Name of a mechanical part

daigo75

Hi all,
I think my question is a bit on the silly side, but I need find the name of a mechanical part which I cannot even name in my native language. It's actually quite common, it's a join formed by two parts that have "teeth" (or grooves, depending on the design). By loosening the two parts, one can rotate the joint to alter its angle, then lock it by tightening the two parts back together.

Thanks in advance for all the suggestions.

slowburner

A gear?

daigo75

It's not a gear. The purpose of a gear is to transmit a rotational movement, while this component has teeth only to lock the two parts in place.

slowburner

A picture's worth a thousand words.

Capri86

Like a vernier pulley?

daigo75

slowburner wrote: »

A picture's worth a thousand words.

True, but I can't find one. I'll probably have to draw one myself.

DanWall

I am thinking of a "Spline" like a kick start on a motor bike

Alun

I know exactly what you mean, OP, but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called. For the other posters, it's hard to explain it but here goes ...

Imagine that you have two mechanical parts one fixed, the other movable. The fixed part has a threaded shaft, and the movable part has a hole in it that fits over the shaft and is fixed in place by a nut. So far so good, that's pretty commonplace, but what the OP is talking about is a step up from that where both parts have either radial grooves, or teeth around the shaft and the hole, that engage with each other when the two parts are locked together, allowing you to position the movable part into a fixed number of locked positions.

I'm sure I've see something similar on some woodworking machinery somewhere recently, but can't remember where I saw it.

tac foley

A lot of bicycle saddles fit with a clamp like that.

tac

Alun

tac foley wrote: »

A lot of bicycle saddles fit with a clamp like that.

Well, spotted, yes, you're right!

pickarooney

I think I know exactly what this is but can't put a name on it or remember exactly where I've seen one. I was thinking of a bike or some Ikea furniture...

Is it maybe a swivel joint like this? The second set of images is a bit clearer.

DanWall

Alun wrote: »

I know exactly what you mean, OP, but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called. For the other posters, it's hard to explain it but here goes ...

Imagine that you have two mechanical parts one fixed, the other movable. The fixed part has a threaded shaft, and the movable part has a hole in it that fits over the shaft and is fixed in place by a nut. So far so good, that's pretty commonplace, but what the OP is talking about is a step up from that where both parts have either radial grooves, or teeth around the shaft and the hole, that engage with each other when the two parts are locked together, allowing you to position the movable part into a fixed number of locked positions.

I'm sure I've see something similar on some woodworking machinery somewhere recently, but can't remember where I saw it.

Like I said a SPLINE

Alun

DanWall wrote: »

Like I said a SPLINE

Not really. A spline (at least as I normally use the term) has grooves running along the length of a shaft. That's not really what I was (unsuccesfully, obviously!) trying to describe.

daigo75

I found a picture of the part! I had to look with all synonyms in all languages I know, but here it is:


In the picture, the two parts have square teeth, but, more often, they have rounded teeth or just grooves. A knob is normally fitted to screw them together and hold them in place. In Italian it seems to be called "flexible joint" or, in some cases, "clamp joint" (a literal translation would be "jaw joint"), but I guess its English name must be different.

Earthhorse

If you do a GIS on this it seems to be called a "flexible coupling". That's at a glance now.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbs=sbi:AMhZZisulzkUfQXlF923DX5eaSNF5gutTqWnBgfUhdq7JJUjoxZxw_1zQJ8bPOVJ0Pl3gdwz37oxFEUubRWcjzIp0Dh2akqGlXklAmLKs4qkrAM96X46PF65dk9TWJy4aCFnzUoYcxRArS4f6C3AEVhZ1GG2RL-Zi2smhDVVt-JBb6qs3bD3vPMybZwLseNUpU69GrBv-S68XITY9nAlmfGGhKRBBiJvS8yc9Phhc-ArP48LqWrGMzqNhkjfzyAJ-ugbmyRy6Ijs5qdiatedPs4P0-OQNnCbbjxRI0oW19Uv8T242YlPtw7hOdh3xmH6oYWhTR9gyR4irsYYSJ8WkOsNo0AHEzj52v5sJspW9AfrXyGjS3XDFaXcd9pF_1mOKRLbmU9-tgUI2JNSrXH1lMAjSjLQx5-gvfwZFa9i_1egicNMS6VaXoAVY0GL4-Q8Rro9kCRHLQkE7eM6RpXHb6_1smY1SqRqqm-yIo5SCU_18PJAXJGIA20GKA2Rgn21XguSEEkFEu9N1iN3gPX5UB40ntLI9zdhgXknuXMZKRMRkYH2stfb_16txEEJtFDBycgXeSchisILAqNVCWm15W_1QBeAtUM3nAMDjctk-var-_1Gt5bwpsFnVMPLGavZeAod-czD4oxOiI1AXU4evoMSmUSRr50M0qyHeEky5zzuJcuRKGzbKNfde2KXoMGtu-V8Az5CHrc7FfK8dAeIedh-b-poEktzIxYOUvtmBgB6rXYrXWGp4XBoHFTXks5ahxa7Xx0jwoW58QzA0s4EC7algVGLrqEBae3ity06cWjVXg08_1hHmd8QFYZ7i-OLKRNbV62nkwu7hc92D7AdqG-Mar6Hu3SksQ5hRUDBpfQB4uVb0yfVf6h_1DTpC1d4PGB3RcjgZKiRUcd7PfdKFP-o5xLpEgDn5S8An8DyYjIZ1bgE0YrZhFziP6b6hnM2Q_1RWW_1zUHRI3CnMYmv-perH1BR-w6Br43NeY_1JQ7l98DabkqMbIwLvbRFXIUaASSoZKwIM7Uv8CV8ECvRPZpyIpMTRhRCiwPIkzW8l_1hi1p9wCU5fRea0DfPCDAzIwb3dkzYwVCYkqhR1Vp2JuHNsqncYjanJ93nKMGdhZKmTaRSBJkVXvbEkRqWAtifN4lpB1TkYsITupNMk7791EyItgPLUlwJF38rrCyD-mrFPFAStQAarUmCLT2XmNi1WjcNSOZUs2Ue3HmSOsJVl84RDT30xQK3iRaRVsDDHRJUoKm0hRyK2mXpsbriAJ9dmzpDIX5jW7nbCnqRtDGcef6Zq30BIuYJwC5wuak_1B2uSw-MQ&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=625&gbv=2&site=search&sa=X&ei=n_-PT_71BsbbsgaI65CuBA&ved=0CEAQ9Q8

firefly08

A device like that is often called a "dog clutch" in English, but that's usually when it's used in an engine or gearbox. I'm guessing that's not what you had in mind here, but mechanically it looks the same to me.