pic: CGX-104 cycloidal versaplanetary external

[GeeTwo]

As I understand it, the advantage of cycloidal is the larger ratio of reduction available in a single stage, improving efficiency. Stacking gearboxes that match VP ratios would give up that advantage.

If you made cycloidal gearboxes at ratios of 36:1, 40:1, and 45:1 that could take a VP output as input, then with a single VP and a single "VC" (VersaCycloidal) stage, you could cover the range from 108:1 to 450:1 with no gaps larger than 12.5%.

Here's the table:

     Cycloidal Ratio
VP    45    40    36
-----------------------
 3   135   120   108
 4   180   160   144
 5   225   200   180
 7   315   280   252
 9   405   360   324
10   450   400   360

Of course, you must put the versaplanetary first because they couldn't take those large output torques.