Gears are machine elements used to transmit rotary motion between two shafts, normally with a constant ratio.

2. In practice the action of gears in transmitting motion is a cam action each pair of mating teeth acting as cams. 3. Gear design has evolved to such a level that throughout the motion of each contacting pair of teeth the velocity ratio of the gears is maintained fixed and the velocity ratio is still fixed as each subsequent pair of teeth comes into contact.
1.

Consider one end of a piece of string is fastened to the OD of one cylinder and the other end of the string is fastened to the OD of another cylinder parallel to the first and both cylinders are rotated in the opposite directions to tension the string(see figure below). The point on the string midway between the cylinder P is marked. As the left hand cylinder rotates CCW the point moves towards this cylinder as it wraps on . The point moves away from the right hand cylinder as the string unwraps. The point traces the involute form of the gear teeth.

The lines normal to the point of contact of the gears always intersects the centre line joining the gear centres at one point called the pitch point. For each gear the circle passing through the pitch point is called the pitch circle. The gear ratio is proportional to the diameters of the two pitch circles. For metric gears (as adopted by most of the worlds nations) the gear proportions are based on the module.

m = (Pitch Circle Diameter(mm)) / (Number of teeth on gear). In the USA the module is not used and instead the Diametric Pitch dp is used d p = (Number of Teeth) / Diametrical Pitch (inches)

AGMA 2001-C95 or AGMA-2101-C95 Fundamental Rating factors and Calculation Methods for involute Spur Gear and Helical Gear Teeth. BS 436-4:1996, ISO 1328-1:1995..Spur and helical gears. Definitions and allowable values of deviations relevant to corresponding flanks of gear teeth. BS 436-5:1997, ISO 1328-2:1997..Spur and helical gears. Definitions and allowable values of deviations relevant to radial composite deviations and run out information. BS ISO 6336-1:1996 ..Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears. Basic principles, introduction and general influence factors. BS ISO 6336-2:1996..Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears. Calculation of surface durability (pitting). BS ISO 6336-3:1996..Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears. Calculation of tooth bending strength. BS ISO 6336-5:2003..Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears. Strength and quality of materials.

Mild steel is a poor material for gears as it has poor resistance to surface loading. The carbon content for unhardened gears is generally 0.4%(min) with 0.55%(min) carbon for the pinions. Dissimilar materials should be used for the meshing gears - this particularly applies to alloy steels. Alloy steels have superior fatigue properties compared to carbon steels for comparable strengths. For extremely high gear loading case hardened steels are used the surface hardening method employed should be such to provide sufficient case depth for the final grinding process used.

Material Ferrous metals Cast Iron

Notes

applications

Low Cost easy Large moderate power, to machine with commercial gears high damping Low cost, reasonable strength Power gears with medium rating to commercial quality Power gears with Good medium rating to machining, can commercial/medium be heat treated quality Heat Treatable Highest power to provide requirement. For highest strength precision and high and durability precisiont

Cast Steels

Plain-Carbon Steels

Alloy Steels

Stainless Steels (Aust)

Good corrosion Corrosion resistance resistance. Non- with low power ratings. magnetic Up to precision quality Hardenable Reasonable corrosion resistance, magnetic Low to medium power ratings Up to high precision levels of quality

Stainless Steels (Mart)

Non-Ferrous metals Light weight, noncorrosive and good machinability Light duty instrument gears up to high precision quality

Aluminium alloys

Brass alloys

low cost commercial quality Low cost, non-corrosive, gears. Quality up to medium excellent machinability precision

Bronze alloys

Excellent machinability, For use with steel power gears. low friction and good Quality up to high precision compatability with steel

Magnesium alloys

Light weight with poor corrosion resistance

Light weight low load gears. Quality up to medium precision

Nickel alloys

Low coefficient of Special gears for thermal thermal expansion. Poor applications to commercial machinability quality

Titanium alloys

High strength, for low weight, good corrosion resistance

Special light weight high strength gears to medium precision

Di-cast alloys

Low cost with low precision and strength

High production, low quality gears to commercial quality

Sintered powder alloys

Low cost, low quality, moderate strength

High production, low quality to moderate commercial quality

Non metals

Acetal (Delrin)

Wear resistant, low water absorbtion

Long life , low load bearings to commercial quality

Phenolic laminates

Low cost, low High production, low quality, moderate quality to moderate strength commercial quality

Nylons

No lubrication, no lubricant, absorbs water

Long life at low loads to commercial quality

PTFE

Low friction and Special low friction gears no lubrication to commercial quality

TYPES OF GEAR Spur

Spur gears or straight-cut gears are the simplest type of gear. They consist of a cylinder or disk with the teeth projecting radially, and although they are not straight-sided in form, the edge of each tooth is straight and aligned parallel to the axis of rotation. These gears can be meshed together correctly only if they are fitted to parallel shafts.

Helical

Helical or "dry fixed" gears offer a refinement over spur gears. The leading edges of the teeth are not parallel to the axis of rotation, but are set at an angle. Since the gear is curved, this angling causes the tooth shape to be a segment of a helix. Helical gears can be meshed in parallel or crossed orientations. The former refers to when the shafts are parallel to each other; this is the most common orientation. In the latter, the shafts are non-parallel, and in this configuration are sometimes known as "skew gears". The angled teeth engage more gradually than do spur gear teeth causing them to run more smoothly and quietly. With parallel helical gears, each pair of teeth first make contact at a single point at one side of the gear wheel; a moving curve of contact then grows gradually across the tooth face to a maximum then recedes until the teeth break contact at a single point on the opposite side.

Double helical

Double helical gears, or herringbone gears, overcome the problem of axial thrust presented by "single" helical gears, by having two sets of teeth that are set in a V shape. A double helical gear can be thought of as two mirrored helical gears joined together. This arrangement cancels out the net axial thrust, since each half of the gear thrusts in the opposite direction. However, double helical gears are more difficult to manufacture due to their more complicated shape.

Spiral bevels

The teeth of a bevel gear may be straight-cut as with spur gears, or they may be cut in a variety of other shapes. Spiral bevel gear teeth are curved along the tooth's length and set at an angle, analogously to the way helical gear teeth are set at an angle compared to spur gear teeth. Zerol bevel gears have teeth which are curved along their length, but not angled. Spiral bevel gears have the same advantages and disadvantages relative to their straight-cut cousins as helical gears do to spur gears. Straight bevel gears are generally used only at speeds below 5 m/s (1000 ft/min), or, for small gears, 1000 r.p.m.

Hypoid

Hypoid gears resemble spiral bevel gears except the shaft axes do not intersect. The pitch surfaces appear conical but, to compensate for the offset shaft, are in fact hyperboloids of revolution. Hypoid gears are almost always designed to operate with shafts at 90 degrees. Depending on which side the shaft is offset to, relative to the angling of the teeth, contact between hypoid gear teeth may be even smoother and more gradual than with spiral bevel gear teeth. Also, the pinion can be designed with fewer teeth than a spiral bevel pinion, with the result that gear ratios of 60:1 and higher are feasible using a single set of hypoid gears. This style of gear is most commonly found driving mechanical differentials; which are normally straight cut bevel gears; in motor vehicle axles.

Crown

Crown gears or contrate gears are a particular form of bevel gear whose teeth project at right angles to the plane of the wheel; in their orientation the teeth resemble the points on a crown. A crown gear can only mesh accurately with another bevel gear, although crown gears are sometimes seen meshing with spur gears. A crown gear is also sometimes meshed with an escapement such as found in mechanical clocks.

WorAm

Worm gears resemble screws. A worm gear is usually meshed with a spur gear or a helical gear, which is called the gear, wheel, or worm wheel. Worm-and-gear sets are a simple and compact way to achieve a high torque, low speed gear ratio. For example, helical gears are normally limited to gear ratios of less than 10:1 while worm-and-gear sets vary from 10:1 to 500:1. A disadvantage is the potential for considerable sliding action, leading to low efficiency.

Non-circular

Non-circular gears are designed for special purposes. While a regular gear is optimized to transmit torque to another engaged member with minimum noise and wear and maximum efficiency, a non-circular gear's main objective might be ratio variations, axle displacement oscillations and more. Common applications include textile machines, potentiometers and continuously variable transmissions.

Rack and pinion

A rack is a toothed bar or rod that can be thought of as a sector gear with an infinitely large radius of curvature. Torque can be converted to linear force by meshing a rack with a pinion: the pinion turns; the rack moves in a straight line. Such a mechanism is used in automobiles to convert the rotation of the steering wheel into the left-to-right motion of the tie rod(s). Racks also feature in the theory of gear geometry, where, for instance, the tooth shape of an interchangeable set of gears may be specified for the rack (infinite radius), and the tooth shapes for gears of particular actual radii then derived from that. The rack and pinion gear type is employed in a rack railway.

Manual
Manual transmission is also referred to as stick shift transmission because you need to use the transmission stick every time you change the gears. To perform the gear shift, the transmission system must first be disengaged from the engine. After the target gear is selected, the transmission and engine are engaged with each other again to perform the power transmission.

Manual transmission come in two basic types:

1.

a simple but rugged sliding-mesh or unsynchronized / nonsynchronous system, where straight-cut spur gear sets are spinning freely, and must be synchronized by the operator matching engine revs to road speed, to avoid noisy and damaging "gear clash", and the now common constant-mesh gearboxes which can include non-synchronized, or synchronized / synchromesh systems, where typically diagonal cut helical (or sometimes either straight-cut, or doublehelical) gear sets are constantly "meshed" together, and a dog clutch is used for changing gears.

2.

Automatic

In 1941, Chrysler introduced the first automatic transmission system, which included a fluid coupling between engine and clutch. The gear set is the same as those in a manual transmission box; however, a vacuum cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder is used to per-form automatic gear shifting. The clutch selects the gear range only but isnt used when driving. The first range (or low range) contains the 1st and 2nd gears, while the second range (or high range) contains 3rd and 4th gears. To move the car, the clutch and brake must be depressed and a gear range must be selected (low, high, or reverse.) After the gear range is selected, the clutch can be released. To move the car, the brake is released and the gas is stepped on. The gear is changed automatically (between 1 and 2 or between 3 and 4) during driving

Automatic transmissions include the use of torque converters which lock up beyond a certain speed, or in the higher gear ratios, eliminating power loss, and overdrive gears which automatically actuate above certain speeds; in older transmissions both technologies could sometimes become intrusive, when conditions are such that they repeatedly cut in and out as speed and such load factors as grade or wind vary slightly.

For certain applications, the slippage inherent in automatic transmissions can be advantageous; for instance, in drag racing, the automatic transmission allows the car to be stopped with the engine at a high rpm (the "stall speed") to allow for a very quick launch when the brakes are released; in fact, a common modification is to increase the stall speed of the transmission.

This is even more advantageous for turbocharged engines, where the turbocharger needs to be kept spinning at high rpm by a large flow of exhaust in order to keep the boost pressure up and eliminate the turbo lag that occurs when the engine is idling and the throttle is suddenly opened.

Gear shift types

Floor-mounted shifter

In most vehicles with manual transmission, gears are selected by manipulating a lever called a gear stick, shift stick, gearshift, gear lever, gear selector, or shifter connected to the transmission via linkage or cables and mounted on the floor, dashboard, or steering column. Moving the lever forward, backward, left, and right into specific positions selects particular gears.

A sample layout of a four-speed transmission is shown below. N marks neutral, the position wherein no gears are engaged and the engine is decoupled from the vehicle's drive wheels. The entire horizontal line is a neutral position, though the shifter is usually spring-loaded so it will return to the centre of the N position if not moved to another gear. The R marks reverse, the gear position used for moving the vehicle rearward.

Column-mounted shifter

Some cars have a gear lever mounted on the steering column of the car. A 3-speed column shifter, which came to be popularly known as a "Three on the Tree", began appearing in America in the late 1930s and became common during the 1940s and 1950s. If a U.S. vehicle was equipped with overdrive, it was very likely to be a Borg-Warner type, operated by briefly backing off the gas when above 28 mph to enable, and momentarily flooring the gas pedal to return to normal gear. The control simply disables overdrive for such situations as parking on a hill or preventing unwanted shifting into overdrive

Later, European and Japanese models began to have 4-speed column shifters with this shift pattern:

A majority of North American-spec vehicles for USA and Canada had a 3-speed column-mounted shifter - the first generation Chevrolet/GMC vans of 1964-70 vintage had an ultra-rare 4-speed column shifter. The column-mounted manual shifter disappeared in North America by the mid 1980s, last appearing in the 1987 Chevrolet pickup truck. Outside North America, the column-mounted shifter remained in production. All Toyota Crown and Nissan Cedric taxis in Hong Kong had the 4-speed column shift until 1999 when automatic transmissions were first offered. Since the late 1980s or early 1990s, a 5-speed column shifter has been offered in some vans sold in Asia and Europe, such as Toyota Hiace and Mitsubishi L400.

Reverse

Neutral

First gear

Second gear

Third gear

Fourth gear

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