Wikipedia
A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft is a mechanical component for transmitting torque and rotation, usually used to connect other components of a drive train that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement between them.
As torque carriers, drive shafts are subject to torsion and shear stress, equivalent to the difference between the input torque and the load. They must therefore be strong enough to bear the stress, whilst avoiding too much additional weight as that would in turn increase their inertia.
To allow for variations in the alignment and distance between the driving and driven components, drive shafts frequently incorporate one or more universal joints, jaw couplings, or rag joints, and sometimes a splined joint or prismatic joint.
Usage examples of "drive shaft".
His motile surrogates of himself tended to be cross-shapeda man with arms outstretchedlike early airplanes, or four-limbed like the drive shaft and two axles of a wheeled vehicle at right angles, or, in the ultimate subconscious distillation, male symbols like rockets or female symbols like boats.
That's where the drive shaft, just like the propeller shaft, joints the axle.
I led him, protesting, down the ladder to the engine room, to the lower level at the fusion drive shaft.
Would you have it lined up on the drive shaft of the rotor of the lead helicopter - that's to say, the one furthest from you.
Strong cast-iron hubs mounted on the drive shaft had sockets attached to wooden arms that extended outward to a diameter of 10 meters (33 feet).
Curious, the driver stepped to the ground and crouched down next to Pitt, who was staring intently at the drive shaft.
She dusted off bits of blackened char between the two and three couplings, then continued down the drive shaft.