Harmonic Drive. Evolution of Wave Gear Design

10.6567/IFToMM.14TH.WC.OS7.001

G. Timofeev；O. Egorova；M. Samoilova

History of MMS ； wave transmission ； Harmonic Drive ； Musser ； Responsin ； flexible gear (flex spline) ； low-speed motor ； Moskvitin ； high performance characteristics

Proceedings of the 14th IFToMM World Congress

14th-2（2015 / 10 / 27）

344 - 353

英文

This paper presents a brief history of wave transmission evolution and Harmonic Drive in particular. The invention became a breakthrough in mechanical design and has been attracting the close interest of scientists and engineers for more than fifty years. Contrary to the traditional gearing systems and the laws of ＂rigid-body mechanics＂, the new «Strain Wave Gearing» (SWG) patented by Walton Musser (1959) was based on the use of flexible gear that became the main idea and the driving force of his invention. Nowadays Harmonic Drive is a brand of strain wave gearing. It took just a few years for the SWG to receive recognition-in 1962 one of wave gears was already used in the sputnik. Over the next years’ studies in the world, including Russia, led to the design of many new wave gear systems which have high performance characteristics: high positioning accuracy, high repeatability, high reduction ratio, high torque capacity and efficiency, compactness and light weight. Due to their advantages the wave gears are widely used in aerospace and military applications worldwide.