Support assembly for coupling of universal joint

Claim 1

A support assembly for the coupling of a universal joint comprising: a spider having a hole of large diameter extending through its center, a couplng connected to the spider by needle cases and detachably fittable to a drive shaft or a driven shaft, a drive spindle portion connected to the spider by needle cases and formed in its connected spindle end portion with an inner bore opposed to the hole, a cylinder disposed within the inner bore of the drive spindle portion and operative by fluid pressure, the cylinder including a piston rod operative by the fluid pressure, and support means engageable and disengageable by being controlled by the movement of the piston rod to securely support the coupling on the drive spindle portion, the support means comprising a locking rod fixed to either one of the coupling and the piston rod and extending through the hole with a sufficient radial clearance formed between the rod and the inner periphery of the spider defining the hole and a rod receiving member provided on the other of the coupling and the piston rod and engageable with and disengageable from the free end of the locking rod, the coupling being securely supportable on the drive shaft portion by the engagement between the free end of the locking rod and the rod receiving member.