Product category:
Gears, brakes, couplings and engines
News Release from: Sumitomo Drive Technologies | Subject: Fine Cyclo
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 18 October 2005
Drives promise finer control
Fine Cyclo drives combine all the high shock overload characteristics and reliability of standard Cyclo units in a compact package designed for precision applications.
Sumitomo's Fine Cyclo drives combine all the high shock overload characteristics and reliability of standard Cyclo units in a compact package designed for precision applications in robotics, machine tools, packaging and factory automation The Fine Cyclo units are characterised by their zero backlash, minimal lost motion (0.5arc-min) and very high torsional stiffness, factors that ensure the ultimate in positioning accuracy
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 6 Apr 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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Fine Cyclo speed reducers provide OEMs with the ideal combination of robustness, precision and compactness in their machine designs.
Designed for use with general-purpose servomotors, the Fine Cyclo units are easy to install in robots, mobile equipment and machines, providing high operating speeds, up to 24m/min, at the same time as achieving axis repetition accuracies of 0.01mm.
In addition, the units also withstand high shock loads of 500% of the rated capacity and boast high reduction ratios (up to 1:179) in a small package.
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New speed reducers employ a unique, proven principle, which distributes the load over many contact points, allowing them to withstand intermittent shock loads of 500% of the rated capacity.
In contrast to the two cycloid disks incorporated into larger Cyclo drives, Fine Cyclo models have three disks arranged at 120 degrees.
This arrangement contributes to zero backlash, and also provides increased performance under vibration and shock loads.
An additional benefit is that the hysteresis curve of transmitted torque versus rotated angle for a Fine Cyclo drive is substantially narrower than the corresponding curve for a conventional gearbox, and does not have the discontinuity at zero torque displayed by the conventional system.
Stephen Brown, Sales and Marketing Manager for Sumitomo in the UK, explains: "There are other methods of achieving zero backlash, but the Cyclo design gives a rugged zero backlash unit that is far more compact than a conventional gearbox".
"The zero-backlash Cyclo drive is also more economical than a 'play-free' conventional solution; and with more than 30% of each of the three cycloidal disks in contact with the rollers on the housing, it can withstand peak shock loads of more than 500% of the normal torque load".
The Cyclo drive features three major moving parts: a high-speed shaft assembly with integrally mounted eccentric cam and roller bearing assembly; cycloid disks; and a slow-speed input shaft.
During operation, a rotating eccentric rolls one or more cycloid disks around the internal circumference of a ring gear housing.
The number of teeth on the disk and the number of rollers on the gear housing determine the gearbox reduction ratio.
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