Rack-and-Pinion Drilling Carriage With Radial Force Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ground drilling devices with rack and pinion systems experience heavy wear, leading to reduced service life and increased servicing intervals due to radial forces, which can cause adjustments to tooth tip clearance.
Innovation Solution
A force relieving pathway is introduced to divert radial forces from the gear, allowing for adjustable tooth tip clearance and reduced strain on bearings, thereby enhancing the service life of the gear, rack, and interposed gears by providing a support element to absorb and redirect radial forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a rack and pinion system is used to drive the sled, then the sled can be moved back and forth in the frame, but heavy wear occurs on the rack or pinion due to radial forces
Solution Approach 1:
A support element is introduced as an intermediary component between the gear and the frame. This support element absorbs and redirects the radial forces that would otherwise be transmitted to the rack and pinion, thereby reducing wear on these components while maintaining the sled's movement capability
Solution Approach 2:
The radial force component is extracted from the gear-rack interaction by introducing a separate support structure. The support element takes on the function of bearing radial loads, allowing the gear and rack to focus primarily on transmitting driving forces for sled movement
2Power
If multiple hydraulic motors with planetary gearing are used to drive the sled, then powerful ground drilling can be achieved, but the complexity of the drive system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drive system is segmented into distinct functional components: the hydraulic motor provides rotational power, the gear transforms rotational motion, the support element handles radial forces, and the rack converts gear rotation into sled movement. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining power capability
3Manufacturing precision
If the gear is subjected to radial forces, then the tooth tip clearance may require adjustment, but this decreases the servicing intervals
Solution Approach 1:
The support element is pre-installed and pre-configured to bear radial forces before the gear and rack are fully assembled. This preliminary action ensures that the tooth tip clearance is correctly established without the interference of radial forces, eliminating the need for subsequent adjustments and extending servicing intervals
Data Source
AI summary
A Ground drilling device having a drilling carriage and a sled movable back and forth on the drilling carriage, wherein at least one gear is present for the drive of the sled, whose rotary movement is transformed into a linear movement by means of a rack, wherein a force relieving pathway is provided to relieve the gear of a radially introduced force.