Worm wheel | Patent Publication Number 20130199325
US 20130199325 A1Each tooth of a worm wheel has a first tooth flank in which a helical surface portion is arranged on one side in a rotational axis direction of the worm wheel and a concavely curved surface portion is arranged on the other side in the rotational axis direction, and a second tooth flank in which a concavely curved surface portion is arranged on the one side in the rotational axis direction and the helical surface portion is arranged on the other side in the rotational axis direction.
- 1. A worm wheel that has a plurality of teeth that mesh with teeth of a worm gear, and in which each of a tooth flank on one side of each of the teeth in a rotational direction and a tooth flank on the other side of each of the teeth in the rotational direction has a helical surface portion and a concavely curved surface portion, the helical surface portion having a same shape as a tooth flank of a helical gear, and the concavely curved surface portion having a shape that follows a convexly curved tooth flank of the worm gear, wherein:nthe tooth flanks includes a first tooth flank in which the helical surface portion is arranged on one side in a rotational axis direction of the worm wheel and the concavely curved surface portion is arranged on the other side in the rotational axis direction, and a second tooth flank in which the concavely curved surface portion is arranged on the one side in the rotational axis direction and the helical surface portion is arranged on the other side in the rotational axis direction; andthe first tooth flank is arranged so as to face the second tooth flank, and the second tooth flank is arranged so as to face the first tooth flank.
This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-023973 filed on Feb. 7, 2012 the disclosure of which, including the specification, drawings and abstract, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a worm wheel.
2. Discussion of Background
In some electric power steering systems in which rotation of a steering assist force generating motor is transmitted to wheels via a worm gear and a worm wheel that meshes with the worm gear such that the steered angle is changed, the worm wheel is made of synthetic resin material to achieve weight reduction and noise reduction.
Conventionally, the worm wheel is formed by subjecting synthetic resin material to hobbing. However, hobbing produces a large amount of burrs, and a large number of man-hours are required to remove the burrs. Also, torque variations or abnormal noise may be caused depending on the degree of surface roughness of a machined surface. Therefore, a high processing accuracy is required, which increases the number of man-hours.
Accordingly, the worm wheel may be formed by molding. However, in each tooth of a commonly-used worm wheel, a center portion in the tooth trace direction has a smaller tooth thickness and larger tooth height than both end portions, Therefore, it is not possible to remove a molded worm wheel from a molding die in the tooth trace direction. Therefore, in order to mold a worm wheel, it is necessary to form a molding die from many components that are arranged in parallel with each other in the rotational circumferential direction of the worm wheel, and remove the molding die in the radial direction of the worm wheel. This makes the structure of a molding die considerably complex, thus increasing the manufacturing costs and reducing the molding accuracy.
Therefore, as shown in
In the conventional worm wheel 100 described above, the helical surface portions 101a′, 101b′ are arranged on one side of each of all of the tooth flanks 101a, 101b, respectively, in the rotational axis direction, and the concavely curved surface portions 101a″, 101b″ are arranged on the other side of each of all the tooth flanks 101a, 101b, respectively, in the rotational axis direction. Therefore, a tooth thickness c of an end portion of the helical surface portion and a tooth thickness d of an end portion of concavely curved surface portion are different from each other, thereby causing variations in strength within each tooth. Moreover, because tooth flanks 102 of a worm gear are convexly curved surfaces as illustrated by a chain double-dashed line in
The invention provides a worm wheel of which the strength is constant in the rotational axis direction and which smoothly transmits rotation.
According to a feature of an example of the invention, a first tooth flank and a second tooth flank are arranged so as to face each other in a worm wheel. In the first tooth flank, a helical surface portion is arranged on one side in a rotational axis direction of the worm wheel, and a concavely curved surface portion is arranged on the other side in the rotational axis direction. In the second tooth flank, a concavely curved surface portion is arranged on the one side in the rotational axis direction of the worm wheel, and the helical surface portion is arranged on the other side in the rotational axis direction.
The foregoing and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals are used to represent like elements and wherein:
Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A power steering system P shown in
The input shaft 3 and the output shaft 4 constitute part of the steering shaft S, and are supported by the sensor housing 2 via a bearing 6a and a bearing 6b, respectively. A steering assist force generating motor M is attached to the sensor housing 2. A metal sleeve 9 and a worm wheel 10 made of synthetic resin are rotatably provided on the output shaft 4. A worm gear 11 that meshes with the worm wheel 10 is driven by the steering assist force generating motor M. The motor M is controlled by a control unit (not shown) based on the steering torque detected by the torque sensor 1. As rotation of the motor M is transmitted to the wheels via the worm gear 11, the worm wheel 10, and the steering shaft S such that the steered angle is changed, a steering assist force based on the steering torque is applied.
As illustrated in
As shown in
In the tooth flank 10a, the helical surface portion 10a′ is arranged on one side (right side in
In the tooth flank 10b, the helical surface portion 10b′ is arranged on the other side (left side in
As illustrated in
The worm wheel 10 may be formed by, for example, injection molding. By inserting the sleeve 9 in a molding die that is used for the molding, the worm wheel 10 and the sleeve 9 are integrated with each other. As indicated by a dashed line in
In the worm wheel 10 described above, the helical surface portion 10a′ is arranged on one side of the first tooth flank 10a in the rotational axis direction, and the concavely curved surface portion 10a″ is arranged on the other side of the first tooth flank 10a in the rotational axis direction. In the second tooth flank 10b, the concavely curved surface portion 10b″ is arranged on one side in the rotational axis direction, and the helical surface portion 10b′ is arranged on the other side in the rotational axis direction. Therefore, at a position where the tooth flank 11A of the worm gear 11 comes into contact with the first tooth flank 10a, a biasing direction of the force that is applied to the worm wheel 10 from the worm gear 11 is opposite to that at a position where the tooth flank 11A comes into contact with the second tooth flank 10b. Hence, bias of force that is applied to the worm wheel 10 form the worm gear 11 is suppressed. In addition, at the concavely curved surface portions 10a″, 10b″, the tooth height direction and the distance between the tooth flanks that face each other are increased toward the boundaries with the helical surface portions 10a′, 10b′, and the tooth height direction and the distance between the tooth flanks that face each other are constant at the helical surface portions 10a′, 10b′ in the tooth trace direction. Therefore, it is possible to remove the molded worm wheel 10 in the tooth trace direction of the helical surface portions 10a′, 10b′. For the molding, the molding die 30 according to the above-described embodiment is suitably used. One of the first tooth flanks 10a and one of the second tooth flanks 10b come into contact with the tooth flanks of the teeth 11A of the worm gear 11 simultaneously, whereby bias of force that is applied to the worm wheel 10 from the worm gear 11 is suppressed.
With the method of forming the worm wheel described above, it is possible to form the grooves in the tooth flanks simultaneously with molding of the worm wheel. By retaining the lubricant in the grooves, the lubricant that lubricates the tooth flanks is always supplied on the tooth flanks, and low torque is stably ensured. Thus, abrasion and creep are reduced, and durability is enhanced,