Rotary speed reducer
Assignee21GEO Corp.
InventorThomas J. Dobroth
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mechanism including a first pair of races having a first pair of raceways and a first rolling element operable to roll between the first pair of raceways, wherein at least one of the first pair of raceways has a substantially variable curvature along at least a portion of a path of the first rolling element. A program product that determines a solution by adjusting the curvature of a first pair of raceways on opposite sides of a rolling element, at least one of the first pair of raceways having a substantially variable curvature along the contact points in the direction of the corresponding range of motion for the rolling element.
Claims13
A rotary speed reducer comprising:
- a first pair of races comprising a first pair of raceways forming a first closed loop about an axis;
- a second pair of races comprising a second pair of raceways forming a second closed loop about the axis and around the first closed loop;
- and
- a first plurality of rolling elements operable to roll between each of the first pair of raceways, wherein each of the first plurality of rolling elements substantially rolls as it travels around the first closed loop;
- and
- a second plurality of rolling elements operable to roll between each of the second pair of raceways, wherein each of the second pair of raceways has a substantially variable curvature, wherein each of the second plurality of rolling elements substantially rolls as it travels around the second closed loop.
A rotary speed reducer comprising:
- a first pair of races comprising a first pair of raceways forming a first closed loop about an axis;
- a second pair of races comprising a second pair of raceways forming a second closed loop about the axis and around the first closed loop;
- and
- a first plurality of rolling elements operable to roll over a first plurality of contact points on each of the first pair of raceways, and
- a second plurality of rolling elements operable to roll over a second plurality of contact points on each of the second pair of raceways, wherein each of the second pair of raceways has a substantially variable curvature, wherein the path length for any corresponding interval along the second plurality of contact points for each of the second pair of raceways are substantially the same.
A rotary speed reducer comprising:
- a first pair of races comprising a first pair of raceways forming a first closed loop about an axis;
- a second pair of races comprising a second pair of raceways forming a second closed loop radially about the axis and around the first closed loop;
- and
- a first plurality of rolling elements operable to roll over a first plurality of contact points on each of the first pair of raceways;
- and
- a second plurality of rolling elements operable to roll over a second plurality of contact points on each of the second pair of raceways, wherein each of the second pair of raceways has a substantially variable curvature, wherein the second plurality of rolling elements do not slide as they roll around the second closed loop.
A rotary speed reducer comprising:
- a first race comprising a first raceway around a first closed loop about an axis;
- a second pair of races comprising a second pair of raceways around a second pair of closed loops;
- and
- a plurality of rolling elements having a first rolling portion with a radius R1 and a second pair of rolling portions with a radius R2, the first rolling portion being operable to roll over a first plurality of contact points on the first raceway, the second pair of rolling portion each being operable to roll over a corresponding plurality of contact points on each of the second pair of raceways, wherein at least one of the first raceway or the second pair of raceways has a substantially variable curvature, the path length along the first raceway being substantially R1/R2 times the path length along the second raceway, wherein R1 does not equal R2, wherein the plurality of rolling elements substantially rolls as it travels around the corresponding closed loop.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.