worm gear radial clutch mechanism

Abstract

This invention discloses a radial clutch mechanism for a worm gear, comprising a housing, a worm wheel, a worm assembly, and at least one return element. The housing has at least one groove; the worm assembly includes a worm and at least one first support bearing, which directly or indirectly supports the worm and is slidably accommodated within the groove, allowing the worm assembly to move relative to the worm wheel between a first position and a second position. The return element is located within the groove and applies a preload to the first support bearing towards the worm wheel, causing the worm assembly to be positioned at the first position, and causing the meshing section of the worm to mesh with the teeth of the worm wheel, forming an engaged state. When an external load is applied to the worm wheel, a reverse force opposite to the preload is generated between the worm wheel and the worm; when the reverse force is greater than the preload, the worm assembly moves from the first position along the groove to the second position, thereby disengaging the worm from the worm wheel. Therefore, this new invention, through the radial clutch mechanism between the worm and the worm wheel, can avoid excessive external loads from continuously acting on the meshing tooth surface, thereby reducing the risk of tooth surface damage and structural failure.

Claims

1. A worm gear radial clutch mechanism, comprising: a housing having at least one groove therein; a worm gear rotatably disposed in the housing; a worm assembly including a worm and at least one first support bearing, the worm having a meshing section for meshing with the worm gear, the first support bearing directly or indirectly supporting the worm and slidably accommodated in the groove, allowing the worm assembly to move relative to the worm gear between a first position and a second position; and at least one return element located in the groove, cooperating with the housing and the first support bearing, and directly or indirectly applying a preload to the first support bearing in the direction of the worm gear, so that the worm assembly is located in the first position, and the meshing section meshes with the teeth of the worm gear to form a meshing state; wherein... When an external load is applied to the worm wheel, a reverse force is generated between the worm wheel and the worm, which is opposite to the direction of the preload. When the reverse force is greater than the preload, the worm gear assembly overcomes the preload applied by the return element and moves from the first position to the second position along the groove, thereby increasing the center distance between the worm and the worm wheel, and disengaging the meshing section from the teeth of the worm wheel.

2. The worm gear radial clutch mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein, The return element is an elastic return element. A boss is protruding on one side of the first support bearing. One end of the elastic return element abuts against the boss, and the other end abuts against one end face of the slide groove, so as to apply the preload to the first support bearing in the direction toward the worm gear.

3. The worm gear radial clutch mechanism as described in claim 2, wherein, The elastic restoring element is a compression spring, one end of which is sleeved or positioned on the boss, and the compression direction of the compression spring corresponds to the direction in which the worm gear assembly moves from the first position to the second position.

4. The worm gear radial clutch mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein, The slide has a stop at one end away from the worm gear, which abuts against the first support bearing to limit the maximum displacement of the worm gear assembly toward the second position.

5. The worm gear radial clutch mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein, The worm gear assembly has a first support bearing at each of its opposite ends. The first support bearings directly or indirectly support the worm. The housing has two sliding grooves, which correspond to the first support bearings. There are two return elements, which apply a preload toward the worm wheel to the first support bearings to make the opposite ends of the worm gear assembly move synchronously between the first position and the second position.

6. The worm gear radial clutch mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein, The worm gear assembly further includes a driven gear connected to one end of the worm and used to drive the worm to rotate. When the worm gear assembly moves from the first position to the second position along the slide groove, the driven gear moves along the slide groove together with the worm and the first support bearing.

7. The worm gear radial clutch mechanism as described in claim 6, wherein, The driven gear has a polygonal inner hole, and one end of the worm has a polygonal transmission section inserted into the polygonal inner hole. The polygonal inner hole and the polygonal transmission section are interlocked to restrict the relative rotation between the driven gear and the worm, so that the driven gear drives the worm to rotate.

8. The radial clutch mechanism of the worm gear as described in claim 6 further includes a drive motor and a drive gear, the drive motor being disposed in the housing and connected to the drive gear, and the drive gear meshing with the driven gear to drive the worm gear to rotate sequentially via the driven gear and the worm.

9. The worm gear radial clutch mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein, The resetting element is either an elastic resetting element or a magnetic resetting element. The elastic resetting element applies the pre-pressure by means of elastic restoring force, while the magnetic resetting element applies the pre-pressure by means of magnetic attraction or magnetic repulsion.

10. The worm gear radial clutch mechanism as described in claim 1 further includes two second support bearings respectively sleeved on opposite sides of the worm gear, and the housing is provided with positioning grooves for accommodating the second support bearings respectively, so as to restrict the displacement of the worm gear relative to the housing and allow the worm gear to rotate in place relative to the housing.

11. The worm gear radial clutch mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein, The housing includes a first housing member and a second housing member that engage with each other, the first housing member and the second housing member together defining the slide groove so that the first support bearing is slidably confined within the slide groove.

12. The worm gear radial clutch mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein, The worm gear has a stop section that abuts against one of the at least one first support bearing to restrict axial movement of the worm gear relative to the first support bearing.

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