Harmonic Patent Applications

DUAL ABSOLUTE ENCODER

Granted: December 1, 2022
Application Number: 20220381549
An exemplary encoder assembly includes a substrate, a first encoder, and a second encoder. The substrate has two or more position sensors, each position sensor being configured for detecting a rotary position of a shaft or other rotating element of a machine. The first encoder includes at least one first position sensor of the two or more position sensors. The at least one first position sensor is disposed on the substrate for off-axis alignment with the shaft or other rotating element…

PUSH-PULL SOLENOID

Granted: November 24, 2022
Application Number: 20220375670
A push-pull solenoid is provided with a cylindrical guide member that is fixed to a case. A circular outer peripheral surface of a plunger is in contact with a friction guide surface formed on a circular inner peripheral surface of the guide member, and slides along the friction guide surface. Frictional force due to contact with the friction guide surface is always acting on the plunger, so it is possible to suppress impact-like contact of the plunger with an object to be manipulated…

UNIT-TYPE STRAIN WAVE GEARING

Granted: November 17, 2022
Application Number: 20220364635
This unit-type strain wave gearing is provided with a cross-roller bearing that supports an internally toothed gear and an externally toothed gear in a relatively rotatable manner, wherein a meshing portion between the two gears is lubricated by a grease. In the outer circumference of the externally toothed gear, a gap is formed which communicates with the meshing portion and a raceway groove of the cross-roller bearing. A portion of the grease pressed out from the meshing portion to the…

STRAIN WAVE GEARING

Granted: October 20, 2022
Application Number: 20220333673
An externally toothed gear of a cup-type strain wave gearing has external teeth, the tooth profile of which gradually changes in the tooth-trace direction. The external teeth are formed with an external teeth portion capable of meshing with internal teeth of an internally toothed gear, a first external teeth extension portion and a second external teeth extension portion, in which the first and second external teeth extension portions do not mesh with the internal teeth. The second…

BEARING UNIT AND STRAIN WAVE GEARING

Granted: October 6, 2022
Application Number: 20220316528
A bearing unit is provided with a strain element for torque detection. The strain element is provided with a first annular part attached to a rotation-side member, a second annular part attached to a load-side member, and a plurality of ribs serving as strained parts linking the first annular part and the second annular part together. One of an inner race and an outer race is integrally formed on the first annular part of the strain element. Deformation, which occurs in the ribs of the…

FLAT STRAIN WAVE GEARING

Granted: September 15, 2022
Application Number: 20220290752
The flat strain wave gearing is provided with an axially arranged rigid gear, flexible gear and wave generator. The flexible gear forms a flat truncated cone shape, has a tooth formation portion connected via a bellows-shaped cross-sectional diaphragm to a rigid boss which is an output shaft linking part. The flat strain wave gearing can ensure axial flexibility of the tooth formation portion, and can enable teeth of the flexible gear to mesh favorably with teeth of the rigid gear in the…

OPTICAL ROTARY ENCODER, SERVO MOTOR, AND ACTUATOR

Granted: March 3, 2022
Application Number: 20220065667
In this optical rotary encoder, detection tracks of a rotating disc are irradiated with detection light emitted from a light-emitting element. An optical signal obtained via slits in the detection tracks passes through a slit pattern in a fixed slit plate and is received by light-receiving surfaces of a light-receiving element. The slit pattern in the fixed slit plate is formed so as to fit into a range of an effective spot of the detection light. An LED or other light-emitting element…

STRAIN WAVE GEARING UNIT

Granted: December 30, 2021
Application Number: 20210404544
A strain wave gearing unit has a unit housing, a strain wave gearing, and a bearing device. Balls of a bearing part of the bearing device are positioned on the diametrically outer side with respect to a cylindrical barrel part of an externally toothed gear. The diameter S of the balls is 0.05 to 0.15 times the pitch diameter D of the externally toothed gear. The centers of the balls are positioned between a point at a distance of 1.2 times the diameter S toward the…

UNIT-TYPE STRAIN WAVE GEARING DEVICE

Granted: December 23, 2021
Application Number: 20210396303
A unit-type strain wave gearing device provided with a cross roller bearing that supports an internally toothed gear and an externally toothed gear in a state in which both gears can rotate relative to each other, and a meshing section of both gears is lubricated with grease. A gap by which the meshing section and the cross roller bearing raceway groove communicate is formed between the inner ring of the cross roller bearing and the external gear. Due to the pump effect caused by…

WAVE GENERATOR OF STRAIN WAVE GEARING DEVICE

Granted: December 2, 2021
Application Number: 20210372515
An outer-ring lubrication groove pattern formed in an outer-race raceway surface and an inner-race lubrication groove pattern formed in an inner-race raceway surface of a wave generator bearing of a strain wave gearing device are patterns in which linear lubrication grooves having very small widths and depths of several micrometers or less are arranged at fine pitches of several micrometers or less. The inner-race lubrication groove pattern includes a second groove pattern formed in…

STRAIN WAVE GEARING

Granted: November 25, 2021
Application Number: 20210364077
The tooth profile contours of a rigid internally toothed gear and a flexible externally toothed gear in this strain wave gearing are stipulated by: meshing portions which each mesh with the opposing gear; tooth-crest-side convex surface portions which, respectively, are smoothly connected to the addendum-side ends of the meshing portions and extend from said ends to the apices of the tooth crests; and tooth-bottom-side concave surface portions which, respectively, are smoothly connected…

STRAIN WAVE GEARING DEVICE

Granted: November 4, 2021
Application Number: 20210341048
In a strain wave gearing device, fine first and second lubricant-holding grooves for holding lubricant are formed at fine pitches in an outer-race external peripheral surface of a wave generator bearing and an outer-race-contacting internal peripheral surface portion of an externally toothed gear in contact therewith. Fine lubricant-guiding grooves for guiding the lubricant to the outer-race-contacting internal peripheral surface portion are formed at fine pitches in a second internal…

WAVE GENERATOR AND STRAIN WAVE GEARING

Granted: October 21, 2021
Application Number: 20210324948
A strain wave gearing has a wave generator provided with a rigid plug and a wave bearing. The wave bearing is of a deep groove bearing type and is mounted on an elliptical outer circumferential surface of the rigid plug, whereby outer race and inner race thereof are flexed into an elliptical shape. Where D is a ball diameter of the balls, Ro is a raceway-surface radius of the outer race, Ri is a raceway-surface radius of the inner race, Ro/D is an outer-race conformity, and Ri/D is an…

DUAL ABSOLUTE ENCODER

Granted: October 7, 2021
Application Number: 20210310834
An exemplary encoder assembly includes a substrate, a first encoder, and a second encoder. The substrate has two or more position sensors, each position sensor being configured for detecting a rotary position of a shaft or other rotating element of a machine. The first encoder includes at least one first position sensor of the two or more position sensors. The at least one first position sensor is disposed on the substrate for off-axis alignment with the shaft or other rotating element…

METHOD FOR LUBRICATING STRAIN WAVE GEARING

Granted: July 22, 2021
Application Number: 20210222769
When a strain wave gearing is used in an application for an operation of repeating startup/stopping, an outer-side lubrication portion and an inner-side lubrication portion, which are lubricated using different types of grease, remain in a communicating state without being divided using a seal member or the like. The outer-side lubrication portion is supplied with a much smaller amount of grease than the amount that would be required if used in an application such as a steady operation.…

HOLLOW STRAIN-WAVE GEAR DEVICE

Granted: July 22, 2021
Application Number: 20210222764
A hollow strain-wave gear device (1) has a wave generator (5), a wave generator plug (5a) of which is integrally formed in a portion of a hollow rotating shaft (6). A plug reinforcement part (5d), which is adjacent to the wave generator plug (5a), has a thickness larger than that of the wave generator plug (5a), and is integrally formed in the hollow rotating shaft (6). The wave generator plug (5a) is reinforced by the highly rigid plug reinforcement part (5d) formed adjacently to the…

DOUBLE-ROW CYLINDRICAL ROLLER BEARING

Granted: July 8, 2021
Application Number: 20210207652
A double-row cylindrical roller bearing employs a cross roller bearing for one cylindrical roller bearing and a parallel cylindrical roller bearing for the other cylindrical roller bearing. The relative positions of a first cylindrical roller on the cross roller bearing part side and a second cylindrical roller on the parallel cylindrical roller bearing part side are not restricted in the direction of the bearing center axis lines thereof. As a result, a bearing having high rigidity and…

WAVE GENERATOR FOR STRAIN WAVE GEARING

Granted: May 13, 2021
Application Number: 20210140531
In a wave generator for a strain wave gearing, a plug outer peripheral surface of a rigid wave plug has a non-circular profile and is fixed to an inner-race inner peripheral surface of a wave bearing by press-fitting and using an adhesive. The plug outer peripheral surface is a groove formation surface in which microgrooves are formed as adhesive-retaining grooves that can retain the adhesive. When the wave plug is press-fitted into the wave bearing, the amount of adhesive that is…

STRAIN WAVE GEARING

Granted: May 13, 2021
Application Number: 20210140529
A strain wave gearing wherein the outer circumferential surface of an outer ring of a wave generator is in contact with an inner-circumferential-surface portion of a flexible externally toothed gear, and a release groove, which is not in contact with the outer circumferential surface, is formed in the inner-circumferential-surface portion. The release groove is formed in a region containing a ball raceway groove. The groove depth of the release groove gradually increases from both sides…

STRAIN WAVE GEARING

Granted: May 6, 2021
Application Number: 20210131543
A strain wave gearing has a wave generator which flexes an externally toothed gear in a radial direction to form meshing portions thereof with an internally toothed gear in positions that are separated along a circumferential direction of the externally toothed gear. When the wave generator rotates, the meshing portions move in the circumferential direction. Non-meshing regions are formed in part of the meshing portions along the tooth trace direction thereof. The non-meshing regions are…