Meshing theory of offsetting Archimedes cylindrical worm drive

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to establish the meshing theory for the offsetting Archimedes cylindrical worm drive, which consists of a cylindrical worm with asymmetric tooth profile and a plane worm gear. The equations of the tooth surfaces, the meshing function, the curvature interference limit function, and the curvature parameters are all obtained for the worm drive. By means of the developed reference-point-based meshing theory, the reference point located strictly on the tooth surfaces of a worm drive is determined via solving the system of nonlinear equations, in which no iteration is needed to perform this process. Based on the location of the reference point, the tooth surface boundaries are ascertained for the plane worm gear. The numerical case is carried out and the conjugate zone, the instantaneous contact lines, and the local meshing property parameters are acquired for the worm drive. The whole thread length of the cylindrical worm can almost be used and the conjugate zone can cover the whole tooth surface of the mating plane worm gear. In the meshing zone, not only the contact stress level between the tooth surfaces is relatively low, but also the lubrication condition is favorable. The comparative study on the meshing properties between the offsetting Archimedes cylindrical worm drive and the Archimedes conical worm drive is carried out.