Strain wave gearing
Mechanical transmission system with flexing / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Strain wave gearing (also known as harmonic gearing) is a type of mechanical gear system that uses a flexible spline with external teeth, which is deformed by a rotating elliptical plug to engage with the internal gear teeth of an outer spline.
The German company Harmonic Drive SE manufactured the first series-produced gears under the product name or registered trademark Harmonic Drive.
Strain wave gearing has some advantages over traditional gearing systems such as helical or planetary gears, including:
- no backlash,
- compactness and light weight,
- high gear ratios,
- reconfigurable ratios within a standard housing,
- good resolution and excellent repeatability (linear representation) when repositioning inertial loads,[1]
- high torque capability,
- coaxial input and output shafts.[2]
High gear reduction ratios are possible in a small volume (a ratio from 30:1 up to 320:1 is possible in the same space in which planetary gears typically only produce a 10:1 ratio).
Disadvantages include a tendency for 'wind-up' (a torsional spring rate) in the low torque region.
Strain wave gearing is commonly used in robotics[3] and aerospace.[4] It can provide gear reduction but may also be used to increase rotational speed[citation needed], or for differential gearing.