A power take-off or power takeoff (PTO) is a term for methods of taking power from an operating power source, such as a running engine, which can be used to provide power to attachments or separate machines.
Most commonly, it is a splined driveshaft on a tractor or truck designed so that a PTO shaft, a kind of drive shaft, can be easily connected and disconnected. The power take-off allows implements to draw energy from the engine.
Semi-permanently mounted power take-offs can also be found on industrial and marine engines. These applications typically use a drive shaft and bolted joint to transmit power to a secondary implement or accessory. In the case of a marine application, such shafts may be used to power fire pumps.
In aircraft applications, such an accessory drive may be used in conjunction with a constant speed drive. Jet aircraft may have permanently installed PTO shafts which are used to power engine accessories. In some cases, aircraft power take-off systems also provide for putting power into the engine during engine start.
Read more about Power Take-off: History, Safety, Technical Standardization, Commercial Vehicle PTOs
Famous quotes containing the word power:
“There is a Restlessness springing from the consciousness of power not fully utilized, which must be present wherever there is unused power of whatever kind. This is the restlessness of the germ within the seed, struggling upward and downward towards its proper life. ... it is a striving full of pain, the cutting of tender flesh by the fetters of the captive as he struggles against their pitilessness.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)