Harmonic Drive
Weaving Machine Fabric Take-Up Drive
Special gearbox design
The desire for higher fabric quality is also leading the manufacturers of textile machines, such as weaving machines, to use Harmonic Drive® technology. One of the major problems is to avoid so-called "start-marks", which are caused by relaxation of the fabric while the machine is at a stand-still. The avoidance of start-marks depends on the accurate control of the fabric tension as the weaving machine reaches normal operating speed.
This is achieved by carefully controlling the rotation of the warp let-off drive and the fabric take-up drive. It is very important that the gears used in both these drives do not exhibit stick-slip when rotation commences and also that the transmission accuracy is high to ensure even pick spacing. Harmonic Drive® gears are thus ideally suited to this demanding application. This design example shows a special gearbox used for the fabric take-up drive in a rapier weaving machine.
The HDUC component set is mounted in a cast-iron housing and is provided with an output shaft. This drives the fabric beam via a spur gear stage. The Wave Generator, as input element, is mounted directly on the motor shaft.
