universal coupling, U-joint, Cardan joint, Spicer or Hardy Spicer joint, or Hooke's joint
Interactive animation of a Universal Joint, which demonstrates the interaction between the forks and the crosshead, to change the direction of rotation of the axis in a Cardan Axis.
Cardan Axis- Universal Joint
Basically, the Universal Joint is composed of two forks, sometimes called forks, ears, etc., and a cruciform piece called a crosshead. Each axis of the crosshead allows a fork to rotate around it. This combination allows the Cardan Shaft to change the direction of the rotation axis without changing the direction of rotation.
– The interactive arrows allow you to change the speed of the axis rotation for easy viewing;
– The left arrow slows down until the rotation stops;
– With the Universal Joint stopped, clicking the smaller arrows allows for smooth positioning;
Universal Joint, composed of two forks and a crosshead, element of the Cardan Axis
I’m working hard to convert the animations to HTML5, and with this one is no different, for now, please see the dynamics of a Universal Board in this video.