ROTATING SHAFT ENGAGE / DISENGAGE

You are describing the standard behaviour of a multi-spindle
CNC-controlled lathe, with two headstocks, each headstock with
pneumatically-controlled chucks.

Put £100,000 in envelope A and one could be yours.

Gee, that sounds easy enough. I hope they offer a lay-away plan.

I can see it now, my old juke box platter going up and down , then it ingages
and starts spinning.

The question is, how much torque is needed.

greg

I don't have the calculations but it's a 35 lb cart,  4 wheel drive w/
4" dia wheels at 0.75 ft/sec on max. 6% slope.
 2 rear wheels drive  for 12" while 2 front wheels disengage ( temp ,
non-driven supports decend ) to move past objects , then re-engage
with 4 wheel drive for norm running.

    --Made something like this many moons ago. The secret to alignment
is to make a 'ball and-multiple-socket' arrangement so that misalignments
slide down the slope of contact of mating male and female hemispheres until
they're tight at the bottom. Does that make sense?

--
        "Steamboat Ed" Haas         :  Imagine what I could do if
        Hacking the Trailing Edge!  :  I knew what I was doing...
                          www.nmpproducts.com
                   ---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

I think it does. Sounds like something that needs to be coustom made
in machine shop but doable. If I understand you, It would be perhaps
be a jaw type coupling with no connections between halves. Modified to
male female hemispheres, male with 1/4" ball on shaft centered in
coupling & proutruding +- 3/4" beyond face of coupling half. female
side with cone shaped receptor centered in coupling from coupling
diameter to 1/4",   recessed +- 3/4" behind face of coupling.So that
if proutruding ball strikes anywhere within dia. of female side , it
is forced into centering position by the cone receptor. Is that right?

    --Yeah, you've got it. Works better if you can keep the parts on a
common shaft to increase alignment potential. Did this when the company I
worked for at the time made a thingy to turn a multiple-start thread on a
part.

--
        "Steamboat Ed" Haas         :  Imagine what I could do if
        Hacking the Trailing Edge!  :  I knew what I was doing...
                          www.nmpproducts.com
                   ---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---