A New Orthogonal Skew-Axis Drive With Face Gear and Cylindrical Worm: Mathematical Model, Geometric Synthesis and Generation Method

Although classical, orthogonal worm gears are the most popular type of skew-axes gears used for high power transmissions an offset worm meshed with a face gear becomes a solution when very high ratio and a compact design is required. The aim of this work is to present a new orthogonal skew-axis drive, named the worm-plane wheel drive, which consists of a cylindrical ZK-type worm and a worm-face gear with teeth curved in a lengthwise direction, capable of high load-carrying capacity and relatively low cost even in low mass-production, as an alternative solution for a well-known Helicon gear drive. Through a mathematical model, based on 3D CAD simulation, the kinematic synthesis explains the background of this original gear drive. Based on the pitch point mathematical model, the geometric synthesis enables determination of worm-face gear drive specific, geometrical parameters used in the gear pair design. Presentation of some numerical examples completes the developed theory and illustrates the possibility of practical applications of this new gear drive, as well as certain advantages of this particular solution over the other well-known solutions from its class.