High Speed Harmonic Drive Gearing

Automation equipment is constantly seeking increased throughput-it's a never ending requirement. For power transmission components, this translates into either higher motor speeds or lower gear ratios. Most applications desire lower gear ratios since life, wear, and noise generally increase with higher speed option. Harmonic drive gearing is a popular choice for many automation applications because of its superior power transmission qualities, which include zero backlash, high torsional stiffness,high positional accuracy, and torque-to-weight ratios. Until recently, however, the lowest gear ratio available has been 50:1. New proprietary tooth design technology has substantially reduced this old limit, making ratios of 30:1 possible. To see how this breakthrough in harmonic drive gearing technology occurs, we'll first need to review the fundamentals of harmonic drive gearing tooth action. Figure 1 shows the three components of harmonic drive gearing: the circular spline, the flexspline, and the elliptical wave generator. Figure 2 shows the operating principle for this mechanism (flexspline deflection is greatly exaggerated for clarity). The gear ratio formula for harmonic drive gearing is; FS GR = (CS-FS) with the tooth differential between the circular spine (CS) and the flexspline (FS) accounting for the gear ratios (GR) achieved. For example, to satisfy the formula, an 80:1 ratio would have 160 teeth on the flexspline and 162 teeth on the circular spline. The two-tooth advance for every revolution of the elliptical generator, or one flexspline advance for every 80 revolutions of the wave generator in this particular example.
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Harmonic drive gears operate by engaging multiple teeth at the major axes while disengaging them at the minor axes of the wave generator ellipse. To minimize flex stress in the flexspline, our goal is to keep ellipicity to a minimum, which leads us to small tooth height. Achieving a 50:1 ratio, for example, means producing a 100-tooth circular spline. As the number of teeth decreases, their size increases; consequently, ellipicity must increase to provide the required clearance at the minor axis. In older designs, ratios below 80:1 more often than not made use of a four-tooth difference, usually doubling the number of teeth to 200 for a 50:1 ratio in order to reduce the tooth size. Achieving a ratio of approximately 30:1 meant changes in the tooth design were required. HD Systems introduced the "S"-tooth design in 1991. This profile, a departure from the old involute-tooth form, brought many advantages to harmonic drive gearing, such as increased torque capacity, stronger teeth, longer life, and higher torsional stiffness. Figure 3 shows the "S"-tooth profile and the relative motions of the flexspline and circular spline in operation. Developing the new tooth form required significant design analysis, resulting in a profile that lets high numbers of teeth in simultaneous contact share in carrying the load while keeping a low ellipticity. This "S"-tooth profile brought another benefit to harmonic drive gearing by permitting a reduction in ratio down to 50:1, using the two-tooth difference. Nonetheless, getting 30:1 ratios with a two-tooth difference required further profile modifications. In the past, the axisymmetric nature of harmonic drive gearing permitted the use of two-dimensional modeling, which was sufficient to study the kinematics and stress distribution for ratios of 50:1 and higher. However, the demands of 30:1 ratios required a degree of modeling sophistication that two-dimensional models could not deliver. We developed a complex three-dimensional simulation of tooth engagement so that parameters of the "S"-tooth profile could be studied, examined, and modified for optimum engagement and minimum wear. This procedure included detailed finite element analysis of the flexspline toothbed, identifying high stress areas and allowing design modifications for reducing stress to safe and reliable limits.

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Figure 4 shows the new "S"-tooth (for 30:1) action in the circular-spline/flexspline interface. The result is a new profile that permits 30:1 gear ratios using the two-tooth difference, minimizing ellipticity and maintaining low flexspline stresses. In addition, this new "S"-tooth profile still provides all of the benefits of "S"-tooth harmonic drive gearing. This technology can be incorporated into the complete into the complete range of products, including component sets, gearheads, and servo actuators. With the new lower ratios available, harmonic drive gearing may now be used in applications where planetary or other low-ratio gears might have been used previously, thus allowing a reduction in package size and weight while increasing positional accuracy and achieving zero backlash. This new tooth profile is a major step forward in expanding the range of applications suitable for harmonic drive gearing and in addressing industry's need for increased throughput and accuracy.

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ELECTROMATE
Toll Free Phone (877) SERVO98 Toll Free Fax (877) SERV099 www.electromate.com sales@electromate.com