For over 50 years, Harmonic Drive has been your partner for precision motion control. Globally, the Harmonic Drive Group Companies are comprised of Harmonic Drive, LLC (United States), Harmonic Drive Systems, Inc. (Japan) and Harmonic Drive SE (Germany).
The unique principle of the strain wave gear was the brainchild of the genius American inventor C. Walton Musser in 1955. Musser was a brilliant inventor who was awarded more than 200 patents. Prior to his invention of the harmonic gear, the prevailing wisdom was that high-torque, accurate gear reducers must be rigid. Mr. Musser realized that the opposite could also be true and a design utilizing the flexible properties of metals could vastly improve both performance and reliability. This led to his seminal work in the field of non-rigid body mechanics and the development of the strain wave gear.
Two companies then stepped forward to commercialize this concept. One was the U.S. company United Shoe Machinery Corporation (USM), the forerunner of Harmonic Drive LLC and the other was the Japanese company, Hasegawa Gear Works, Ltd., the forerunner of Harmonic Drive Systems Inc. Today, high precision Harmonic Drive® gears continue to be manufactured globally by the Harmonic Drive Group Companies: Harmonic Drive, LLC (United States), Harmonic Drive Systems, Inc. (Japan) and Harmonic Drive SE (Germany). We have shared core values, product designs and quality standards. State of the art manufacturing facilities in the US, Japan and Germany enable us to locally serve the needs of our global customers.
High Precision Motion Control
Harmonic Drive engineers and manufactures precision servo actuators, gearheads and gear component sets. We work closely with companies of all sizes to understand their application requirements and provide a standard, or, in most cases, a custom-engineered solution to enable the success of their design project. Our products are customizable. Our design engineers are tenacious when it comes to providing the absolute best possible solution for your specific project. We pride ourselves on delivering cost-effective, high precision solutions.