Modeling and Simulation of the Nutation Drive with Movable Taper Teeth

Background: The nutation drive is being extensively interested due to its ability to achieve a high reduction ratio with a compact structure and the potential for low vibration, high efficiency and design flexibility, while many problems including the difficulty to process the inner bevel gear and less number of teeth in engagement have restricted the development of it. Objective: The purpose of this paper was to propose and analyze a patent about a new nutation drive with movable taper teeth, in which rolling substitutes tooth meshing, the bevel gear processing difficulties and other issues can be avoided. Methods: Based on geometry transformation and the meshing theory, the meshing surface and mathematical equations of the tooth profiles for both the stator and the rotor were developed, enabling the pressure angle to be analyzed in detail. Results: These mathematical models were then verified by kinematics simulation and interference detection in a virtual simulation environment. Further, the verification of the working process of the nutation drive showed that all the simulation values were approximate to the desired value of the designed nutation drive. Conclusion: The study proposed an approach for generating stator and rotor in the nutation drive to provide superior performance in terms of load sharing and contact intensity. Simulation and manufacturing technology of the mechanism were carried out to prove the theoretical equations. The prototype of it has been illustrated to verify the theory and the computer simulation model at the end of this paper.