An industrial robot is a general-purpose robot with storage and terminal filling devices, capable of performing various movements or processes instead of manual labor. Generally, workers in production perform monotonous, frequent, and repetitive long-term tasks, or work in dangerous and harsh environments. It is a culmination of human ingenuity and has made indelible contributions to human industrial and automation progress. The gearbox is a key component of an industrial robot and plays a crucial role. What is the structure and working principle of a gearbox?
In the field of mechanical transmission, a speed reducer is an intermediate device connecting the power source and the drive. Generally, it transmits high-speed power (such as electric motors and internal combustion engines) to higher torque by connecting the input shaft to a high-speed gear on the output shaft. Currently, mature and standardized speed reducers include cylindrical gear reducers, worm gear reducers, planetary gear reducers, RV reducers, recirculating pin gear reducers, and harmonic reducers. Since the 1980s and 1990s, the development needs of emerging industries such as aerospace, robotics, and medical equipment have demanded high-performance precision reducers with high transmission power, low noise, and stable transmission with a simple and compact structure. RV reducers and harmonic reducers are two important types of precision speed reducers.
RV (Rotary Vector) Reducer
The RV reducer was developed based on cycloidal rotary transmission and features a two-stage reduction and a central disc support structure. Since its introduction in 2004, and since 1986, it has become a "royal" robot reducer due to its advantages such as high transmission ratio, high transmission efficiency, high motion accuracy, small backlash, low vibration, high rigidity, and high reliability.
Harmonic reducer
Harmonic reducers consist of a harmonic generator, a flexible wheel, and a rigid wheel. Their working principle is that the harmonic generator transforms the flexible wheel into an adjustable elastic deformation, and power is transmitted through a network of flexible and rigid wheels to achieve deceleration. Depending on the type of harmonic generator, components include a camera, rollers, and an eccentric disc. Harmonic reducers have a large transmission ratio, small profile, few parts, and high transmission efficiency. A single machine can achieve a transmission ratio of 50-4000 and a transmission efficiency of 92%-96%.
Planetary gear reducer
As the name suggests, a planetary gear reducer is a speed reducer that rotates around a sun gear. Planetary gear reducers are small in size, lightweight, have high load capacity, long service life, stable operation, and low noise. They feature power sharing and a multi-tooth network; they are a widely used industrial product whose performance is comparable to other military-grade planetary gear reducers, but at an industrial price, and are widely used in industrial applications.
The presence of precision reducers enables servo motors to operate at the correct speed, precisely reducing the speed to the required level for the industrial robot, improving the rigidity of the mechanical body and providing higher torque. Compared to ordinary reducers, robot joint reducers feature shorter transmission chains, smaller size, higher power, lighter weight, and easier control. Two types of reducers are widely used in connected robots: RV reducers and harmonic reducers.
