Method of Mitigating Backlash of Mechanical Gear Systems Using a Damper Motor

The technology developed comprises a torque damper motor connected to the output side of a mechanical gear system. The damper motor, along with its associated control system, mitigates backlash problems, reduced torsional resonance, and provides improved output torque control. In the preferred embodiment, the damper motor is powered by a power electronics-based variable speed drive. The damper motor can be significantly less powerful than the overall rating of the gear system (typically 5-10% of the overall rating) while still providing the enhanced performance.

The invention can be applied to any rotating system having a gear train. The invention eliminates or at least mitigates many of the problems inherent in rotating gear systems. As one example, the invention could be used with many types of torque creating devices other than steam turbines, electric motors, and compressors. Likewise, although a was described in detail, the invention is equally applicable to speed-decreasing gear trains as well as speed-increasing gear train.