The tooth shape design of the Connecting Ring Belt is one of the core factors affecting its high-precision transmission performance. In precision transmission scenarios, such as robot joints, CNC machine tools or automated assembly lines, slight deviations in tooth shape may lead to cumulative transmission errors, which in turn affect the overall accuracy of the equipment. Therefore, the optimization of tooth shape design requires comprehensive consideration from multiple dimensions such as mechanical properties, geometric structure, and material properties. The following is an explanation from the key design direction.
The tooth shape of the Connecting Ring Belt must be precisely matched with the tooth groove shape of the pulley to reduce the gap and impact during the meshing process. For example, if the tooth shape is too sharp or too narrow, it may cause local stress concentration during meshing and accelerate tooth surface wear; while if the tooth shape is too blunt or too wide, it may cause insufficient meshing, resulting in slippage or vibration. The optimization direction includes replacing traditional trapezoidal teeth with arc tooth shapes, dispersing stress through arc transitions, and improving meshing stability. In addition, the radius of curvature of the tooth profile must strictly correspond to the curvature of the pulley tooth groove, and can be precisely matched and designed through reverse engineering or 3D modeling technology.
The height, width, pitch and other parameters of the tooth profile need to be dynamically adjusted according to the transmission load and speed. For example, in high-speed transmission, excessive tooth height will increase the risk of tooth side swing caused by centrifugal force, while too small tooth height may reduce the transmission torque. When optimizing, it is necessary to balance the rigidity and flexibility of the tooth profile, such as increasing the radius of the tooth root fillet to improve fatigue resistance, or adjusting the thickness of the tooth top to adapt to different load requirements. In addition, slight changes in the pitch of the tooth profile may directly affect the transmission accuracy, and the pitch consistency needs to be ensured by precision molds or laser cutting technology.
The elastic modulus, hardness and other properties of polyurethane materials directly affect the rigidity and resilience of the tooth profile. For example, although polyurethane with low hardness can absorb vibration, it may cause transmission errors due to tooth deformation; while too high hardness may reduce the fit between the tooth surface and the pulley. Optimization directions include improving the rigidity and wear resistance of polyurethane by blending modification or adding fiber reinforcement materials, and combining tooth structure design, such as adding reinforcing ribs at the root of the tooth or using a layered composite structure to improve local rigidity without sacrificing overall flexibility.
Under high load or frequent start-stop conditions, the tooth profile may cause the meshing position to shift due to elastic deformation. To compensate for this deformation, dynamic adaptation can be achieved through tooth profile pre-deformation design. For example, the tooth profile is designed to be a "pre-bent" shape that is slightly inclined in the transmission direction, so that the deformation of the belt body under load and the pre-deformation offset each other, thereby maintaining the meshing accuracy. In addition, microstructures (such as fine grooves or textures) can be designed on the tooth profile surface to reduce friction and wear through the lubricant storage effect, further improving dynamic stability.
Transmission errors are usually caused by factors such as tooth profile processing errors, assembly errors, and material creep. Optimizing tooth profile design requires combining finite element analysis (FEA) with experimental testing to establish a coupling model of tooth profile-pulley-load. For example, FEA is used to simulate the stress distribution and deformation law under different tooth profile parameters, and the accuracy of the model is verified by combining experimental data, and then the tooth profile is iteratively optimized. In addition, the concept of "error compensation tooth profile" can be introduced, that is, the known error sources, such as pulley manufacturing deviations or pitch changes caused by thermal expansion, can be offset by fine-tuning the tooth profile (such as asymmetric tooth profile).
The tooth surface friction characteristics of the Connecting Ring Belt directly affect the transmission efficiency and accuracy. Optimization directions include introducing self-lubricating coatings (such as polytetrafluoroethylene composite layers) on the tooth surface or designing microstructure lubrication channels to reduce the direct contact area of the tooth surface, thereby reducing the friction coefficient. In addition, the tooth profile can be designed as a special shape such as "involute" or "modified trapezoid", which can disperse the friction and reduce wear by changing the contact trajectory during the meshing process. For example, the involute tooth profile can make the meshing point move smoothly along the tooth surface to avoid local stress concentration.
To ensure that the tooth profile maintains accuracy during long-term use, comprehensive protection is required from the perspectives of material aging, environmental erosion and fatigue damage. For example, the weather resistance of polyurethane can be improved by adding antioxidants or ultraviolet absorbers, or a corrosion-resistant coating (such as nickel-phosphorus plating) can be covered on the tooth surface to resist chemical erosion. In addition, the tooth profile design needs to reserve wear allowance, such as using a "stepped tooth profile" or "replaceable tooth block" structure, so that the transmission accuracy can be restored by adjustment or replacement after local wear. Through the coordinated optimization of materials, structure and process, the tooth design of the Connecting Ring Belt can achieve a balance between high-precision transmission and long life.
