Split gearing, another method, consists of two gear halves positioned side-by-side. One half is set to a shaft while springs cause the spouse to rotate slightly. This increases the effective tooth thickness so that it completely fills the tooth space of the mating equipment, thereby getting rid of backlash. In another version, an assembler bolts the rotated half to the fixed half after assembly. Split gearing is generally found in light-load, low-speed applications.

The simplest & most common way to lessen backlash in a pair of gears is to shorten the distance between their centers. This movements the gears into a tighter mesh with low or also zero clearance between teeth. It eliminates the effect of variations in middle distance, tooth measurements, and bearing eccentricities. To shorten the guts distance, either adjust the gears to a fixed distance and lock them set up (with bolts) or spring-load one against the other so they stay tightly meshed.
Fixed assemblies are usually used in heavyload applications where reducers must reverse their direction of rotation (bi-directional). Though “set,” they could still require readjusting during program to pay for tooth use. Bevel, spur, helical, and worm gears lend themselves to fixed applications. Spring-loaded assemblies, on the other hand, maintain a constant zero backlash and are generally used for low-torque applications.

Common design methods include short center distance, spring-loaded split gears, plastic-type fillers, tapered gears, preloaded gear trains, and dual path gear trains.

Precision reducers typically limit backlash to about 2 deg and so are used in applications such as instrumentation. Higher precision devices that attain near-zero backlash are used in applications such as for example robotic systems and machine device spindles.
Gear designs could be modified in many methods to cut backlash. Some strategies adapt the gears to a zero backlash gearbox established tooth clearance during initial assembly. With this process, backlash eventually increases because of wear, which requires readjustment. Other designs make use of springs to carry meshing gears at a continuous backlash level throughout their support lifestyle. They’re generally limited to light load applications, though.