TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-TAGUIG

Mechanical Engineering Department

Motion in Mechanisms

Gears and Gear Design

What is a gear?
 Are machine elements that
transmit motion by means
of successively engaging
teeth.

AGMA
 is a machine part with gear
teeth. When two gears run
together, the one with the
larger number of teeth is
called the gear.

Boston Gear
What are the types of gear?
Spur Gears Spur gears are
the most
commonly used
gear type.
They are characterized by teeth which are
perpendicular to the face of the gear. Spur gears
are by far the most commonly available, and are
generally the least expensive.
Limitations: Spur gears generally cannot be used
when a direction change between the two
shafts is required.
Advantages: Spur gears are easy to find,
inexpensive, and efficient.
 Helical gears are similar to the
Helical Gears spur gear except that the teeth
are at an angle to the shaft,
rather than parallel to it as in a
spur gear.

The resulting teeth are longer than the teeth on a

spur gear of equivalent pitch diameter. The longer
teeth cause helical gears to have the following
differences from spur gears of the same size.
Tooth strength is greater because the teeth are
longer,
Greater surface contact on the teeth allows a
helical gear to carry more load than a spur gear.
 The longer surface of
Helical Gears contact reduces the
efficiency of a helical gear
relative to a spur gear.
Helical gears may be used to mesh two shafts
that are not parallel, although they are still
primarily use in parallel shaft applications. A
special application in which helical gears are used
is a crossed gear mesh, in which the two shafts
are perpendicular to each other:
The basic descriptive geometry for a helical gear
is essentially the same as that of the spur gear,
except that the helix angle must be added as a
parameter.
Helical Gears

Limitations: Helical gears have the major

disadvantage that they are expensive and much
more difficult to find.
Advantages: Helical gears can be used on non
parallel and even perpendicular shafts, and can
carry higher loads than can spur gears.
Helical Gears
 Bevel gears are primarily used to
Bevel Gear transfer power between
intersecting shafts. The teeth of
these gears are formed on a
conical surface.
 Standard bevel gears have teeth which are cut
straight and are all parallel to the line pointing the
apex of the cone on which the teeth are based.
Spiral bevel gears are also available which have
teeth that form arcs.
 Hypocycloid bevel gears are a special type of
spiral gear that will allow nonintersecting, non-
parallel shafts to mesh. Straight tool bevel gears
are generally considered the best choice for
systems with speeds lower than 1000 feet per
minute: they commonly become noisy above this
point.
 One of the most common applications of bevel
gears is the bevel gear differential.
 Bevel gears are primarily
Bevel Gear used to transfer power
between intersecting shafts.
The teeth of these gears are
formed on a conical surface.
 Limitations: Limited availability. Cannot
be used for parallel shafts. Can become
noisy
 Advantage: Excellent choice for
intersecting shaft systems.
 Worm gears are special
Worm Gear gears that resemble
screws, and can be used
to drive spur gears or
helical gears.
 Worm gears, like helical gears, allow two non-
intersecting 'skew' shafts to mesh.
 Normally, the two shafts are at right angles to each
other. A worm gear is equivalent to a V-type screw
thread. Another way of looking at a worm gear is that it
is a helical gear with a very high helix angle.
 Worm gears are normally used when a high gear ratio
is desired, or again when the shafts are perpendicular
to each other. One very important feature of worm gear
meshes that is often of use is their irreversibility :
when a worm gear is turned, the meshing spur gear
will turn, but turning the spur gear will not turn the
worm gear. The resulting mesh is 'self locking', and is
useful in racheting mechanisms
Worm Gear

 Limitations: Low efficiency. The worm

drives the drive gear primarily with
slipping motion, thus there are high
friction losses.
 Advantage :Will tolerate large loads and
high speed ratios. Meshes are self
locking (which can be either an
advantage or a disadvantage).
Worm Gear
 Straight-bevel gears
Straight-bevel gears
are used generally
for relatively low-
speed applications Straight- Bevel
with pitch-line
velocities to 5.08 m/s Gear
(i000 ft/min) and
where vibration and
noise are not
important criteria.
However, with
carefully machined
and ground straight-
bevel gears it may be
possible to achieve
speeds to 76.2 m/s
(15 000 ft/min)
 A bevel gear having a
pitch angle of 90" and a
plane for its pitch surface


is known as a crown gear.
When the pitch angle of a
Crown Bevel
bevel gear exceeds 90 °, it
is called an internal bevel Gear
gear. Internal bevel gears
cannot have a pitch angle
very much greater than
90o because of problems
incurred in manufacturing
such gears. These
manufacturing difficulties
are the main reason why
internal bevel gears are
rarely used
 Face gears have teeth cut
on the flat face of the
blank. The face gear
meshes at right angles
with a spur or helical
pinion. When the shafts
Bevel Gear
intersect, the face gear is
known as an "on center"
face gear. These gears
may also be offset to
provide a right-angle
nonintersecting shaft
drive.
 Coniflex gears are
straight-bevel gears
whose teeth are crowned
in the lengthwise
direction to accommodate
small shaft
misalignments.
 Formate gears have
the gear member of
the pair with
nongenerated teeth, Bevel Gear
usually with straight
tooth profiles. The
pinion member of the
pair has generated
teeth that are
conjugate to the
rotating gear.
 Revacycle gears are
straight-bevel gears
generated by a
special process, with
a special tooth form.
 Spiral-bevel gears.
The teeth of spiral-
bevel gears are curved Spiral Bevel
and oblique. These
gears are suitable for
Gear
pitch-line velocities to
61 m/s (12 000 ft/min).
Ground teeth extend
this limit to 125 m/s (25
000 ft/min). Spiral-bevel
gears differ according
to the methods of
generating the gear
tooth surfaces.
 Zerol gears can be
used for large-speed-
reduction-ratio
applications at a
reduced overall
Zerol Gear
installation size. The
hand of the spiral
should be selected so
as to cause the gears
to separate from each
other during rotation
and not to force them
together, which might
cause jamming.
 Hypoid gears are very similar to
spiral-bevel gears. The main
difference is that their pitch
surfaces are hyperboloids rather
than cones. As a result their pitch
axes do not intersect: the pinion
axis being above or below the
Hypoid Gear
gear axis. In general, hypoid gears
are most desirable for those
applications involving large
speed-reduction ratios, those
involving nonintersecting shafts,
and those requiring great
smoothness and quietness of
operation. Hypoid gears are
almost universally used for
automotive applications, allowing
the drive shaft to be located
underneath the passenger
compartment floor.
 ADDENDUM (a) is
the height by which Gear
a tooth projects Nomenclature
beyond the pitch
circle or pitch line.
 BASE DIAMETER
(Db) is the diameter
of the base cylinder
from which the
involutes portion of
a tooth profile is
generated.
 Angle of action
Angle with vertex at
Gear
the gear center, one Nomenclature
leg on the point
where mating teeth
first make contact,
the other leg on the
point where they
disengage.
 Arc of action
Segment of a pitch
circle subtended by
the angle of action.
 BACKLASH (B) is the
amount by which the
width of a tooth space
exceeds the thickness of
Gear
the engaging tooth on
the pitch circles. As
Nomenclature
actually indicated by
measuring devices,
backlash may be
determined variously in
the transverse, normal,
or axial-planes, and
either in the direction of
the pitch circles or on
the line of action. Such
measurements should
be corrected to
corresponding values on
transverse pitch circles
for general comparisons.
 Base circle
In involute gears,
where the tooth profile
is the involute of the Gear
base circle. The radius
of the base circle Nomenclature
is
somewhat smaller than
that of the pitch circle.
 Base pitch, normal
pitch, pb
In involute gears,
distance from one face
of a tooth to the
corresponding face of
an adjacent tooth on
the same gear,
measured along the
base circle.
 BORE LENGTH is the
total length through a
gear, sprocket, or
coupling bore. Gear
 CIRCULAR PITCH (p) Nomenclature
is the distance along
the pitch circle or pitch
line between
corresponding profiles
of adjacent teeth.
 CIRCULAR
THICKNESS (t) is the
length of arc between
the two sides of a gear
tooth on the pitch
circle, unless
otherwise specified.
 CLEARANCE-OPERATING
(c) is the amount by which
the dedendum in a given
gear exceeds the
addendum of its mating Gear
gear.
 CONTACT RATIO (mc) in Nomenclature
general, the number of
angular pitches through
which a tooth surface
rotates from the
beginning to the end of
contact.
 DEDENDUM (b) is the
depth of a tooth space
below the pitch line. It is
normally greater than the
addendum of the mating
gear to provide clearance.
 DIAMETRAL PITCH (P)
is the ratio of the
number of teeth to theGear
pitch diameter. Nomenclature
 FACE WIDTH (F) is the
length of the teeth in
an axial plane.
 FILLET RADIUS (rf) is
the radius of the fillet
curve at the base of
the gear tooth.
 FULL DEPTH TEETH
are those in which the
working depth equals
2.000 divided by the
normal diametral pitch.
 HUB DIAMETER is
gear, sprocket or Gear
outside diameter of a
coupling hub. Nomenclature
 HUB PROJECTION is
the distance the hub
extends beyond the
gear face.
 INVOLUTE TEETH of
spur gears, helical
gears and worms are
those in which the
active portion of the
profile in the
transverse plane is
the involute of a
circle.
 HUB DIAMETER is
gear, sprocket or Gear
outside diameter of a
coupling hub. Nomenclature
 HUB PROJECTION is
the distance the hub
extends beyond the
gear face.
 INVOLUTE TEETH of
spur gears, helical
gears and worms are
those in which the
active portion of the
profile in the
transverse plane is
the involute of a
circle.
 LONG- AND SHORT-
ofGear
ADDENDUM TEETH
are those
engaging gears (onNomenclature
a standard designed
center distance) one
of which has a long
addendum and the
other has a short
addendum.
 KEYWAY is the
machined groove
running the length of
the bore. A similar
groove is machined
in the shaft and a
key fits into this
opening.
 Interference
Contact between Gear
teeth other than at Nomenclature
the intended parts
of their surfaces.
 Interchangeable
set
A set of gears, any
of which will mate
properly with any
other.
 NORMAL PRESSURE
ANGLE (øn) in a
normal plane of helical Gear
tooth.
 OUTSIDE DIAMETER Nomenclature
(Do) is the diameter of
the addendum
(outside) circle.
 PITCH CIRCLE is the
circle derived from a
number of teeth and a
specified diametral or
circular pitch. Circle
on which spacing or
tooth profiles is
established and from
which the tooth
proportions are
constructed.
 PITCH CYLINDER is the
cylinder of diameter equal


to the pitch circle.
PINION is a machine part
Gear
with gear teeth. When two
gears run together, the
Nomenclature
one with the smaller
number of teeth is called
the pinion.
 PITCH DIAMETER (D) is
the diameter of the pitch
circle. In parallel shaft
gears, the pitch diameters
can be determined
directly from the center
distance and the number
of teeth.
 Pitch point, p
Point where the line of
action crosses a line joining
the two gear axes.
Gear
 Module, m
A scaling factor used in
Nomenclature
metric gears with units in
millimeters who's effect is to
enlarge the gear tooth size
as the module increases and
reduce the size as the
module decreases. Module
can be defined in either the
normal (mn), transverse (mt),
or axial planes (ma)
depending on the design
approach employed and the
type of gear being designed.
Module is typically an input
value into the gear design
and is seldom calculated.
 Operating pitch
diameters
Diameters determined
from the number of teeth
Gear
and the center distance at
which gears operate.
Nomenclature
Example for pinion:
 Pitch surface
In cylindrical gears,
cylinder formed by
projecting a pitch circle in
the axial direction. More
generally, the surface
formed by the sum of all
the pitch circles as one
moves along the axis. For
bevel gears it is a cone.
 PRESSURE ANGLE (ø) is
the angle at a pitch point
between the line of
pressure which is normal
Gear
to the tooth surface, and
the plane tangent to the
Nomenclature
pitch surface. In involute
teeth, pressure angle is
often described also as
the angle between the line
of action and the line
tangent to the pitch circle.
Standard pressure angles
are established in
connection with standard
gear-tooth proportions.
 ROOT DIAMETER (Dr) is
the diameter at the base
of the tooth space.
 Rotational frequency,
Measured in rotation
over time, such as Gear
RPM. Nomenclature
 Angular frequency,
ω
Measured in radians
per second. 1RPM =
π / 30 rad/second
 Number of teeth, N
How many teeth a
gear has, an integer.
In the case of worms,
it is the number of
thread starts that the
worm has.
 Path of contact Path
followed by the point of
contact between
meshing gear teeth.
two Gear
 Line of action, pressure
line Line along which the Nomenclature
force between two meshing
gear teeth is directed. It has
the same direction as the
force vector. In general, the
line of action changes from
moment to moment during
the period of engagement of
a pair of teeth. For involute
gears, however, the tooth-to-
tooth force is always
directed along the same
line—that is, the line of
action is constant. This
implies that for involute
gears the path of contact is
also a straight line,
coincident with the line of
action—as is indeed the
case.
 Outside diameter, Do
Diameter of the gear, Gear
measured from the Nomenclature
tops of the teeth.
 PRESSURE ANGLE—
OPERATING (ør) is
determined by the Gear
center distance at
which the gears Nomenclature
operate. It is the
pressure angle at the
operating pitch
diameter.
 TIP RELIEF is an
arbitrary modification
of a tooth profile
whereby a small
amount of material is
removed near the tip of
the gear tooth.
 UNDERCUT is a
condition in generated
gear teeth when any
part of the fillet curve
 WHOLE DEPTH (ht)
is the total depth of Gear
a tooth space, Nomenclature
equal to addendum
plus dedendum,
equal to the
working depth plus
variance.
 WORKING DEPTH
(hk) is the depth of
engagement of two
gears; that is, the
sum of their
addendums.
 HELIX ANGLE (y) is the
angle between anyGear
helix and an element of
its cylinder. In helicalNomenclature
gears, it is at the pitch
diameter unless
otherwise specified.
 LEAD (L) is the axial
advance of a helix for
one complete turn, as
in the threads of
cylindrical worms and
teeth of helical gears.
 NORMAL DIAMETRAL
PITCH (Pn) is the
Diametral Pitch as
calculated in the
normal plane.
 Linear pitch, p Gear
Distance from anyNomenclature
point on a thread to the
corresponding point on
the adjacent thread,
measured parallel to
the axis. For a single-
thread worm, lead and
linear pitch are the
same.
 Lead angle, λ
Angle between a
tangent to the helix and
a plane perpendicular
to the axis. Note that it
is the complement of
the helix angle which is
 Normal circular pitch,
Gear
pn
Circular pitch in the Nomenclature
plane normal to the
teeth.
 Transverse circular
pitch, p
Circular pitch in the
plane of rotation of
the gear. Sometimes
just called "circular
pitch".
 Surface of action
The imaginary surface in Gear
which contact occurs between
two engaging tooth surfaces.
It is the summation of the
Nomenclature
paths of action in all sections
of the engaging teeth.
 Plane of action
The surface of action for
involute, parallel axis gears
with either spur or helical
teeth. It is tangent to the base
cylinders.
 Zone of action (contact zone)
For involute, parallel-axis
gears with either spur or
helical teeth, is the
rectangular area in the plane
of action bounded by the
length of action and the
effective face width.
 Path of contact
The curve on either tooth Gear
surface along which
theoretical single
contact occurs during the
Nomenclature
point
engagement of gears with
crowned tooth surfaces or
gears that normally engage
with only single point contact.
 Length of action
The distance on the line of
action through which the point
of contact moves during the
action of the tooth profile.
 Arc of action, Qt
The arc of the pitch circle
through which a tooth profile
moves from the beginning to
the end of contact with a
mating profile.
 Arc of approach, Qa
The arc of the pitch circle
through which a tooth profile
Gear
moves from its beginning of
Nomenclature
contact until the point of contact
arrives at the pitch point.
 Arc of recess, Qr
The arc of the pitch circle
through which a tooth profile
moves from contact at the pitch
point until contact ends.
 Contact ratio, mc, ε
The number of angular pitches
through which a tooth surface
rotates from the beginning to the
end of contact.In a simple way, it
can be defined as a measure of
the average number of teeth in
contact during the period in
which a tooth comes and goes
out of contact with the mating
gear.
Gear Transmission Concepts
Series Train
 Speed reducers.
The overall ratio of any reduction geartrain is the input
shaft speed divided by the output speed. It is a/so the
product of the individual ratios at each mesh, except in
planetary arrangements. The ratio is most easily
determined by dividing the product of the numbers of
teeth of all driven gears by the product of the numbers of
teeth of all driving gears. By manipulating numbers any
desired ratio can be obtained, either exactly or with an
extremely close approximation. In multiple mesh series
trains the forces transmitted through the gear teeth are
higher at the low-speed end of the train. Therefore the
pitches and face widths of the gears are usually not the
same throughout the train. In instrument gears, which
transmit negligible power, this variation may not be
necessary.
Gear Transmission Concepts
Series Train
 Speed increasers.
 Speed-increasing gear trains require
greater care in design, especially at high ratios.
Because most gear sets and gear trains are
intended for speed reduction, standards and
published data in general apply to such drives.
It is not safe to assume that these data can be
applied without modification to a speed-
increasing drive. Efficiency is sometimes lower
in an increasing drive and substantial input
torque is required to overcome output load; in
extreme instances self-locking may occur .
Traction and hybrid drives should be
considered as reasonable alternatives to gear
drives for this purpose.
Gear Transmission Concepts
Series Train
 Reverted trains.
 When two sets of parallel-shaft gears are
so arranged that the output shaft is
concentric with the input, the drive is called
a reverted train. The requirement of equal
center distance for the two trains
complicates determination of how many
teeth should be in each gear to satisfy ratio
requirements with standard pitches. Helical
gears provide greater design freedom
through possible variation of helix angle.
Gear Transmission Concepts
Multi speed Gears
 Speed is adjusted by
sliding gears on one or
more intermediate Sliding Gear
parallel shafts. Shifting
is generally
accomplished by
disengaging the input
shaft. Sliding-gear
transmissions are
usually manually
shifted by means of a
lever or a handwheel. A
variety of shaft
arrangements and
mountings are
available.
Gear Transmission Concepts
Multi speed Gears
 An adjustable idler-
gear speed drive
consists of one shaft
Idler Gear
that carries several
different-size, rigidly
mounted gears .
Speed is adjusted
through an adjustable
arm, which carries the
idler gear, connecting
with fixed or sliding
gears on the other
shaft.
Gear Transmission Concepts
Multi speed Gears
 Several gears of different sizes are
mounted rigidly to one shaft mesh
with mating gears free to rotate on Constant Mesh
the other shaft . Speed is adjusted
by locking different gears
individually on the second shaft by
means of splined clutches or
sliding couplings. Constant-mesh
gears are used in numerous
applications, among them heavy-
duty industrial transmissions. This
arrangement can use virtually any
type of gearing (e.g., spur, helical,
herringbone, and bevel gears).
Manually shifted automotive
transmissions combine two
arrangements. The forward speeds
are constant-mesh helical gears;
the reverse speeds use sliding spur
gears.
Gear Transmission Concepts
Epicyclic Gears
 An epicyclic geartrain is a
reverted-gear Planetary Gear
arrangement in which one
or more of the gears
(planets) moves around
the circumference of
coaxial gears that may be
fixed or rotating with
respect to their own axes.
The planet gears have a
motion consisting of
rotation about their own
axes and rotation about
the axes of the coaxial
gears.
Gear Transmission Concepts
Multi speed Gears
 The power-weight ratio of a
transmission and the unit
stress of the gear teeth can
Hybrid
be decreased by load sharing
through multiple power Transmission
paths. This concept, referred
to as the "split-torque
transmission", .Instead of a
planetary gear arrangement
the input power is split into
two or more power paths and
recombined in a bull gear to
the output power (rotor)
shaft. This concept appears
to offer weight advantages
over conventional planetary
concepts without
highcontact-ratio gearing.
Gear Transmission Concepts
Multi speed Gears
 Free differential gearing is
an arrangement in which Differential
the normal ratio of the
unit can be changed by Gearing
driving into the unit with a
second drive. This
arrangement, or one
having two outputs and
one input, is used to
vary the speed ratio.
Simple differentials may
use bevel gears or spur
gears . (The bevel gear
is used in automotive
rear-end drives.