Computerized Design and Generation of Worm Gear Drives with Stable Bearing Contact and Low Transmission Errors

Abstract

The authors propose a new approach for design and generation of low-noise, stable bearing contact gear drive with cylindrical worm. The approach is based on application of an oversized hob and varied plunging of worm generating tool. It is discovered that without plunging positive transmission errors occur (that are unacceptable for favorable conditions of force transmission). A predesigned parabolic function is provided that is able to absorb transmission errors caused by misalignment and reduce the level of vibrations, especially in the case of application of multi-thread worms. The developed approach is tested by computerized simulation of meshing and contact by the developed computer program. The investigation is accomplished for a worm-gear drive with the Klingelnberg type of the worm that is ground by a circular cone, but the proposed approach may be applied for other types of worm gear drives with cylindrical worms.