AUSTRALIA GERMANY SWEDEN

Melbourne (Victoria) Einbeck Bröndby (Copenhagen)

Tel + 61 (03) 9262 3333 Tel + 49 (0) 5562 81164 Tel + 45 43 45 26 11
Fax + 61 (03) 9561 8561 Fax +49 (0) 5562 81163 Fax + 45 43 45 65 92
also at: Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, also at: Bielefeld, Düsseldorf,
Newcastle, Wollongong, Townsville. Kornwestheim. SWITZERLAND
Dübendorf (Zürich)
AUSTRIA KOREA Tel + 41 (1) 824 8484
Vienna Seoul Tel + 41 (1) 824 8411
Tel + 43 (0) 13303484-0 Tel + 822 783 6829 also at: Crissier (Lausanne).
Fax + 43 (0) 13303484-5 Fax +822 784 9322
also at: Kiskörös (Hungary), Jaroslavice UK
(Czech Republic). MALAYSIA Renold Gears, Rochdale
Selangor Darul Ehsan Tel + 44 (0) 1706 751000
BELGIUM Tel + 60 3-5191 9880 Fax + 44 (0) 1706 751001
Brussels Fax + 60 3-5191 9881 e-mail : gears.sales@renold.com
Tel + 32 (0) 2 201 1262 also at: Johor Bharu, Ipoh, Penang.
Fax + 32 (0) 2 203 2210 USA
NETHERLANDS Westfield NY
CANADA Amsterdam Tel + 1 716 326 3121
Brantford (Ontario) Tel + 31 206 146661 Fax + 1 716 326 6121
Tel + 1 519 756 6118 Fax + 31 206 146391
Fax + 1 519 756 1767 WEB
also at: Montreal. NEW ZEALAND www.renold.com
Auckland
CHINA Tel + 64 9 828 5018 E-MAIL
Shanghai Fax + 64 9 828 5019 e-mail : gears.sales@renold.com
Tel + 21 5046 2696 also at: Christchurch.
Fax + 21 5046 2695 For other country distributors
SINGAPORE please contact Renold UK.
DENMARK Singapore
Bröndby (Copenhagen) Tel + 65 6760 2422
Tel + 45 43 45 26 11 Fax + 65 6760 1507
Fax + 45 43 45 65 92
SOUTH AFRICA
FRANCE Benoni
Seclin Tel + 27 11 747 9500
Tel + 33 (0) 320 16 29 29 Fax + 27 11 747 9505
Fax + 33 (0) 320 16 29 00 also at: Witbank.

Superior Gear Technology

www.renold.com
Holroyd
Precision Worm & Helical Gears

Superior Gear Technology

www.renold.com
2 I Renold Precision Gears

Introduction

Over 125 Years of Excellence Unrivalled Accuracy

Over 125 years have elapsed since John Holroyd & Co. Ltd Renold utilise inspection equipment which is unique in its
started to produce machine tools and gears and throughout ability to provide our clients with records of Pitch, Profile
this period the name Holroyd has been associated with the and Transmission graphs.
highest quality in both of these fields. Investment in new state-of-the-art gear production equipment
In the production of worm gearing the unique Holroyd gear has ensured that years of design and manufacturing experience
form is widely respected for its performance and reliability is also backed up by the very latest in CNC machinery and work
in a wide variety of drives, ranging from the screw down methods and supported by modern CAD systems for both
mechanisms in steel mills to the motion actuators of robots used product and tooling design.
in the construction of microchips.
To improve the performance of wormwheel hobbing machines, Comparative Accuracy
Renold developed the Precision Dual Lead Backlash Adjustable Standard DIN 3962 part 2 AGMA 2000 - A88 JIS BS721 part 2 1983
Wormgear Form which is now widely used in rotary tables, cutter Country Germany North America Japan British
drives and machine tool positioning mechanisms. 1
15
2
14
3
13
4 0
12 A
Class/Grade 5 1
11
6 2
7 10 3 B
8 9 4
8
9 5
7 C
10 6

Renold precision wormgears although manufactured to

Approvals BS721 exceed the highest standard class A. They have also
been proven to match and surpass DIN 3962 grade 2.
Renold Gears is BS EN ISO 9001:2000 approved. All products This assures that the accuracy and repeatability of these
are designed and manufactured within this Quality gears are to the highest standards.
Assurance System.
 Renold Precision Gears I3

Applications

People Movement
High precision worm gears are manufactured with
central meshing contact and minimum backlash,
both essential features in the Lift and Escalator industry.

Power
Large grinding mills in coal fired power stations use large
wormgears for coal pulverisation
Renold has the unique ability to reverse engineer and supply
either wormshaft or wormwheel separately or as a complete set.

Machine Tools
Dual lead wormgears are produced with an
increasing thread thickness thus allowing
the worm to be moved axially to eliminate backlash
over the life of the machine. Utilised in machine tools
which require repeatable positional accuracy such Steel
as rotary tables. Large centre pitch wormgear sets with wheel
diameters up to 88" (2235mm) and wormshaft thread
diameters up to 18" (457mm) are manufactured for
use in screw down and wire drawing machines in
steel producing factories.
4 I Renold Precision Gears

Product Range

Custom made commercial worm gears

Worm gear sets manufactured to customers Dual lead
drawings or reverse engineered from worn Dual lead wormgears are constructed with two leads,
samples. Commercial tolerance gearing to this has the effect of producing a worm thread which
high efficiency Holroyd standard or to customer increases in thickness from one end of the worm to
specified particulars. the other. This unique design allows the axial position
of the wormshaft to be altered thereby reducing the backlash
between the wormshaft and wormwheel during the life
of the gearset. This design in conjunction with the
highest accuracy available makes these gears ideal
for positional machine tools.

High precision wormgears

Worm gears manufactured to the highest
industry tolerance for concentricity, profile,
centre distance and accumulative pitch
errors. Special gearing profiles including central High precision helical
contact and reduced backlash can be achieved. Harnessing new grinding technology has allowed
Accuracy of manufacture ensures peak performance Renold to produce custom made high precision helical
in efficiency and smoothness of transmission. and spur gears. These small volume, high precision gears
are used in aerospace and high performance automotive
industries.
 Renold Precision Gears I5

Commercial and High Precision Worm Gears

The Holroyd tooth form corresponds to British standard 721 recommendations but in addition has an exclusive feature which
consists principally of important modifications to the worm thread and wheel tooth, delivering additional valuable properties
to gear performance. Authentic independent tests carried out by the UK National Physics laboratory yield efficiencies between
97%-98% on a Holroyd gear set. A testament to the Holroyd tooth form delivering the smoothest and highest efficiency
transmission available.
Efficient manufacturing
The accuracy of wormgears depends largely on the accuracy of the tooling producing
the wormgears. These high precision custom made wormwheel cutting tools are
uniquely manufactured and maintained in our in house cutter manufacturing
department. This also allows us to produce special tooling for customers’ particular
requirements.
Renold over its 125 years history of producing wormgears has amassed a huge number
of high precision manufacturing tools. Each of these tools can be selected to produce a
number of different sizes and ratio of wormgears. Our unique tool selection software
enables our design engineers to select the right tool to meet the customers particular
requirements. Wormgears produced with high precision hobs are high accuracy,
produced much faster and are correct first time, reducing the cost to produce.

Special profiles
All gears, bearings and gear housings deflect and distort to some extent when running
under load. This deflection from theoretically true running conditions causes faulty running
and can result in comparatively rapid wear and low efficiency unless some correction is applied
during manufacture of the gears. Renold has devised a means of correction which ensures that
our gears will run correctly under loaded and distorted conditions.
Renold Holroyd wormgears are produced to have the optimum contact by taking into account
this deflection. Contact prediction software developed by Renold ensures the correct contact
position required for the application is achieved electronically, prior to manufacture, to ensure
the wormgears are again produced much faster and are correct first time thereby reducing
the cost to produce.
Special profiles and gear shapes can be produced based upon the customers requirements.
Our knowledge and experience of gearing applications will also be applied to suggest the best
shape and contact for any custom made wormgear set. To help the designer with the correct
selection of gearing particulars, Renold has produced the Holroyd Design Guide, the design guide
contains the dimensional and selection criteria required for the correct selection and design of wormshafts
and wormwheels based on the Holroyd gear profiles.

Capacity and standards

Wormgears can be produced in both Metric and Imperial gearing centres from 1 1/8”
(28mm) to 48” (1219mm). Wormshaft diameters up to 18” (457mm) and wormwheel
outside diameters up to 88” (2235mm). Wormshafts are manufactured from gas
carburised case hardened steel ground on worm threads. Wormwheels are
manufactured from centrifugally cast phosphor bronze. Other alloy bronzes can be
utilised dependant upon the requirements of the application
The wormwheel can be supplied with a mounting centre in either steel or cast iron
and on certain sizes can be electron beam welded to the centre to give added security
through strength.
Renold also has a range of wormshafts and wormwheels called versatile gears.
These are part finished gears in centre distances from to 3” and 20” with standard
Holroyd ratios from 5/1 to 70/1 . The gearing on the versatile wormshafts is complete.
The wormwheels are produced to allow a special customer centre to be manufactured,
thus allowing conventional engineering machinery to complete the production of the
gear set whilst still utilising the Holroyd gearing form.
6 I Renold Precision Gears

Dual Lead Gears

Dual lead wormgears are constructed with two leads. One flank
of the thread and its mating sides of the wheel teeth are
manufactured with one lead, and the other flank and its mating
wheel teeth are manufactured to a slightly different lead.
As far as the worm is concerned this has the effect of producing
a worm thread which increases in thickness from one end of the
worm to the other.
If the worm is therefore moved in an axial direction when in mesh
with the wormwheel, backlash between the pair can be adjusted
to the required amount.
In practice the gears are manufactured so that the initial backlash
is achieved at a certain distance relative to a datum plane on the
worm. The worm can then be adjusted from this point as and when
necessary during the life of the gears.
For applications that require:
• Extreme accuracy
• Minimum backlash
• Backlash adjustable from 0-300 microns Accurancy Checking of Dual Lead & Precision Wormgears
• Adjustment without disassembly The accuracy of a set of gears takes account of the tolerances
of concentricity, profile, adjustment, accumulative pitch errors
Comparable accuracy of Holroyd Dual lead against split type
and centre distance. When assessing a requirement for a dual
Split Wormshaft Type lead worm gear it is necessary to confirm that the distance of
With this arrangement the worm is produced as a two-piece item, the supporting case can be held within plus 0.05 mm (0.002”)
the design being split at the gearing centreline. One worm may be and minus 0.00 mm.
integral with the shaft, the other keyed or splined to the shaft but There are various national standards covering the accuracy
axially adjustable, the position being fixed by a spacer positioned and classification of wormgear sets which stipulate maximum
at the centreline between the two components. allowable errors of adjacent and cumulative pitch and profile.
There are a number of disadvantages with this method. Holroyd have the manufacturing capability to achieve closer
Firstly, the gap required by the spacer can cause an interruption tolerances than are stated in the majority of these standards
of the line of contact. Secondly there will be increased friction and with the necessary equipment for their checking and
therefore reduction in efficiency due to the applied pressure to verification.
both sides of the wormwheel teeth. In addition, Holroyd have unique equipment for carrying out
Dual Lead Wormgear single flank or transmission testing. This comprises a continuous
The Dual Lead wormgear does not suffer from any of the above measurement of the angular position of the driven wormwheel
Error (Microns) Error (Arc Seconds)
disadvantages. It provides a kinematically correct gear, which can relative to where it shouldRenold
be with a perfectRenold
gear set as the
run in either direction of rotation and on which the backlash is driving worm rotates at Splitaclass
uniform
1 rate. The Split test
class 1both measures
Split class 2 Split class 2
infinitely adjustable from an acceptable maximum to zero. and records actual pitch and eccentricity, and also the profile.
In addition, the dual lead wormshaft is a one-piece unit that is less
expensive and more accurate than split worms, including
Class 1 types.
30
Error (Microns) Error (Arc
80
Seconds)
The graph shows test results comparing two split type worm Renold Renold
shafts to a Holroyd Dual Lead type worm gear, it shows that both Split class 1 Split class 1
70
Split class 2 Split class 2
split designs are microns less
25 accurate. In one case half as accurate.

60

20
50

15 40

30
10

20

5
10

0 0
100mm 125mm 140mm 180mm 210mm 250mm 270mm 330mm 400mm 475mm 550mm 600mm 680mm 800mm
(70mm) (80mm) (90mm) (110mm) (120mm) (140mm) (155mm) (190mm) (235mm) (265mm) (355mm) (370mm) (380mm) (425mm)

(Centre distance) Pitch Circle Diameter

 Renold Precision Gears I7

Precision Helical Gears

Renold Gears manufacture high quality, high specification loose helical and spur gears using leading edge gear technology.
Our dedicated gear manufacturing machine shop, provides us with the facilities necessary to manufacture either batch or single
components for the precision high technology engineering sectors including Aerospace, High Performance Vehicles, Medical and
Precision industries.

Our experienced Engineering Department can advise on all areas of gear design - gear blank materials, heat treatments, surface
treatments, and full gear tooth geometry. Using gear stress prediction software developed in-house, we are able to maximise gear
performance and therefore provide a unique gear design and development service.

• Extremely high accuracy capabilities approaching DIN 1.

• Helical/spur gears.
• Small quantities, high precision surface for aerospace and automotive applications.
• Custom tool profiles.
• Diameters up to 350mm and gear page widths up to 160mm.
• Prototypes and master gears.
• Stress prediction software optimising gear performance.

Transverse profile modifications Flank line modifications

These modifications can be added in the Modifications along the flank line can be
form of: entered in the forms:
• Tip relief • End relief
• Root relief • Generated end relief
• Profile Slope • Crowning
• Profile • Twist
• Slope