Gears:

Gears are used for transmitting power from one part of a machine to another. In a bicycle, for
example, it's gears (with the help of a chain) that take power from the pedals to the back wheel.
Gears are used in changing the direction through which power is transmitted (i.e. parallel, right
angles, rotating, linear, changing the amount of force or torque, changing RPM
Types of gear:
There are many types of gears such as spur gears, helical gears, bevel gears, worm gears, gear
rack, etc. These can be broadly classified by looking at the positions of axes such as parallel
shafts, intersecting shafts and non-intersecting shafts
Helical gear:
Helical gears are one type of cylindrical gears with slanted tooth trace. Compared to spur gears,
they have the larger contact ratio and excel in quietness and less vibration and able to transmit
large force. A pair of helical gears has the same helix angle but the helix hand is opposite.
When the reference section of the gear is in the normal plane, by tilting the hobbing tool, the spur
gear hobbing machine and hobbing tool can be used to produce helical gears. Because of the
twist of teeth, their manufacturing has the disadvantage of more difficult production.

Types of helical gear:

1. Single helical gear
2. Double helical gear
3. Herringbone gear set
4. Crossed helical gear set
5. Helical rack and pinon
Single helical gear:
A single helical gear has teeth inclined in any one direction (either left hand helix or right helix.
Single helical gears develop axial thrust force and exerts the same on corresponding bearings. It
also develops radial force Because of thrust load, high helix angle cannot be used. Helix angle
for single helical gear usually varies within 15º – 20º Single helical gears are suitable for
mechanical drives or power transmission requirements where each application usually requires a
unique design for powers, speeds, and configuration
Double helical gear:
Double helical gear consists of two identical gears jointed on same axis, and having teeth in
opposite directions (one has left hand helix and other one has right hand helix). Resultant thrust
force developed in double helical gear is zero. Thus it exerts no axial load on bearings. But radial
force exists as usual. For same size and module, double helical gears can transmit larger power.
Due to canceled thrust load, high helix angle (20º – 45º) can be advantageously used in double
helical gears. Double helical gears are suitable for high power transmission requirements such as
in cranes, marine drives or turbines

Herringbone gear set:

A herringbone gear, a specific type of double helical gear,is a special type of gear that is a side to
side (not face to face) combination of two helical gears of opposite hands. From the top, each
helical groove of this gear looks like the letter V, and many together form a herringbone pattern
(resembling the bones of a fish such as a herring). Unlike helical gears, herringbone gears do not
produce an additional axial load.
Like helical gears, they have the advantage of transferring power smoothly, because more than
two teeth will be in mesh at any moment in time. Their advantage over the helical gears is that
the side-thrust of one half is balanced by that of the other half. This means that herringbone gears
can be used in torque gearboxes without requiring a substantial thrust bearing. Because of this,
herringbone gears were an important step in the introduction of the steam turbine to marine
propulsion.
Crossed helical gear:
Crossed helical gear sets are used to transmit power and motion between non-intersecting and
non-parallel axes. Both of the gears that mesh with each other are involute helical gears, and a
point contact is made between them.

Helical rack and pinon:

A linear actuator that converts the rotary motion of the (circular) pinion to linear motion at the
(linear) rack.In helical rack and pinon set helical gears are used.

Gear train:
Two or more gears are made to mesh with each other to transmit power from one shaft to
another.
Such a combination is called gear train or train of toothed wheels.
The gear which drives the gear is called the driver and the gear which is driven is called the
driven or follower.
It may be noted that the motion of the driven gear is opposite to the motion of driving gear.
Helical gear train:
In helical gear train helical gear are used.
Types of Gear types of Gear Trains:
Following are the different types of gear trains, depending upon the arrangement of wheels :
1. Simple gear train
2. Compound gear train
3. Reverted gear train
4. Epicyclic gear train
Simple gear train:
When there is only one gear on each shaft, it is known as simple gear train. The gears are
represented by their pitch circles.

Compound Gear Train:

When there are more than one gear on a shaft, it is called a compound train of gear.
Reverted Gear Train:
When the axes of the first gear (i.e. first driver) and the last gear (i.e. last driven or follower) are
co-axial, then the gear train is known as reverted gear train
Terms used in gear train:
N1 = Speed of gear A (or driver) in r.p.m.,
N2 = Speed of gear B (or driven or follower) in r.p.m.,
T1 = Number of teeth on gear A, and
T2 = Number of teeth on gear B.
Mechanical advantage:
The mechanical advantage of a pair of meshing gears for which the input gear has NA teeth and
the output gear has NB teeth is given by
MA=NB/NA
Speed ratio:
The speed ratio (or velocity ratio) of gear train is the ratio of the speed of the driver to
the speed of the driven or follower
ratio of speeds of any pair of gears in mesh is the inverse of their number of teeth, therefore
Speed ratio A B:
Speed ratio =NA/NB =TB/TA
Train value of the gear train:
It may be noted that ratio of the speed of the driven or follower to the speed of the driver is
known as train value of the gear train
Speed ratio =NA/NB =TB/TA
H= Speed of the last driven or follower /Speed of the first driver
when the number of intermediate gears are odd, the motion of both the gears (i.e. driver and
driven or follower) is like. But if the number of intermediate gears are even, the motion of the
driven or follower will be in the opposite direction of the driver.
Advantages of the helical gear
1. Silent operation: In a helical gear train, the teeth engage a little at a time rather than the
entire face at once. This causes less noisy power transfer in case of helical gears.

2. Non-parallel shaft: Helical gears can be used for transferring power between non
parallel shafts. Though you have to compromise on efficiency in this case.

3. Strength: For same tooth size (module) and equivalent width, helical gears can handle
more load than spur gears because the helical gear tooth is effectively larger since it is
diagonally positioned.
Disadvantages of helical gear:
1. When a pair of helical gear meshes with each other, there will be creation of axial thrust
load on gear due to helix angle of gear teeth and therefore gearbox designer has to select
such bearings those are able to absorb and support this axial thrust load.
2. There will be sliding movement between mating gear teeth in case of helical gear and
heat generation will be more as compared to spur gear application. Therefore helical gear
requires good quality of lubrication.
3. One pair of mating helical gear will have less efficiency as compared to efficiency of
mating spur gears of similar size.
4. Power loss in case of helical gear train operation will be more as compared to spur gear
train operation.
5. Manufacturing and designing cost of helical gears will be more as compared to spur gear
designing and manufacturing cost.
Applications of helical gears:
If noise is the main design criteria and you can compromise on power, you should go for helical
gear. Helical gears normally used for high speed, high power mechanical systems.
Example: Car gear box, machine tools etc