Worm Drives

Machining of the drive
To make a worm drive, first take a blank of an alloy. A bronze bearing is made in the center of the blank. The hobbing cutter is then used to reduce the diameter of the blank relative to the finished height of the tooth tip on the gear wheel, so the depth of the cut needs to be added to the blank's diameter. The necessary threading tool is grind to cut the worm. The side clearance on the left-hand side of the cutter tip is allowed for the worm's pitch angle. The best finish is put on the cutting tool using a slip stone. Gear blank is then mounted on a turntable that acts as a bearing support. This bearing support is mounted on the rear of the lathe cross-slide with the hobbing cutter mounted between the centers. The two worms are then machined, out of which one is made the cutter and finally the cutter is used to machine the worm gear.


Characteristics
These are compact, heavy-duty drives that offer long-life performance features and simplified maintenance. They include double and triple reduction units. They are available in a variety of configurations for maximum positioning flexibility. They offer good strength and durability. The high strength output shaft assures capacity for high torque and overhung loads.


Applications
They are available to suit the requirement of many applications. For food service and other washdown applications, worm drives are available in durable, non-absorbent white or steel epoxy coatings. They are widely used in computers. The biggest benefit that the worm drive offers is the permanence of data written to them. Software that accompanies a worm drive usually enables to create a virtual drive based on the state of the disk at a given data in the past. They are also popular for backup. Worm cartridges store well and easily for long periods of time.