II Cylindrical gears 217

14 Cylindrical gears
You can use KISSsoft's cylindrical gear calculation software to calculate a range of different
configurations.

▪ The single gear calculation has been developed to calculate the geometry and test dimensions
of individual gears
▪ The cylindrical gear pair is the most important configuration for geometry and strength. You can
also use it for additional calculations and several individual calculations at the same time.
▪ The planetary gear software checks the practical aspects of the configuration and monitors both
pairs of gears while they are being sized. The Fine Sizing function enables you to optimize the
center distance quickly and efficiently. You can usually input your own values here. However,
you must take into consideration that, as torque cannot be applied to the planet, it is not possible
to perform a strength analysis on a Wolfrom drive or on a Ravigneaux gear set.
▪ The configurations for three and four gears enable you to calculate a gear wheel chain, in which
torque is applied only to the first and last gear.
▪ Double planetary stages: You can also use the 4-gear chain to calculate a double planetary
stage. However, if gear 4 is an internal gear (negative number of teeth) a check is performed to
see whether it could be a double planetary stage (planetary repositioning stage with the sun in
the center). A note about this is added to the report in the "Supplementary data" section. If gear
4 is a double planetary stage, the center point is calculated under the assumption that M1 and
M4 coincide.
▪ The calculation used for a rack and pinion only includes one rack in the geometry calculation
and one cylindrical gear with a large number of teeth for the strength calculation.

As the input screens for the different configurations are very similar, they are described together in
the sections below.