoint.
C.Carmichael,ed.,Kent'sMechanicalEngineers'Handbook ,(NewYork:JohnWiley&Sons,1950),12thed.,Designand
ProductionVolume,p.1528.

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ComposedbyJ.B.Calvert
Created25January2007
Lastrevised

http://mysite.du.edu/~etuttle/tech/cv.htm

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