Drive shaft

[3] Here, the term refers to the shaft transmitting power from the machine's wheels to the gear train that works the cutting mechanism.

[5] In 1899, Bukey used the term to describe the shaft transmitting power from the wheel to the driven machinery by a universal joint in his Horse-Power.

[7] Crompton used the term to refer to the shaft between the transmission of his steam-powered Motor Vehicle of 1903 and the driven axle.

A pair of short drive shafts is commonly used to send power from a central differential, transmission, or transaxle to the wheels.

Some vehicles (generally sports cars, such as the Chevrolet Corvette C5/C6/C7, Alfa Romeo Alfetta and Porsche 924/944/928), seeking improved weight balance between front and rear, use a rear-mounted transaxle.

In some non-Porsche models, this places the clutch and transmission at the rear of the car and the drive shaft between them and the engine.

However, the Porsche 924/944/928 models have the clutch mounted to the back of the engine in a bell housing and the drive shaft from the clutch output, located inside of a hollow protective torque tube, transfers power to the rear mounted transaxle (transmission + differential).

So for Porsche, when the driver is using the clutch while briskly shifting up or down (manual transmission), the engine can rev freely with the driver's accelerator pedal input, since with the clutch disengaged, the engine and flywheel inertia is relatively low and is not burdened with the added rotational inertia of the driveshaft.

In some larger vehicles, the transfer box was centrally mounted and was itself driven by a short drive shaft.

This type of brake is prone to failure and has led to incidents where the truck has run away on a slope, leading to safety alerts being issued.

BMW has produced shaft drive motorcycles since 1923; and Moto Guzzi have built shaft-drive V-twins since the 1960s.

The British company, Triumph and the major Japanese brands, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha, have produced shaft drive motorcycles.

Bikes from Moto Guzzi and BMW, plus the Triumph Rocket III and Honda ST series all use this engine layout.

This effect, which is the opposite of that exhibited by chain-drive motorcycles, is counteracted with systems such as BMW's Paralever, Moto Guzzi's CARC and Kawasaki's Tetra Lever.

Shafts can be made of stainless steel[16] or composite[17] materials depending on what type of ship will install them.

A shaft-driven bicycle (or "Acatène", from an early maker) has several advantages and disadvantages: Drive shafts are one method of transferring power from an engine and PTO to vehicle-mounted accessory equipment, such as an air compressor.

The filament winding production process is gaining popularity for the creation of composite drive shafts.