GEAR TYPES

Angular Bevel Gears

These are bevel gears whose shafts are set at an angle other than 90 degrees. They are useful
when the direction of a shaft's rotation needs to be changed. Using gears of differing numbers of
teeth can change the speed of rotation.

These gears permit minor adjustment of gears during assembly and allow for some
displacement due to deflection under operating loads without concentrating the load on the end
of the tooth. For reliable performance, Gears must be pinned to shaft with a dowel or taper pin.

The bevel gears find its application in locomotives, marine applications, automobiles, printing
presses, cooling towers, power plants, steel plants, defence and also in railway track inspection
machine. They are important components on all current rotorcraft drive system.
Bevel Gears
They connect intersecting axes and come in several types. The pitch surface of bevel gears is a
cone. They are useful when the direction of a shaft's rotation needs to be changed. Using gears
of differing numbers of teeth can change the speed of rotation. They are usually mounted on
shafts that are 90 degrees apart, but can be designed to work at other angles as well.

These gears permit minor adjustment during assembly and allow for some displacement due to
deflection under operating loads without concentrating the load on the end of the tooth. For
reliable performance, Gears must be pinned to shaft with a dowel or taper pin. Bevel gear sets
consist of two gears of different pitch diameter that yield ratios greater than 1:1.

Types
The teeth on bevel gears can be straight, spiral or bevel. In straight bevel gears teeth have no
helix angles. They either have equal size gears with 90 degrees shaft angle or a shaft angle other
than 90 degrees. Straight bevel angle can also be with one gear flat with a pitch angle of 90
degrees. In straight when each tooth engages it impacts the corresponding tooth and simply
curving the gear teeth can solve the problem. Spiral bevel gears have spiral angles, which gives
performance improvements. The contact between the teeth starts at one end of the gear and
then spreads across the whole tooth. In both the bevel types of gears the shaft must be
perpendicular to each other and must be in the same plane. The hypoid bevel gears can engage
with the axes in different planes. This is used in many car differentials. The ring gear of the
differential and the input pinion gear are both hypoid. This allows input pinion to be mounted
lower than the axis of the ring gear. Hypoid gears are stronger, operate more quietly and can be
used for higher reduction ratios. They also have sliding action along the teeth, potentially
reducing efficiency.

Applications
A good example of bevel gears is seen as the main mechanism for a hand drill. As the handle of
the drill is turned in a vertical direction, the bevel gears change the rotation of the chuck to a
horizontal rotation. The bevel gears in a hand drill have the added advantage of increasing the
speed of rotation of the chuck and this makes it possible to drill a range of materials.

The bevel gears find its application in locomotives, marine applications, automobiles, printing
presses, cooling towers, power plants, steel plants, defence and also in railway track inspection
machine. They are important components on all current rotorcraft drive system.

Spiral bevel gears are important components on all current rotorcraft drive systems. These
components are required to operate at high speeds, high loads, and for an extremely large
number of load cycles. In this application, spiral bevel gears are used to redirect the shaft from
the horizontal gas turbine engine to the vertical rotor.
Crown Wheel and Pinion
A crown wheel is a wheel with cogs or teeth set at right angles to its plane and the pinion is a
small cogwheel that meshes with the crown wheel. Crown wheel and pinion have excellent heat
distortion control, high strength, wear resistance property and noiseless and vibration free
operation. They are made of fine-grained steel billet.

The pinion thread is specially made on the thread grinder to ensure proper fitting. Tooth contact
of a crown pinion is inspected on a Gleason machine at regular intervals of time for uniform
hardness and adequate case depth. They are checked thoroughly for high spots because this
ensures premature failure and noise-free operation. The crown wheel & pinion are paired and
checked for centralized tooth bearing and desired proximity. An elliptoid contact pattern is
ensured between the crown wheel and pinion.

In a machine, when any torque is applied to the drive unit, the tendency is for the crown wheel
and pinion to be forced into or out of mesh by the sliding contact. The amount of pre-load on the
bearings determines how much torque can be transmitted without allowing end float, which
cause the meshing of the gears to become incorrect.

Application
Crown wheel & pinion are used widely in automotive industries. They are one of the most stress
prone parts of a vehicle. They are used in automobiles to maintain forward motion. To maintain
forward motion both output drive shaft sides covers are removed and the pinion and crown
wheel are swapped completely with differential.
Crown Wheel
A crown wheel is a wheel with cogs or teeth set at right angles to its plane. The internal diameter
of a crown wheel is ground by holding the component in pitch like chucks to ensure accuracy of
the finished gear
As a result of the development of "flat" crown wheels it has become possible to construct a
special gearbox. IHC has used these new gearwheels to produce a prototype of a continuously
variable speed gearbox.
Applications
Crown wheels are used in motorcycle automotive gearboxes. It is also used in mechanical
clocks. The clock consists of a crown wheel, rotated by a falling weight, whose teeth drive the
pallets of a verge backward and forward. This verge is connected to an arm with a hammer on
the end that struck the bell.

Cycloidal Gears
Cycloidal gears are used in pairs and are set at an angle of 180 degrees used to balance the load
and are driven by multiple crank shafts to share the load and increase torsion rigidity. The
cycloidal gear mesh with a large quantity of precisely ground steel pins. The combined tooth
contact area of the two cycloidal gears and pins ensures that the load is distributed almost
entirely around the pitch circle.
With cycloidal gearing the input and output remains in constant mesh. Cycloidal gearing
provides considerable latitude in selection of operating characteristics-deceleration, dwell
periods, ratio of input to output motions etc. In cycloidal gear if the output crank is to stop then
the drive pin must be on the pitch circle of the planet gear to avoid reversing of the motion.

Gearing Mechanism
Cycloidal gearing requires two different curves to obtain conjugate action. Two gears are placed
on either side of a roller. The roller is rolled along the outer edge of one of the gear wheels. The
curve traced out from this initial point of contact is called epicycloid. The same roller is then
rolled on the inside edge of the other gear wheel generating another curve called hypocycloid.
These two curves will be conjugate to each other. The smaller roller disk is called the generating
circle for the gear set.
For cycloidal gear to be interchangeable, circles of the same size must generate them. The teeth
of a cycloidal rack are cycloid generated by the rolling generating circle. They are not straight
and their shape depends on the radius of the generating circle.
Differential Gears

Differential gears link two shafts with a covering, forcing the total of the rotational angles of the
shafts to be the same as the rotational angles of the covering. Arrangement of the system is
done in such a way that one axle turns faster than the other.

When a differential gear is meshed with the other gear then the highly efficient torque is applied
from the differential side gears to the axle shaft. When torque level decreases then the gear
separating forces also decreases allowing the axle shaft to rotate independently. Differential
gears can add or subtract the movement of two inputs. In practical terms, they will turn the
number of revolutions proportional to the movements of both inputs. They are used to convert
the lengthwise flow of power from the engine through the clutches, transmissions, and propeller
shafts into a right-angle direction. This change allows the engine power to turn the wheels.

In the differential gears there are two coaxial gears, the pinions and the turntable. Pinions are
mounted on intermediate shafts and these shafts are connected to a fixed carrier called the
turntable. The differential gears are lubricated with a fluid that absorbs heat and increases the
life and performance of the gears as well as the wheel. Regular driving subjects the fluid to high
heat that breaks the fluid at a later stage. This results in the contact of two metals, which
eventually increases the heat and prevents the gear from turning the car's wheel. So, the fluid
should be properly checked in regular intervals.

Types of Differential Gears

There are two designs of differential gears, hypoid and spiral.
Spiral Differential - In spiral differential the pinion gears contacts the ring gears at its centerline .
Hypoid Gear - In the hypoid the pinion gear contacts the ring gear below the centerline. The size
of pinion gear in hypoid differential is much smaller and the contact ratio is high, comparatively
hypoid differential is much stronger than the spiral differential.

Applications
Differential gears in automobiles are the most common application of these gears. When the car
is moving in a straight line, there is no movement of the differential gear with respect to its axis
but when the car takes a turn then these gears help two wheels of the car to rotate differentially
with respect to each other. When one wheel is stationary then the counterpart wheel rotates at
twice of its expected speed.
External Gear
These are the most often used and the simplest gear system with cylindrical gears with straight
teeth parallel to the axis. They are used for transmitting rotary motion between parallel shafts.
When a smaller gear called the pinion, drives the larger gear called the wheel, also having
external teeth, the corresponding driving and driven shafts rotate in opposite direction. The two
gear surfaces come into contact once and so they are noisy at high speed.

External gears are generated with a tool moving forward towards the component axis. Internal
gear cutter with very small diameter and few teeth is used for the production of external gear.
External gears are widely used in various industrial sectors like coal industry, mining, steel
plant, paper industry, and many more
Face Gear
Face gears are the gear wheel with cogs mortised into its face, usually in conjugation with a
lantern pinion. Face gear enables the transmission of drive through an angle. Their use in high
power, high precision applications have become popular. Face gears have high strength teeth
and good contact geometry, which give high torque capability.

Face gears help to ensure accuracy and rigidity. It is generated by a shaper cutter with the same
diametrical pitch and pressure angle as the pinion. Pressure angle of a face gear is calculated by
calculating the shape of the tooth, the frontal pressure angle.

Features
Face gears are of three types; standard face gear, helical face gear, and offset face gear. Face gears
have many advantages. The pinion is a normal spur gear and assembly time is reduced because
only the axial position of the face gears needs to be set. In this there is no axial load on a pinion
with straight spur teeth and the meshing is smoother due to oblique contact lines and high
contact ratio. It can easily obtain zero backlash transmission.

Applications
They are used in aerospace drive system. They are used to transfer power between intersecting
shafts as found in helicopter rotor transmission. They are also effective with insufficient
lubrication, thus increasing the reliability of the aircraft. They also work with bad alignment
between pinion and the rotor gear. Helicopters using transmission systems based on face gear
have a higher safety and survivability. Face gears are supplied in wholesale to the aerospace
industries

Fine Pitch Gears

They are widely used in aerospace, nuclear and medical industries. They are available in plastic,
steel, stainless steel and brass. They are used largely to transmit motion rather than power. They
have high tooth strength.

Fine pitch gears are inspected by functional testing on a variable-center-distance fixture. They
do not lend themselves to the kind of detailed tooth measurements because of their small
dimensions.

Fine pitch gear is used widely in oil industry and for automotive transmission.
Girth Gears
The girth gear has been preferred over the gearless drives due to their lower initial cost,
simplicity to install, operate and maintain. In the past many years girth gears have gone through
enormous improvements.

They have high efficiency and the overall life of these gears depends upon proper lubrication
and alignment. They are high quality, high precision component. The capital cost of girth gears
is lower than others and they take less time to install. They are physically big and due to this
they are unable to store for longer periods of time.

Girth gear materials have made several changes on their own. Casting is enhanced using full
ring risering techniques. Simulation programs are installed for verification of proper
solidification. New materials are used with an added advantage of increase in hardness and
therefore increased ratings.

The girth gear is the heart of most mills and kiln drive system. They can't be used in spare parts
inventory. They are also used in steel industry, sugar industry, paper and pulp industry.

Hardened and Ground Gears

Hardened and ground gear has two types of shaft arrangements. They can be parallel shaft type
or hollow shaft type. Hardened and ground gear delivers a maximum hob rotation and table
rotation with excellent machining accuracy. Hardened ground gear provide a noise free and long
term operation. They are characterized by high output, easy operation and precise machining.
They offer rigidity, strength and high resistance to shock load. They are available in a wide range
of sizes and gear ratios.

Hardened gears are used in several essential machine tools like wheels, bedways, etc. and are
widely used in the aerospace industry.
Helical Gears
Helical gears connect parallel shifts but the involute teeth are cut at an angle to the axis of
rotation. Two mating helical gears must have equal helix angle but opposite hand. They run
smoother and more quietly. They have higher load capacity, are more expensive to manufacture
and create axial thrust.

Helical gears can be used to mesh two shafts that are not parallel and can also be used in a
crossed gear mesh connecting two perpendicular shafts. They have longer and strong teeth.
They can carry heavy load because of the greater surface contact with the teeth. The efficiency
is also reduced because of longer surface contact. The gearing is quieter with less vibration.

Gear Configuration
They can be manufactured in both right-handed and left-handed configurations with a helix
angle to transmit motion and power between non-intersecting shafts that are parallel or at 90
degrees to each other. For shaft at 90 degrees, the same helix angles are used and the tooth
contact area of the gear is very small. If the angle of gear teeth is correct, they can be mounted
on perpendicular shaft by adjusting the rotating angle by 90 degrees. The inclination of the teeth
generates an axial force. As the angle of inclination increases the axial force also increases.
Thrust bearings can counter these forces.

Applications
These are highly used in transmission because they are quieter even at higher speed and are
durable. The other possible applications of helical gears are in textile industry, blowers, feeders,
rubber and plastic industry, sand mullers, screen, sugar industry, rolling mills, food industry,
elevators, conveyors, cutters, clay working machinery, compressors, cane knives and in oil
industry.

Disadvantage
A disadvantage of helical gear is the resultant thrust along the axis of the gear, which needs to
be accomodated by appropriate thrust bearings. This can be overcome by the use of double
helical gears by having teeth with a 'v' shape.
Helical Bevel Gears
Helical bevel gear is a toothed gear in angular design. The input side is provided with a motor
flange or a free input shaft and the output side are provided with a free shaft end or a hollow
shaft. Helical bevel gears are fitted with flanges of various sizes. Reciprocating tools cuts them.

The advantages of helical bevel gears are high efficiency and low reduction rate. The use of
helical bevel gear saves energy and cost. Helical bevel gears are manufactured by an alloyed
case hardening steel. The gear material is given an extremely strong, homogeneous structure.

They can replace worm gears in a variety of applications, particularly in modular machinery.
They are also used as storage and retrieval unit. They are commonly used in modern
differentials.

Herringbone Gears
They conduct power and motion between non-intersecting, parallel axis that may or may not
have center groove with each group making two opposite helices. The two helix angle come
together in the center of the gear face to form a 'V'. in these gears the end thrust forces cancel
themselves out. Its difficult to cut this type of gear but its made easier by machining a groove in
the face at the point of the apex of the 'V' creating a break in the middle of the herringbone gear
teeth. They do not have any separating groove between the mirrored halves.

Action is equal in force and friction on both gears and all bearings. Herringbone gear also allow
for the use of larger diameter shaft for the same volumetric displacement and higher differential
pressure capability.

The most common application is in power transmission. They utilize curved teeth for efficient,
high capacity power transmission. This offers reduced pulsation due to which they are highly
used for extrusion and polymerization. Herringbone gears are mostly used on heavy machinery.
Idler Gear
A gear wheel placed between two other gears to transmit motion from one to the other. It does
not alter the speed of the output, but it does alter the direction it turns. It is used to ensure that
the rotation of two gears is the same. An idler gear is placed between two gears. The idler gear
rotates in the opposite direction as the driver gear, and the follower gear rotates in the opposite
direction of the idler, the same direction of the driver. It is also used to change the spacing
between the input and output axles. It does not change the gear ratio between the input and
output gears.
All the gears and wheels that turn inside the treads of a battle tank are all idler gears that
transfer power from the input gear to the output gear to move the tread and move the tank
forward.
The power take off mechanism includes a gear train with an input idler gear, a first intermediate
idler gear, a second intermediate idler gear and an output gear. The input idler gear receives a
rotary input and the first intermediate idler gear meshes with the input gear and the second
intermediate idler gear. The output gears transmit rotary power to one of the first and second
axles.

Internal Gears
Internal gears have cylindrical pith surface with teeth parallel to the axis. Gears make an internal
contact with these gears. They have the teeth cut on the inside of the rim rather than the outside.
When they are used with the pinion more teeth carry the load and are evenly distributed. This
even distribution decreases the pressure intensity and increases the life of the gear. The center
distance of a given velocity is shorter.
Internal gears are hollow. The properties and teeth shape is similar as of external gears except
that the internal gear had different addendum and dedendum values modified to prevent
interference in internal meshes. They are designed to accommodate a wide range of equipment.
These are ideal and cost effective. The teeth are cut into the inside diameter while the outside
diameter is smooth. These gears are available only in brass. Internal gear offers low sliding and
high stress loading. They are used in planetary gears to produce large reduction ratios.
When choosing a mating gear the difference between the number of teeth of girth gear and the
pinion should not be less than 15. Their non-binding tooth design ensures smooth, quiet
operation. They are used to transmit rotary motion between parallel shafts, the shaft rotating in
the same direction as the arrangement.
The main applications of internal gears are in rollers, indexing, timing and other light duty
applications. They are used as tools for creating solid models of drive components.
Involute Gears
Involute gears have a tooth shape that is tolerant of variations in the distance between the axes,
to ensure smooth running of the gears. The velocity ratio of the gears does not depend on the
exact spacing of the axes, but is fixed by the number of teeth or by pitch diameters. Increasing
the distance above its theoretical value makes the gears run easier, since the clearances are
larger. This also increases the backlash. Rack type cutters generate involute gears.

Operation of the Gear

On an involute gear tooth, the contact point starts closer to one gear, and as the gear spins, the
contact point moves away from that gear and towards the other. The pitch diameter is the
effective contact diameter. As the gear turns, the contact point slides up onto the thicker part of
the top gear tooth. Thus, pushes the top gear ahead. As the teeth continues to rotate, the contact
point moves further away going outside the pitch diameter. Then the contact point starts to slide
onto the skinny part of the bottom tooth, subtracting a little bit of velocity from the top gear to
compensate for the increased diameter of contact. Thus, the involute gear tooth produces a
constant ratio of rotational speed.

Involute spur gears have the invaluable ability of providing conjugate action when the gears'
center distance is varied either deliberately or involuntarily due to manufacturing or mounting
errors.

Non-Involute Gears
Non-involute gears have reduced specific sliding. Reduced gear sliding has an affect
on low speed meshes, where sliding losses predominate. The efficiency of these gears
is also increased by the use of less viscous oil.

The tooth profile geometry is uniquely defined by the arc shaped path of contact. The
gears manufactured by the same rack cutter have the concave convex mesh. The
result of enlarged reduced radius of curvature has as a consequence reduced pressure
and better lubrication conditions. The geometry of non-involute gear tooth provides
substantially higher capacity than any other gearing.

The disadvantages of the non-involute gearing are lower transverse contact ratio and
great sensitivity to the center distance accuracy.
Miter Gears
Miter gears are bevel gears put together with equal numbers of teeth and axes that are usually at
right angles. Miter is the surface forming the beveled end or edge of a piece where a miter joint
is made.

Miter gears are cut with a generated tooth form that has a localized lengthwise tooth bearing.
They are offered in various modules, number of teeth, speed ratio, materials and designs. Miter
gears are made of steel, brass, bronze, aluminum, nylon and duracon.
Features
They are known for efficient power transfer and durability. They can carry heavy loads and can
eliminate secondary operations that are useless during the process. They are used in drilling air
holes in vacuum molds, drilling radial ports in door closers, milling oil grooves and act as a low
cost spindle for dedicated machines.

They are designed for the efficient transmission of power and motion between intersecting
shafts at right angles. They can be of two types, ground spiral miter gear and spiral miter gear.
They give smoother, quieter operation. They handle higher speeds and greater torque loads.
They provide a steady ratio.
Applications
Miter gears are also used in printing, agriculture, bottling, and material handling and steering.
They are used in various industrial sectors including-coal and mining, oil exploration, paper
mining, chemical industry. They are used as important parts of conveyors, elevators and kilns.

Pinion Gears
It is a small cogwheel. The teeth fit into a larger gear wheel. Rotational motion is
converted into linear motion when the pinion turns and moves the rack. Pinion gears
are engineered to be the best gears.

Pinion gear system involves the use of a small round gear called pinion and a large flat
gear called rack, more the number of teeth in the pinion gear, more is the speed of
rotation. Pinion with smaller number of teeth produces more torque. Pinion is attached
to the motor shaft with glue. Rotation of pinion is done by rotation of pinion about a
fixed center that helps the rack to move in the straight line. If the rack is moved and the
pinion rotates then the center of the pinion moves taking along the pinion with it.
Rack Gears
Rack gear is a toothed bar into which a pinion meshes. Racks are gears of infinite pitch
radius. They are used to translate rotary motion to linear motion or vice versa. They
will mesh with pinions of the same pitch.
Racks are made of various materials. The commonly used materials for racks are
stainless steel, brass, and plastic.
They are widely used in automobiles. The steering wheel of a car rotates the gear that
engages the rack. The rack slides right or left, when the gear turns, depending on the
way we turn the wheel. Windshield wipers in cars are powered by a rack and pinion
mechanism. They are also used in some scales to turn the dial that displays weight.

Ring Gear and Pinion

It is one of the most commonly used spiral bevel gears, used largely in automotive
industry. In order to enable the axle ratio setting a vehicle must be must be equipped
with a racing gearbox, also known as ring and pinion gears.
A ring and pinion gear set is expensive to buy and install, requiring highly skilled
technicians. This gear is hypoid, it not only rotates against each other but also wipe
across the drive surfaces, creating the shearing force that cuts the lubricants changing
its viscosity. Gear oil used here is heavy and the thickness of the oil changes with the
temperature. There are bearings in the final drive, among which two support the drive
pinion and two support the case that holds the ring gear and one on each axle nearest
the wheel.
To compute a new gear ratio, one needs to enter the stock ring pinion gears ratio along
with the old and new tier size. It is also used in calculating the tier width and the speed
of wheels.
Applications
It is used in heavy truck differentials. It is also used in tire rotation, wheel alignment
and tire balance. It is one of the greatest masterpieces in automotive mechanism. It
works for higher driving and loading capacity in the drive line from transmission to
wheels. It is also used to compensate for discrepancies in the respective rotation rate
of the drive wheels between inside and outside wheels during cornering for limited
effective torque to the wheels with lower coefficient of friction.
Spiral Bevel Gears
Spiral bevel gears have spiral angles, which gives performance improvements. They
are designed for an angle change of 90 degrees, where the two axes are concurrent
and in the same plane. These gears have a double function of being helical and
beveled at the same time. The contact between the teeth starts at one end of the gear
and then spreads across the whole tooth. In this type of gears the shaft must be
perpendicular to each other and must be in the same plane.

They are the most complex forms of bevel gears. The teeth are curved by cutting them
obliquely, resulting in higher overall contact ratios. Because of higher contact ratio,
these have better load carrying capacity an this allows them to be smaller in size for a
given load capacity than an equivalent gear. Thus they can transmit more power with
smaller gears.

Methods of Manufacturing
Face milled and face hobbed are two methods of manufacturing for spiral bevel gears.
In the method of face milled, the grinding of the contacting surface is the last step.
Whereas, in the face hobbed method, hard cutting is the final step. The same machine
is used to rough cut and finish cut the gears. The desirable design of the gear is to
minimize the weight of the gear and it is done by reducing the material in the gear's
rim.

Applications
Spiral bevel gears are important components on all current rotorcraft drive systems.
These components are required to operate at high speeds, high loads, and for an
extremely large number of load cycles. In this application, spiral bevel gears are used
to redirect the shaft from the horizontal gas turbine engine to the vertical rotor. They
are also used in power windows and power seats. They are used where speed and
strength are desirable along with the change in angle of power flow.
Sprockets
Sprockets are teeth like projections arranged on a wheel rim to engage the links of a
chain. They engage chains in many different power transmission and conveyor
systems. They are mainly made of cast iron, sintered metal, and carbon steel. Inserted
sprockets are also designed to reduce noise and operation. They are often an
economic, reliable drive system for long running, continuous drive applications with
maximum absorption of shock and minimum torque loads.

Geometry and Maintenance

Two sprockets are connected to each other with a chain. On one end of the chain is a
small sprocket located on the engine that rotates due to the force of the engine. On the
other end of the chain is a larger sprocket located attached to the rear axle. This
provides both forward and reverse momentum. The amount of rotation of each
sprocket depends on the rotation speed of the driving sprockets, the number of teeth
of the driving sprockets and the number of teeth of the driven sprockets.

The sprocket must be inspected once a month for wear and if the teeth are worn down
or are broken they should be replaced. The sprockets and the chain must be lubricated
with chain lube such as bell ray.

Applications
Sprockets are most commonly used in bicycles. In a cycle, a chain runs between two
sprockets. When the paddle is pushed, the front gear is turned and that meshes with
the links in the chain. The chain moves and meshes with the links in the rear gear that
is attached to the rear wheel. This enables the bicycle to move.
Spur Gears
They connect parallel shafts, have involute teeth that are parallel to the shaft and can
have internal or external teeth. They cause no external thrust between gears. They are
inexpensive to manufacture. They give lower but satisfactory performance. They are
used when shaft rotates in the same plane.

The main features of spur gears are dedendum, addendum, flank, and fillet. Dedendum
cylinder is a root from where teeth extend, it extends to the tip called the addendum
circle. Flank or the face contacts the meshing gear, the most useful feature if the spur
gears. The fillet in the root region is kinetically irrelevant.

Characteristics
The speed and change of the force depends on the gear ratio, the ratio of number of
teeth on the gears that are to be meshed. One gear among the two is on the input axle,
the axle of the motor and the other gear of the pair is on the output axle, the axle of the
wheel.

They have higher contact ratio that makes them smooth and quiet in operation. They
are available for corrosion resistant operation. They are among the most cost-effective
type of gearing. They are also used to create large gear reductions.

Materials
They are available in plastic, non-metallic, brass, steel and cast iron and are
manufactured in a variety of styles. They are made with many different properties.
Factors like design life, power transmission requirements, noise and heat generation,
and presence of corrosive elements contribute to the optimization of the gear material.

Applications
Generally used in simple machines like washing machines, clothes dryer or power
winches. They are not used in automobiles because they produce sound when the
teeth of both the gears collide with each other. It also increases stress on the gear
teeth. They are also used in construction equipment, machine tools, indexing
equipment, multi spindle drives, roller feeds, and conveyors.
Straight Bevel Gears
Straight bevel gears are the simplest of the bevel gears. They are manufactured on
precision generating machines by indexing method ensuring that the teeth should be
of tapered depth and thickness. Teeth are cut on the outside of the cone. They have a
straight tooth geometry, which if extends, passes through the intersection of their
axes.
Straight bevel angle can also be with one gear flat with a pitch angle of 90 degrees.
These have conical pith surfaces that operate on intersecting axes. They can be
designed and cut to operate on any shaft angle. In straight bevel gears when each
tooth engages it impacts the corresponding tooth and simply curving the gear teeth
can solve the problem.
Straight bevel gears come in two variations depending on the fabrication equipment.
They are grouped into Gleason type and the standard type. Major percentage of them
is of Gleason type with a coniflex form that gives almost an imperceptible convex
appearance to the tooth surface. In the standard form, the gear has no profile shifted
tooth.
These gears are recommended at less speed and when loads are light. At higher speed
they make noise. The most preeminent function of these gears is in a bevel gear
differential. Straight tooth gears are also used in chemical industries, steel plant,
machine tools, cement plant, textile processing, material handling system, sugar mills
and cooling towers etc.
Winch Gears
Winch gears are used to convert the high speed, low force input of the handle into low
speed, high torque output at the drum. These are quite highly developed and use tooth
forms that are significantly different from those found in other gear applications such
as car gearboxes and power transmission.
The loads on winch gears are actually high while the speeds they turn at are relatively
very low. This results in thick strong teeth that resist high loads as well. The winch
gears are not long lasting and have low efficiency. The winches turn few thousand
times in their entire lives and they never go fast enough to get hot.
Applications
Winch gear is commonly used in boats and fleets. Before every operation winch gear
should be lubricated. The ratchet should not be engaged when the winch gear is
turning. They get worn out easily; overloading them and deforming the teeth causes
majority of damage to the gears. For long term safety and security the damaged part
should be replaced and full analysis of the cause of damage should be done.
Worm Gears
A worm gear is an inclined plane wrapped around a central axle. It is a gear with one or
more teeth in the form of screwed threads.
Worm gears are made of two parts: the pinion and the worm gear. The pinion has small
number of teeth and they wrap around the pitch cylinder. The worm gear has concave
faces to fit the curvature of the worm in order to provide line of contact instead of point
of contact. They are cut helically for better mating Worm gears can provide a high
angular velocity between non-intersecting shafts at right angles. They are capable of
transmitting high tooth loads, the only disadvantage is the high sliding velocities
across the teeth. They provide ultimate power ratio.

Features
The efficiency of worm gear depends on the lead angle, sliding speed, and lubricant,
surface quality and installation conditions. They offer smoothest, quietest form of
gearing. They provide high-ratio speed reduction in minimal spaces.
Worm gears are used when large gear reductions are required. Worm gear has a
unique property of easily turning the gear. The gear cannot turn the worm because the
angle on the worm is shallow and when the gear tries to spin the worm, the friction
between the two holds the worm in place.
Worm gears work under difficult conditions, presenting unique lubrication demands.
The types of oils most commonly used to lubricate worm gears are compounded
mineral oils, EP mineral gear oils and synthetics. Operation of the Gear
Worm gear is always used as the input gear. For the operation of worm gear, torque is
applied to the input end of the worm shaft by a driven sprocket or electric motor. The
worm and the worm shaft are supported by anti-friction roller bearings. Because of
high friction worm gears are very inefficient. There is lot of friction between a worm
gear and the gear being driven by the worm gear. When used in high torque
applications, the friction causes the wear on the gear teeth and erosion of restraining
surface.
Types
There are three types of worm gears:
Non throated- a helical gear with a straight worm. Tooth contact is a single moving
point on the worm drive.
Single throated- has concave helical teeth wrap around the worm. This leads to line
contact.
Double throated- called a cone or hourglass. It has concave teeth both on the worm and
helical gear.
Applications
Worm gears are widely used in packaging machinery, material handling, machine
tools, indexing and food processing. They are used widely in conveyor systems. They
are also used in torsen differential, used on some high-performance cars and trucks.
They serve as speed reducers in many different industries.