US Patent 7980123 Test stand with jointed drive shaft

A jointed flexible drive shaft assembly is provided. The drive shaft has at least one flexible joint comprising a yoke connecting two drive shaft components together in a flexible manner which permits angular offsetting of the axis of rotation of one shaft component relative to the axis of rotation of another shaft component while a pilot and pilot bore cooperate to maintain the axes of rotation fixed against relative lateral offset a predetermined amount. The drive shaft assembly may be used on a test stand to couple a driving element with a driven element thereby reducing the need for a precision alignment between the driving and driven elements.