Why does the slewing drive have to have gear backlash?

The gear type slewing drive designed and produced by U-TRSM generally has backlash, and even precision slewing drives still have backlash, which is relatively small. So why does the slewing drive have to have gear backlash?

First of all, let us understand what is no gear backlash: No backlash meshing means that when the gears mesh, there is no backlash between the gear grooves of the two gears, and this type of meshing can effectively reduce the noise and vibration between the gears and improve the transmission efficiency and precision.

However, there are certain drawbacks to having no backlash: Firstly, because there is no backlash between the gear meshing, it requires higher technical level and precision in assembly and maintenance; secondly, it is susceptible to external shocks and vibrations in the transmission process.

In the practical application and design of slewing drive, the no gear backlash design has always been the most ideal state. During the production process, due to inevitable gear manufacturing errors, installation errors, as well as elastic and thermal deformation of gears during operation, it is necessary to leave a small amount of gear backlash between gear profiles to compensate for errors and deformation, and to store lubricating oil to facilitate gear lubrication.

Therefore, in order to prevent the gear top circle of a gear from colliding with the gear root circle of another gear during operation, and to facilitate oil storage and lubrication, we need to leave a backlash between the two gears to ensure the normal operation of the two gears.

The size of the backlash is ensured by the gear thickness tolerance based on the working conditions and accuracy requirements of the gear. However, when designing gears and calculating their nominal dimensions, the calculation is still based on no backlash meshing.