Gears

 Gears are wheels or

cylinders with teeth that
mesh with the teeth of
other gears to transmit
motion
 Gears are used in
everything from
automobiles to small toys
 Functions of Gears
 Transfer Motion
 Change Direction
 Increase/Decrease Speed
 Increase/Decrease Torque
• Torque is turning or twisting force. Ex: A longer wrench
gives you more torque and makes it easier to loosen a bolt
or screw.
 Change Planes of rotation
 Drivers & Followers

A driver is the
gear which is
being turned by a motor
power source
(motor or your
hand).
Amotorfollower is
turned by the
Follower
driver. Drive Followe
r r
Driver Idle
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Gear Drive

Advantages and disadvantages of the gear drive compared to belt,

rope and chain drives :

Advantage
It transmits exact velocity ratio
It may be used to transmit large power
It has high efficiency
It has reliable service
It has compact layout
Disadvantage
The manufacture of gears require special
tools and equipment
The error in cutting teeth may cause
vibrations and noise during operation
 TYPES OF GEARS
1. According to the position of axes of the shafts.
a. Parallel
i.Spur Gear
ii.Helical Gear
iii.Rack and Pinion
b. Intersecting
Bevel Gear
c. Non-intersecting and Non-parallel
Worm and worm gears
 SPUR GEAR
 Teeth is parallel to axis
of rotation
 Transmit power from
one shaft to another
parallel shaft
 Used in Electric
screwdriver, oscillating
sprinkler, windup alarm
clock, washing machine
and clothes dryer
External and Internal spur Gear
 Helical Gear
 The teeth on helical gears are cut at an angle to
the face of the gear
 This gradual engagement makes helical gears
operate much more smoothly and quietly than
spur gears
 One interesting thing about helical gears is
that if the angles of the gear teeth are correct,
they can be mounted on perpendicular shafts,
adjusting the rotation angle by 90 degrees
 Helical Gear

Single helical gear Double helical gear

(Herringbone gear)
 Herringbone gears
 To avoid axial thrust, two
helical gears of opposite
hand can be mounted side by
side, to cancel resulting
thrust forces

 Herringbone gears are

mostly used on heavy
machinery.
 Bevel gears
 Bevel gears are useful when the direction of a shaft's
rotation needs to be changed
 They are usually mounted on shafts that are 90º
apart, but can be designed to work at other angles as
well
 The teeth on bevel gears can be straight, spiral
 locomotives, marine applications, automobiles,
printing presses, cooling towers, power plants, steel
plants, railway track inspection machines, etc.
Straight and Spiral Bevel Gears
 WORM AND WORM GEAR
 Worm gears are used when large gear reductions are
needed. It is common for worm gears to have
reductions of 20:1, and even up to 300:1 or greater
 Many worm gears have an interesting property that
no other gear set has: the worm can easily turn the
gear, but the gear cannot turn the worm
 Worm gears are used widely in material handling and
transportation machinery, machine tools, automobiles
etc
WORM AND WORM GEAR
According to the peripheral velocity of the
gears

Low velocity - velocity less than 3 m/s

Medium velocity - velocity between 3 and 15

m/s

High velocity - velocity of gears is more

than 15 m/s
According to the type of gearing

spur wheel

External gearing
pinion

Internal gearing
pinion

annular wheel
Rack and pinion
 Rack and pinion
 Rack and pinion gears
are used to convert
rotation (From the
pinion) into linear
motion (of the rack)

 A perfect example of this

is the steering system on
many cars
According to position of teeth on the gear
surface

(a)Straight - Spur gears

(b)Inclined - Helical gears

(c)Curved - Spiral gears

NOMENCLATURE OF GEARS
 NOMENCLATURE
• Pitch surface: The surface of the imaginary rolling cylinder (cone,
etc.) that the toothed gear may be considered to replace.
• Pitch circle: A right section of the pitch surface. It is an imaginary
circle which by pure rolling action, would give the same motion as
the actual gear.

• Pitch circle diameter. It is the diameter of the pitch circle. The size
of the gear is usually specified by the pitch circle diameter. It is also
known as pitch diameter.

• Pitch point. It is a common point of contact between two pitch

circles.

• Pressure angle or angle of obliquity. It is the angle between the

common normal to two gear teeth at the point of contact and the
common tangent at the pitch point. It is usually denoted by φ. The
standard pressure angles are 14 ½ ° and 20°.
 Addendum. It is the radial distance of a
tooth from the pitch circle to the top of
the tooth.

 Dedendum. It is the radial distance of a

tooth from the pitch circle to the bottom of
the tooth.

 Addendum circle. It is the circle drawn

through the top of the teeth and is
concentric with the pitch circle.

 Dedendum circle. It is the circle drawn

through the bottom of the teeth. It is also
called root circle.
Root circle diameter = Pitch circle
diameter × cos φ
Circular pitch, pc = πD/T
D = Diameter of the pitch circle, and
T = Number of teeth on the wheel.

 Face of a tooth: That part of the tooth surface lying outside

the pitch surface.
 Flank of a tooth: The part of the tooth surface lying inside
the pitch surface.
 Circular thickness (also called the tooth thickness): The
thickness of the tooth measured on the pitch circle. It is the
length of an arc and not the length of a straight line.
 Tooth space: The distance between adjacent teeth measured
on the pitch circle.
 Backlash: The difference between the circle thickness of one
gear and the tooth space of the mating gear.
 Diametral pitch (Pd): The number of teeth of a gear unit pitch
diameter. The diametral pitch is, by definition, the number of
teeth divided by the pitch diameter. That is,
T 
Pd  
D Pc
Where
Pd = diametral pitch π
T = number of teeth
D = pitch diameter
 Module (m): Pitch diameter divided by number of teeth. The
pitch diameter is usually specified in inches or millimeters; in
the former case the module is the inverse of diametral pitch.
m = D/T
 Clearance. It is the radial distance from the top of the tooth
to the bottom of the tooth, in a meshing gear. A circle passing
through the top of the meshing gear is known as clearance
circle.
 Total depth. It is the radial distance between the addendum
and the dedendum circles of a gear. It is equal to the sum of
the addendum and dedendum.
 Working depth. It is the radial distance from the addendum circle to
the clearance circle. It is equal to the sum of the addendum of the two
meshing gears.

 Tooth thickness. It is the width of the tooth measured along the pitch
circle.

 Top land. It is the surface of the top of the tooth.

 Face width. It is the width of the gear tooth measured parallel to its
axis.

 Profile. It is the curve formed by the face and flank of the tooth.

 Fillet radius. It is the radius that connects the root circle to the profile
of the tooth.

 Path of contact. It is the path traced by the point of contact of two

teeth from the beginning to the end of engagement.
 Length of the path of contact. It is the length of the common normal
cut-off by the addendum circles of the wheel and pinion.

 Arc of contact. It is the path traced by a point on the pitch circle from
the beginning to the end of engagement of a given pair of teeth. The
arc of contact consists of two parts:

 Arc of approach. It is the portion of the path of contact from the

beginning of the engagement to the pitch point.
 Arc of recess. It is the portion of the path of contact from the
pitch point to the end of the engagement of a pair of teeth.
Path of contact:
 Condition for Constant Velocity Ratio of
Toothed Wheels–Law of Gearing

Tooth profile 1 drives

tooth profile 2 by
acting at the
instantaneous contact
point K.

N1N2 is the common

normal of the two
profiles.

N1 is the foot of the

perpendicular
from O1 to N1N2
 For both the profiles, not to separate each other, their
velocities along the common normal should be same in
magnitude and direction.

(O1 N1) ω1 = (O2 N2) ω2

The intersection of the tangency N1N2 and

the line of center O1O2 is point P.

Also, the triangles, O2N2P and O1N1P are

similar Fundamental law of
gear-tooth action
Thus,
The common normal at the point of contact between a pair of teeth
must always pass through the pitch point. Fundamental condition
while designing the profiles for the teeth of gear wheels. It is also
known as law of gearing.
 Velocity of Sliding of Teeth

Velocity of sliding is the velocity of one tooth relative to its mating

tooth along the common tangent at the point of contact.

The angular velocity of

wheel 2 relative to wheel
1 is (ω1 + ω 2 ) and P is
the instantaneous centre
for this relative motion

velocity of sliding is proportional

to the distance of the point of
contact from the pitch point
 Forms of Teeth

Cycloid - curve traced by a point on the

circumference of a circle which rolls without
slipping on a fixed straight line.

Epi-cycloid - The curve traced by a point on

the circumference of a circle when it rolls
without slipping on the outside of a fixed
circle

Hypo-cycloid - The curve traced by a point on

the circumference of a circle when it rolls
without slipping on the inside of a fixed
circle
Common normal
XX passes
through pitch
pt.

Fundamental
condition for
cont. vel ratio
 Involute teeth
An involute of a circle is a plane curve
generated by a point on a tangent, which rolls
on the circle without slipping or by a point
on a taut string which in unwrapped from a
reel

Normal at any
point of an
involute is a
tangent to the
circle.
From similar triangles O2NP and O1MP,

Centre
distance
between the
Torque exerted on the gear shaft

= FT × r
where r is the pitch circle radius
of the gear.

Tangential force, FT = F cos ϕ

Radial or normal force, FR = F

sinϕ .
Comparison Between Involute and Cycloidal
Gears
Involute gears Cycloidal gears
Centre distance for a pair of Exact centre distance to be
gears can be varied within limits maintained.
without changing the velocity
ratio.
Pressure angle, from the start of Pressure angle is maximum at the
the engagement of teeth to the beginning of engagement,
end of the engagement, remains reduces to zero at pitch point,
constant. starts decreasing and again
Results in smooth running and becomes maximum at the end of
less wear and tear engagement. Results in less
Face and flank of involute teeth Double curves (i.e. epi-cycloid
smooth running
are generated by a single curve – and hypo-cycloid) are required
easy to manufacture for the face and flank
Smaller flanks in comparison to
cycloidal. Less strength.
The convex surfaces are in contact
Interference is there.
Greater simplicity and flexibility
Have wider flanks and therefore
these gears are stronger for the same
pitch. Preferred specially for cast
teeth
The contact takes place between a
convex flank and concave surface
Interference does not occur at all
Less simplicity
Length of Path of Contact

Let rA = O1L
Radius of addendum circle
of pinion

R A = O 2K
Radius of addendum circle
of wheel

r = O 1P
Radius of pitch circle of
pinion

R = O2P
Radius of pitch circle of
wheel.
 radius of the base circle of pinion, O1M = O1P cos ϕ
= r cos ϕ
radius of the base circle of wheel, O2N = O2P cos ϕ =
R cos ϕ

Now from right angled triangle O2KN,

Length of the part of the path of contact, or the

path of approach,

Similarly from right angled

triangle O1ML,
Length of the part of the path of contact,
or path of recess,

Length of the path of contact,

 Length of Arc of Contact
The arc of contact is the path traced by a
point on the pitch circle from the beginning
to the end of engagement of a given pair of
teeth.

Arc GP - arc of approach

Arc PH - arc of recess
 Length of the arc of approach
(arc GP)

Length of the arc of recess

(arc PH)

Length of the arc of contact

 Contact Ratio (Number of Pairs of Teeth in
Contact)

Contact ratio
or number of
pairs of teeth
in contact
 Interference in Involute Gears

Interference points

The phenomenon when the tip of tooth undercuts

the root on its mating gear is known as
interference.
 Interference may only be prevented, if the addendum circles of the two
mating gears cut the common tangent to the base circles between the
points of tangency

Maximum length of path of

contact,

Maximum length of arc of

contact,

If path of approach and path of recess are half of

their maximum possible values

Length of the path of contact =

Minimum Number of Teeth on the Pinion in Order
to Avoid
Let t
Interference
= Number of teeth on the pinion
T = Number of teeth on the wheel
m = Module of the teeth
r = Pitch circle radius of pinion = m.t / 2
G = Gear ratio = T / t = R / r
φ = Pressure angle or angle of obliquity

From triangle O1NP,

Limiting radius of the pinion addendum
circle,

If AP.m = Addendum of the pinion, where AP is a fraction by

which the standard addendum of one module for the pinion
should be multiplied in order to avoid interference.

Addendum of the pinion= O1N –

O1P
If the pinion and wheel have equal teeth,
then G = 1.
Minimum Number of Teeth on the Wheel in Order
to Avoid
Interference

Where, T = Minimum number of teeth required

on the wheel in order to avoid interference

AW.m = Addendum of the wheel, where AW is a

fraction by which the standard addendum
for the wheel should be multiplied.
A pair of involute spur gears with 16°
pressure angle and pitch of module 6 mm is in
mesh. The number of teeth on pinion is 16 and
its rotational speed is 240 r.p.m. When the
gear ratio is 1.75, find in order that the
interference is just avoided ; 1. the addenda
on pinion and gear wheel ; 2. the length of
path of contact ; and 3. the maximum velocity
of sliding of teeth on either side of the
φ= 16°
pitch m = 6 mm
point. t = 16 ;

N1 = 240 rp ω1 = 2 π× 240/60 =
25.136 rad/s

G = T / t = 1.75 or T = G.t = 1.75 × 16 =

28