Ball-worm transmission
AssigneeDouglas Holtz
InventorsDan Stoianovici, Louis Kavoussi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ball-worm transmission is provided which replaces the sliding friction of the classic worm mechanism with the rolling friction of spherical balls. The ball-worm transmission assembly includes a worm which defines a recirculation path, and a gear coupled to the worm via a plurality of spherical balls. The gear includes a plurality of teeth each having a thickness in a central plane of the gear and a lesser thickness towards both sides of the gear, so that a gap is defined between the teeth is larger towards both sides of the gear than in the central plane of the gear.
Claims18
A ball-worm transmission assembly comprising:
- a worm;
- and
- a gear coupled to the worm via a plurality of spherical balls;
- wherein the worm defines a ball recirculation path;
- and
- wherein the gear comprises a plurality of teeth each having a thickness in a central plane of the gear and a lesser thickness towards both sides of the gear, so that a gap is defined between the teeth which is larger towards both sides of the gear than in the central plane of the gear.
A ball-worm transmission assembly comprising:
- a worm having a worm part and a peg part which are concentrically coupled to each other, and which together define a ball recirculation path;
- and
- a gear coupled to the worm via a plurality of spherical balls which are recirculated along the recirculation path;
- and
- wherein the peg part is positioned entirely within the worm part.
A ball worm transmission assembly comprising:
- a worm having a worm part and a peg part which are concentrically coupled to each other, and which together define a ball recirculation path;
- and
- a gear coupled to the worm via a plurality of spherical balls which are recirculated along the recirculation path;
- and
- at least one recirculation port built into the worm part of the worm;
- wherein the at least one recirculation port comprises a path deflection boss for forcing the spherical balls to enter the recirculation path.
A ball worm transmission assembly comprising:
- a worm;
- and
- a gear coupled to the worm via a plurality of spherical balls;
- wherein the worm defines a ball recirculation path;
- and
- wherein the gear comprises a plurality of teeth having a double circular profile defined by two circular profiles of different diameters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.