Improved rack and pinion drive

A typical rack and pinion drive set is comprised of a rack and a pinion. There is an inter-tooth clearance between the mating teeth of the rack and the pinion, which has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage of this clearance is the errors that occur in the positioning of the machine tool during set-up. Elimination of clearance between teeth is possible by using a pinion drive with two pinions. This ensures continuous contact between the teeth, regardless of the direction of machine movement.

These are found on new machines, while older machines do not have such a solution. This paper presents a solution with two pinions, which can be used in such older machines and which makes it possible to achieve qualitative parameters that were not possible before.