Backlash-Compensating Clock Wheel with Segmented Flexible Teeth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing clockwork mechanisms face challenges in achieving minimal backlash and reducing torque consumption and wear, particularly when reversing direction, due to center distance variations and sensitivity to wear in flexible tooth designs.
Innovation Solution
A reversible gear train with a backlash-compensating wheel featuring pairs of teeth with varying pitches, where the smallest pitch is less than the tooth width and the largest pitch is greater, allowing for pinching and eliminating clearances, and using flexible arms to manage torque and wear effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If flexible teeth are used to compensate for center distance variations and eliminate backlash, then meshing precision is improved, but torque consumption increases and wear sensitivity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gear wheel is segmented into multiple pairs of teeth, where each pair consists of one flexible tooth and one rigid tooth. This segmentation allows the system to distribute the backlash compensation function across multiple elements, reducing the torque burden on individual flexible teeth while maintaining overall meshing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the gear wheel have different tooth properties - alternating between flexible and rigid teeth. This local quality differentiation optimizes the balance between backlash compensation (handled by flexible teeth) and torque efficiency (handled by rigid teeth), preventing excessive torque consumption while eliminating meshing play.
2Measurement precision
If flexible teeth are used to eliminate backlash, then meshing precision is improved, but wear resistance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The gear wheel alternates between flexible and rigid teeth in pairs, segmenting the wear-bearing functions. Rigid teeth handle high-load contact and resist wear, while flexible teeth provide backlash compensation during lower-stress phases, distributing wear across different tooth types and improving overall durability.
Solution Approach 2:
By assigning different material properties to different tooth locations (rigid vs. flexible), the system optimizes wear resistance at critical contact points while maintaining backlash elimination functionality. The rigid teeth provide wear resistance where needed, while flexible teeth handle precision positioning.
3Measurement precision
If alternating rigid and flexible teeth are used, then backlash is eliminated, but the design becomes sensitive to wear and direction changes
Solution Approach 1:
The gear wheel uses pairs of teeth with alternating rigid and flexible properties, creating a segmented pattern that maintains backlash elimination in both rotation directions. Each pair works symmetrically to compensate for center distance variations regardless of rotation direction, improving adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The asymmetric arrangement of rigid and flexible teeth within pairs creates different mechanical behaviors for clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation, but the alternating pattern ensures that backlash compensation functions effectively in both directions, enhancing directional adaptability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution achieves backlash-free meshing in both directions with minimal torque consumption and reduced wear, suitable for high rotational speeds and low torque applications, enhancing the efficiency and reliability of clockwork mechanisms.
Implementation Method 1
a first flexible tooth (4) and a second tooth (5)... each second tooth (5) being flexible
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A backlash-compensating clock wheel (10) for meshing with a second set of teeth (21) consisting of second teeth (23) of given width (24) consecutive according to a second constant pitch (P2) on a pitch diameter (22) of an opposing moving part, said wheel (10) comprising, arranged to mesh with said second set of teeth (21), a first set of teeth (11) according to a first pitch circle (12) and comprising a succession of pairs (2) of teeth identical to each other and consecutive according to a first constant pitch (P1) on said first pitch circle (12), each said pair (2) comprising, on either side of a radial axis (3), a first flexible tooth (4) and a second tooth (5). Each said second tooth (5) is a flexible tooth, and the distances (91; 92) measured on said first primitive circle (12) between a said first tooth (4) and a said second tooth (5) successive are different in pairs.