Planetary gears or harmonic drives? - GRAHAM MACKRELL OF HARMONIC DRIVE UK EXPLAINS THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TWO POPULAR FORMS OF GEAR TECHNOLOGY

摘要

The traditional planetary gearbox has been used extensively throughout industry for many years, offering an excellent combination of torque, stiffness and reliability, These mechanisms provide an alternative to in-line and parallel shaft gearboxes, especially in applications where reverse as well as forward motion is required, and to worm gears where heavy loads need to be moved at slow speeds, Unlike other gearing mechanisms, the design of planetary gearboxes, with an arrangement of several smaller planetary gears around an input pinion or sun gear, enable high reduction ratios to be achieved, via a single stage, In addition, as the torque being transmitted at any time is shared between multiple sets of teeth on the primary drive pinion it is possible to produce greater levels of torque from a relatively compact unit.