Backlash eliminating mechanism

thingiverse

This innovative system cancels out vibrations entirely. Its design is inspired by the 1927 Bugatti Royale's mechanism that contributed significantly to the engine's silence. The system consists of three interconnected gears. The first gear, which serves as input, drives the second gear, or main output. Meanwhile, the second gear powers the third gear, positioned adjacent to the first gear. The idea behind this setup is for the tooth on the output gear driven by the first gear to be wedged between a tooth from the first gear and a tooth from the third gear, effectively preventing it from moving. The clever aspect of the system lies in how the third gear is secured against the second gear. Instead of employing a standard friction pad attached to the frame, which would generate massive amounts of heat due to friction force multiplied by traveled distance, it utilizes a friction pad attached to the first gear. Given that the first gear boasts 80 teeth while the third gear has 81, the latter rotates at nearly the same speed as the first gear relative to the frame but at only about 1/80th of that speed relative to the first gear. By using a friction pad with similar friction force, it applies the same force on the backside of the second gear's teeth as a regular friction pad attached to the frame would, albeit releasing only 1/80th of the heat. <b>Note: The actual backlash reduction capabilities of the printable model heavily depend on printer tolerances. Furthermore, the impact this mechanism has on backlash may not be noticeable if there is minimal initial backlash between gears. It's worth noting that 3D printed gears often have larger teeth than intended due to printing limitations.</b>