Mechanical drives can be divided into two categories. One is the friction transmission that transmits power and motion by friction between the parts, including belt drive, rope drive, and friction wheel drive. Generally, such a drive is not used in high-power applications since it does not provide accurate gear ratios. The second is the meshing transmission that transmits power or motion by engaging the driven unit with the driven unit or by the middle member, including gear transmission, chain transmission, screw transmission, and harmonic transmission. The gear drive relies on two or more intermeshing gears to transmit power. The gear transmission ratio is accurate, which is suitable for high manufacturing precision and installation accuracy. The gear drive system has the following features.
Advantages of Gear Drive System:
1) The instantaneous transmission ratio is constant and the stability of operation is high;
2) Using non-circular gears, the instantaneous transmission ratio can be designed according to the required rule of change;
3) The gear ratio has a wide range of variations, which is suitable for deceleration or acceleration transmission. Especially when adopting planetary drive, the large gear ratio can be achieved;
4) The peripheral gear speed can reach a higher level;
5) The transmission power range is wide and the carrying capacity is high;
6) High transmission efficiency, especially for cylindrical gear pairs with high precision;
7) Owing to the use of planetary transmission, less-tooth-difference transmission, or harmonic gear transmission, the components can be further reduced, becoming a coaxial transmission. Thus, a compact structure can be realized. The planetary transmission is suitable for high-precision drives. The diameter range of the planetary gearbox provided by ZHAOWEI starts from 3.4 to 38mm;
8) Easy maintenance and uniform load distribution.
Disadvantages of Gear Drive System:
1. High precision in manufacturing and installation is needed;
2. The manufacturing process is complicated and costly;
3. Not suitable for transmission between two axes at a long distance.
