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Harmonic Gear Transmission

Wiki Library, Transmission Component / 3 minutes of reading
Harmonic gear transmission is a new type of mechanism that relies on elastic
deformation motion to achieve transmission.

It breaks through the mode of mechanical transmission using rigid member

mechanisms, using a flexible member to achieve mechanical transmission, thus
obtaining a series of special functions that are difficult to achieve with other
transmissions.

It has been widely used.

But it also brings special problems that must be solved in the design.

Table of Contents
 Introduction
 Advantage
 Disadvantages
 Application
Introduction
In the 1950s, with the development of space science and aerospace technology, the
mechanism and instrumentation of the spacecraft control system put forward new
requirements for mechanical transmission, such as: large transmission ratio, small size,
light weight, high transmission precision, and small variation.

For the above requirements, the emerging harmonic drive meets this requirement.

It is a transmission technology developed on the basis of elastic deformation of thin

shells.

The harmonic gear drive system consists of three basic components, as shown in

Figure 2-1:

 Circular Spline
 Flexspline
 Wave Generator
The principle of the harmonic gear transmission is that in the flexible gear member, a
moving deformation wave is generated by the action of the wave generator, and
meshes with the rigid tooth to achieve the transmission purpose.

Advantage
 The transmission ratio range is large 50~300, 3000~60000
 30% more engaged teeth at the same time
 It is precisely because of the unique advantages of the simultaneous number of
meshing teeth that the harmonic transmission has high precision and the bearing
capacity of the teeth is large, thereby realizing a large speed ratio and a small
volume.
 Large carrying capacity
 High precision of motion
 Smooth movement, no impact, low noise
 The flank clearance can be adjusted
 The tooth surface wear is small and uniform, and the transmission efficiency is
high.
 Good coaxiality
 Can realize the transmission of motion and power to the confined space
Disadvantages
 Easy to fatigue damage
 The manufacturing of flexible wheel and wave generator is more difficult
 The lower limit of the transmission ratio is high, and the number of teeth cannot
be too small.
  The starting torque is large, and the smaller the speed ratio is, the more serious;
 The harmonic gear drive has no intermediate shaft, so the intermediate speed
cannot be obtained.
 If the structural parameters are improperly selected or the structure timing is bad,
the heat is too large, and the transmission capacity is reduced.
At present, scholars from various countries have recognized that the fatigue damage of
the flexible wheel cylinder is the most important form of failure of harmonic
transmission.

Application
Harmonic drives have many unique advantages that are unmatched by other drives.

In recent decades, it has been rapidly promoted to the fields of energy,

communications, machine tools, instrumentation, robotics, automobiles, shipbuilding,
textiles, metallurgy, conventional weapons, precision optical equipment, printing
institutions, and medical devices.

The application practice at home and abroad shows that both the precision harmonic
drive as a high-sensitivity servo system and the power harmonic drive that transmits
large torque show good performance.

As a space transmission device and a mechanism for operating high temperature and
high pressure pipelines and working under conditions of atomic radiation or other
harmful media, it shows the superiority compared with some other transmissions

Harmonic
Introduction

The harmonic gear allows high reduction ratios with concentric shafts and with very
low backlash and vibration.  It is based on a very simple construction utilising metals
elasto-mechanical property.

Harmonic drive transmissions are noted for their ability to reduce backlash in a motion
control system.   The principle of operation of harmonic gears is through the use of a
thin-walled flexible cup with external splines on its lip,placed inside a circular thick-
walled rigid ring machined with internal splines.   The external flexible spline has two
fewer teeth than the internal circular spline.   An elliptical cam enclosed in an
antifriction ball bearing assembly is mounted inside the flexible cup and forces the
flexible cup splines to push deeply into the rigid ring at two opposite points while
rotating. The two contact points rotate at a speed governed be the difference in the
number of teeth on the two splines    This method basically preloads the teeth, which
reduces backlash.  

Harmonic Drive Limitations

Harmonic drives have speed reductions single stage of 30:1 to 350:1. The lower ratios
are limited because of fatigue considerations on the flexispline member. The harmonic
drive is normally not suitable for high power levels above 6kW ..

A typical large duty Harmonic drive will have dimensions of about 280mm dia x 150
mm long and will be able to continuously transmit an output torque of 2270 Nm at an
output speed of 20 RPM and and input speed of 2000RPM (4.7 kW output)- This unit
will be able to transfer higher torques for short time durations e.g a momentary torque
9000Nm.  The efficiency would be about 70%.   This unit would weigh about 42 kg. .....
A worm drive for a similar drive (1800 RPM imput speed ,70-1 reduction same output
torque )would weigh 327 kg and would be in a case about 750mm high x 360mm wide
x 500mm wide..Surprisingly for this duty the efficiency of the worm unit would be 77%

Harmonic Drive Applications

 Robotics
Harmonic Drives offer robot manufacturers many benefits including
zero backlash, high positional accuracy, low vibration and a compact
design.   They can be used in any of the robot axes and their light weight
design contributes minimal weight to the robotic arm which increases
robot payload capacity.
 Machine Tools
Harmonic drives allow accurate control of the motions for axis
positioning and for tool changing.

>
 Medical
Applications using harmonic drives include patient beds, rehabilitation
 equipment, and MRI / Cat scan gantries.
 Military Aerospace
The Harmonic Drives are used to accurately rotate and tilt the antennas
and arrays.   They are also used for driving lunar vehicle motions and
positioning aerials and telescopes e.g. Harmonic drives are used in the
Hubble Telescope.

Harmonic Gear construction

Wave Generator:
The wave generator is an oval-shaped cam with a thin ball bearing placed around the
outer circumference of the oval cam.   The wave generator is mounted onto the motor
shaft.

Flex Spline:
The flex spline is a thin, cup-shaped component made of elastic metal, with teeth
formed along the outer circumference of the cup's opening.    The gear's output shaft
is attached to the bottom of the flex spline.

Circular Spline:
The circular spline is a rigid internal gear with teeth formed along its inner
circumference.   These teeth are the same size as those of the flex spline, but the
circular spline has two more teeth than the flex spline. The circular spline is attached
to the gearbox along its outer circumference.
Harmonic Gear Operation

The wave generator is mounted on the drive shaft and as it is rotated it imparts a
continuously moving elliptical form or wave-like motion to the Flexspline.   This causes
the meshing of the external teeth of the Flexspline with the internal teeth of the
Circular Spline at their two equidistant points of engagement to progress in a
continuous rolling fashion.   It also allows for full tooth disengagement at the two points
opposite the minor axis of the Wave Generator.

Since the Flexspline has two less teeth than the Circular Spline and because full teeth
disengagement is made possible by the elliptical shape of the Wave Generator, each
complete revolution of the Wave Generator causes a two tooth displacement of the
Flexspline in relation to the Circular Spline.   This displacement is always in the
opposite direction of the rotation of the Wave Generator (see diagram)e.g if the Wave
Generator is rotating in a CW direction, the two-tooth-per-revolution displacement of
the Flexspline will be in a CCW direction and vice versa

In this way, a basic three element harmonic drive component set is capable of
functioning as a speed reducer.   Input from a main power source through the Wave
Generator is at a high speed, but the two-tooth-per-revolution displacement causes
the Flexspline, which is the output element, to rotate in the opposite direction of, and
at a considerably slower speed than, the Wave Generator.   The reduction ratio which
results can be calculated by dividing the number of teeth on the Flexspline by two (the
difference between the number of teeth on the Circular Spline and the Flexspline).  If a
fixed Circular Spline had 80 teeth and an output Flexspline has 78 teeth, the ratio
would be 80/(80-78)=40:1
Harmonic Drive characteristics

1. High speed reduction ratio:

A Harmonic Drive has high single-stage coaxial reduction ratios of 1/30
to 1/320 using a very simple three part mechanism.
2. Free of backlash (lost motion):
Different from the ordinary tooth-with-tooth mating mechanism, the
Harmonic Drive can be made with very little -- nearly zero -- backlash.
3. High precision:
With the Harmonic Drive, high positional/rotational accuracy is possible
because a number of teeth are mating at the same time and the 50% of
o
the teeth are mating at 180  symmetrical with the other 50% of the
mating gears. as a result pitch errors and accumulated pitch errors on
rotational accuracy are neutralised to ensure improved
positional/rotational accuracy.
4. Small numbers of components and ease of assembly: Because it
comprises high reduction ratios are available with only three basic
components and since all three components are co-axially aligned, the
Harmonic Drive can be easily built into component-assembled products.
5. Small-sized and lightweight:
Machinery/equipment can be made smaller in size and lighter in weight
because the Harmonic Drive provides similar levels of torque and speed
reduction ratios as conventional gearing mechanisms at 30% the size of
conventional products of similar capacity and at less than 50% the
weight.
6. High torque capacity:
The flexspline is made of special steel with a higher resistance to
fatigue.

Different from the typical driving force transmission apparatus, every

tooth is subjected to very little force but provides a high capacity of
torque. This is because up to 30% of the teeth are always taking some
load and these teeth come into contact with one another face to face.
Therefore every tooth is subjected to a minimum of force while
providing a maximum of torque.
7. High efficiency:
The mating portion of each tooth is subjected to very little slide motion.
Therefore, motion loss due to friction is reduced substantially. This is
 why the Harmonic Drive can maintain a high level of efficiency, allowing
for the down sizing of driving motors as a result.
8. Quiet, vibration-free operation:
With the Harmonic Drive, quiet and vibration-free operations are
possible because the teeth do not come into rolling contact with one
another, and since the circumferential speed of each tooth is low, the
teeth provide a well-balanced force.

Links to Bevel Gears

1. Oriental Motors ...a supplier of various gear types

2. Harmonic Drives ... A supplier of harmonic drives
3. Heason.com...A supplier of harmonic Gears and linked equipment
4. NAC harmonic Drive...A supplier of harmonic Gears

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