Split Gear Housing Structure for Compact High-Torque Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gear units with split housings face challenges in achieving a compact design while maintaining high torque transmission and effectively managing axial and radial forces.
Innovation Solution
The gear unit design incorporates a housing with a lower part and a cover part, featuring a closed annular first support and an open annular second support, along with side walls and ribs for increased rigidity. This configuration allows for compactness while supporting high torque transmission and managing axial forces through an axial bearing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the housing is designed with a split structure (cover part and lower part), then the ease of manufacture and assembly is improved, but the structural rigidity and stability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into a lower part and a cover part that can be assembled separately. The lower part includes a first support and a second support that are spaced apart and connected by side walls, forming a segmented structure that maintains rigidity while enabling separate manufacturing and assembly of housing components.
Solution Approach 2:
The first support is designed as a closed annular structure providing high rigidity, while the second support is an open annular structure. This local differentiation in structural quality allows the housing to achieve both manufacturability through segmentation and stability through strategically placed rigid elements.
2Volume of moving object
If the housing is made compact to reduce size, then the volume is reduced, but the torque transmission capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The first support is designed as a closed annular structure and the second support as an open annular structure, utilizing dimensional optimization. The spaced-apart supports connected by side walls create a compact yet rigid framework that transmits high torque effectively while minimizing housing volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing employs a composite structural design combining closed and open annular supports with reinforcing ribs. This composite approach achieves high torque transmission in a compact configuration by optimizing the distribution of structural materials.
3Ease of manufacture
If the first support is spaced apart from the second support to allow side walls, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the structural rigidity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The first support is designed as a closed annular structure while the second support is an open annular structure, creating an asymmetric configuration. This asymmetry allows the supports to be spaced apart for manufacturability while the closed first support and reinforcing ribs maintain structural rigidity.
4Device complexity
If the bearing arrangement uses only radial bearings, then the device complexity is reduced, but the ability to handle axial forces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing arrangement combines radial bearings with an axial bearing (second bearing) to create a multi-functional support system. This universal bearing configuration handles both radial and axial forces, enabling the housing to support complex load conditions while maintaining reasonable device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A gear unit includes a housing having a lower part and a cover part, e.g., fitted onto the lower part, and an output shaft and a driving shaft. The lower part includes a first support, a second support, a base plate, and side walls. Each side wall is connected, e.g., welded, the first and second supports. The first support is a closed annular structure, e.g., a closed ring. The second support is an open annular structure, e.g., an open ring. A first bearing, e.g., a double bearing, for rotatably supporting the output shaft is received in the base plate. A second bearing for rotatably supporting the output shaft is received in the bearing receiving part. The base plate is connected, e.g., welded, to the second support and to the bearing receiving part.