This paper discusses ways to improve the kinematic accuracy of worm gears in batch production. Worm gears are used in applications where high positioning accuracy, uniform motion and vibration damping is required. The paper focuses on three main methods: design changes, manufacturing process improvements and assembly optimization. Design changes aim to reduce dimensional and shape deviations of worm and worm wheel surfaces, with focus on the axially flexible worm design, which allows for minimizing backlash without disassembly. Manufacturing refinements, especially helical surface grinding, improve gear accuracy and durability. The developed algorithm for small batch production allows for selecting components based on specific criteria and thus improves overall production quality. With respect to optimization, the backlash ranges between 2 and 22 micrometers, meaning that its entire range is 20 micrometers. However, after optimizing, the backlash range falls between 7 and 10 micrometers, depending on the criterion for optimization, which amounts to about 50 to 65 percent of the initial range. The methods and algorithms are universal and can be used in small batch and large scale production. They bring economic benefits by reducing production costs and downtime through easy backlash adjustment.
Kacalak et al. (Thu,) studied this question.