What Is A Mechanical Gear?

Mechanical Gear or simply a Gear is a circular mechanical device or a part that consists of the tooth that helps to transmit the required or definite velocity ratio whenever the distance between the driver shaft and the driven shaft is less. It is used to transfer the low speeds and at the same time high speeds too. The speed transmission depends upon the types of gears and its size.

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Why Gears Are Used?

The main aim of a machine is doing some work with the help of links, linkages, devices, and parts; energy transmission is the main objective to achieve it.

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Transmitting energy alone is not only an important aspect; in addition to this, channeling the energy with a definite velocity ratio are the crucial roles of gear. So, when the distance between the driver and driven is less, then Gear plays a crucial role in carrying the energy with the required velocity ratio.

Check Out The Terms Used in Gear:

Designing a gear depends upon the velocity ratio required to transfer the energy from the driver to the driven, so there will be terms that will help to design the gear which nothing but the designing of the tooth. To study the terms used in gear we have to zoom to the tooth of the gear. So, some of the important terms used in Gear are as follows.

 

                  Gear Tooth and its Nomenclature

We need to draw the imaginary lines, curves with respect to the tooth of a gear to understand the terms clearly.

Pitch circle

The pitch circle is an imaginary circle that can draw by tracing the meshing points when two gears rotate without any slip. The diameter of the pitch circle is also as called as Pitch Circle Diameter. (Observe Figure above: Gear Tooth and its Nomenclature).

Addendum

The addendum is the radial distance that can measure from the pitch circle to the top of a tooth. (Observe Figure above: Gear Teeth and its Nomenclature)

Dedendum

The dedendum is the radial distance that can measure from the pitch circle to the bottom of a tooth.  (Observe Figure above: Gear Teeth and its Nomenclature)

The angle of obliquity (Pressure Angle)

The Angle of obliquity or the pressure angle is the angle that can be measure between a normal and common tangent at the tooth pitch point when two gears are in contact. It usually lies between and .

Circular pitch

The Circular Pitch is the distance that can measure on the pitch circle from a point on the tooth to the same point on the next tooth of a gear.

Diametrical pitch

The diametrical pitch is the ratio of the number of the tooth to the diameter of the pitch circle in gear.

Module

The module is defined as the ratio of the diameter of the pitch circle to the number of the tooth in a gear. (Or) It can be explained that the module is quite reverse to the diametrical pitch.

So, these are the few terms that are commonly use in the gear nomenclature.

Types Of Gear Materials Used:

As we know that the gear is used to transfer the energy from the driver to the driven shaft and they will work at high speeds. So, to withstand at such high speeds; a gear should acquire high strength and should be wear–resistant.

The materials used for gears are metallic and non-metallic in construction, but the usage is same. According to their application, the material of the gear will be finalized.

If we talk about metallic gear, the cast iron (you can read about cast iron in detail) is the material that is widely used to manufacture the gear. It possesses high strength, high wear resistance, easy to mold, and easy to machine. Other than cast iron, steel will be the option for manufacturing the gears. It too acquires high strength according to its heat-treatment process.

Check out the Non-metallic Materials that gears are manufactured by

• Rubber
• Plastic
• Micarta
• Textolite, etc.

Here Are The Types Of Gears:

The gears are used to transfer the rotating motion from the driver to the driven in the machines. So, sometimes it is required to transfer the energy from different angles. So, there are different types of gear according to their construction and tooth design.

Now, we will differentiate the types of gear according to their Tooth Design and Application. They are

Spur Gear

Spur Gear is one of the types of gears and most widely used gear type. We can differentiate it by the design of its teeth. If we once observe the below image, the teeth of the gear are parallel to the center of the axis of the gear. So such gears are said to be Spur Gears.

There are two types of spur gears, they are

1. Internal Spur Gear and 

2. External Spur Gear

The Internal Spur Gears are those which consist of teeth on the outer side and the mating of the gear teeth takes place on the outer surface (shown in the Figure).

This type of Gear is simple in construction and used in low and medium speed applications. They produce or transfer high power.

Helical Gear

The Helical Gear is also an important and widely used types of gear in transforming energy but if we observe the design of it, the teeth are designed and manufactured with some angle whereas the spur gears are straight and parallel to the axis.

 

Helical Gears are intricate in construction but due to their tooth design they are used at high speeds and they can withstand high loads too.

Bevel Gear

Bevel Gears are the pair of gears that the teeth are designed on one of the sides of a cylindrical part. The two gears are called Gear and Pinion.

The two gears are arranged perpendicular to each other to transfer the energy or power in a perpendicular direction (It means, one of the gears is connected to the Driver and another to the Driven where both are perpendicular to each other as shown in the figure)

Worm Gears

Technically, this is a Worm Drive whereas a Worm will mesh on the Worm Gear to achieve the required transformation. In this, we can see that the worm is a circular and long shaft type part where the teeth are designed around it.

Till now we observed that the gear is a cylindrical part and teeth are designed on the outer or inner side of them but when it comes to the Worm Gear, it is quite different. The worm and worm wheel or gear have meshed in a way that their axes are perpendicular to each other.

The Worm wheel may be Spur Gear or a Helical Gear. The type of Worm Wheel depends upon its applications.

Here you go, watch the Working Video of Different Types of Gears