A harmonic gear drive is a frictionless, backlash-free, high-precision transmission device. It converts the rotational motion of an input shaft into the motion of two orthogonal output shafts through a flexible structure. The main working principle of the harmonic gear drive is based on harmonic drive, which uses flexible gears or flexible spindle with built-in load resources to achieve the purpose of speed reduction or increase.
The main characteristics of a harmonic gear drive include the following aspects:
High Torque Transmission: The harmonic gear drive uses a flexible structure that has a very high torque transmission capacity;
High Precision Transmission: The harmonic gear drive has extremely high transmission precision, with errors controllable within 1 arc minute;
Zero Backlash Transmission: The transmission structure of the harmonic gear drive has almost no backlash, making it capable of quasi-static transmission motion;
High Efficiency and Energy Savings: The transmission efficiency of the harmonic gear drive can reach more than 95%, saving energy;
Miniaturization: The harmonic gear drive has a compact structure and lightweight, making it easy to achieve a miniaturized design.
The application fields of the harmonic gear drive are very wide, mainly including:
Industrial Robots: The extremely high transmission precision and efficiency of the harmonic gear drive make it widely used in the field of industrial robots. For example, casting machinery, machine tool automatic production lines, automated material handling machines, etc.
CNC Machine Tools: The precision requirements of CNC machine tools are very high. The high transmission precision and efficiency of the harmonic gear drive can improve the machining quality and production efficiency of CNC machine tools.
Electronic Equipment: In complex electronic production lines, the harmonic gear drive can provide higher transmission efficiency and precision, thus enhancing the overall efficiency and stability of the production line. For example, display production equipment, semiconductor component production equipment, etc.
Medical Equipment: The high-precision transmission and quasi-static transmission characteristics of the harmonic gear drive can be used in medical equipment, such as high-precision surgical robots.
The widespread application of harmonic gear drives promotes their continuous development. The future development trends mainly include the following directions:
High-speed: The high-speed development of harmonic gear drives is a trend. Currently, some companies have increased the speed of harmonic gear drives to over 20000 r/min.
High Torque: With the development of industries such as industrial robots, aerospace, and automotive, harmonic gear drives need to withstand greater loads and torque.
Lightweight: With the development trend of miniaturization and lightweight, the materials of harmonic gear drives need to be optimized to achieve lighter and smaller designs.
Intelligence: With the rise of artificial intelligence and intelligent manufacturing, the intelligence of harmonic gear drives will become an important development direction.
