GEARS

Definition
Classification of Gears
Spur Gears
Helical Gears
Double Helical Gear (Herringbone Gear)
Rack and Pinion
Straight Bevel Gear
Worm Gear
Nomenclature
Condition for constant angular velocity (Law
of Gearing)
Velocity of Sliding of Teeth
The velocity of sliding is the velocity of one tooth relative to its mating tooth along the common tangent at
the point of contact.

velocity of sliding is proportional to the distance of the point of contact from the pitch point.
Path of Contact
Arc of
Contact
Length of the arc of contact

Contact Ratio (or Number of Pairs of Teeth in Contact)

The contact ratio or the number of pairs of teeth in contact is defined as the ratio of the length of the arc of
contact to the circular pitch.
1) The number of teeth on each of the two equal spur gears in mesh are 40. The teeth have 20° involute
profile and the module is 6 mm. If the arc of contact is 1.75 times the circular pitch, find the addendum.

2) A pinion having 30 teeth drives a gear having 80 teeth. The profile of the gears is involute with 20°
pressure angle, 12 mm module and 10 mm addendum. Find the length of path of contact, arc of contact and
the contact ratio.
 Interference in Involute Gears

The phenomenon when the tip of tooth undercuts the root on its mating gear is known as interference.

If the radius of the addendum circle of the wheel increases

beyond O2M, then the tip of tooth on wheel will cause
interference with the tooth on pinion. The points M and N
are called interference points.

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.
Minimum Number of Teeth on the Pinion in Order to Avoid Interference

Minimum Number of Teeth on the Wheel in Order to Avoid Interference

Minimum Number of Teeth on a Pinion for Involute Rack in Order to Avoid
Interference

Determine the minimum number of teeth required on a pinion, in order to avoid interference which is to
gear with,
1. a wheel to give a gear ratio of 3 to 1 ; and
2. an equal wheel.
The pressure angle is 20° and a standard addendum of 1 module for the wheel may be assumed.
Gear Train
Two or more gears are made to mesh with each other to transmit power from one shaft to another. Such a
combination is called gear train

Types of Gear Trains

1. Simple gear train, 2. Compound gear train, 3. Reverted gear train, and 4. Epicyclic gear train.

In the first three types of gear trains, the axes of the shafts over which the gears are mounted are fixed
relative to each other. But in case of epicyclic gear trains, the axes of the shafts on which the gears are
mounted may move relative to a fixed axis.
Simple Gear Train

When there is only one gear on each shaft, it is known as simple gear train.

Speed ratio (or velocity ratio) of gear train is the ratio of the
speed of the driver to the speed of the driven or follower
N1 = Speed of gear 1(or driver) in r.p.m.,
N2 = Speed of gear 2 (or driven or follower) in r.p.m.,
T1 = Number of teeth on gear 1, and
T2 = Number of teeth on gear 2

Ratio of the speed of the driven or follower to the speed of the driver
is known as train value of the gear train.
 It may be noted that when the number of intermediate gears are odd, the motion of both the gears (i.e. driver
and driven or follower) is like.
But if the number of intermediate gears are even, the motion of the driven or follower will be in the opposite
direction of the driver

The idle gears, in a simple train of gears do

not effect the speed ratio of the system. But
these gears are useful in bridging over the
space between the driver and the driven.
Compound Gear Train

When there are more than one gear on a shaft, it is called a compound train of gear.

whenever the distance between the driver and the driven or follower has to be bridged over by intermediate gears
and at the same time a great ( or much less ) speed ratio is required, then the advantage of intermediate gears is
intensified by providing compound gears on intermediate shafts.

In this case, each intermediate shaft has two gears rigidly fixed to it so that they may have the same speed. One of
these two gears meshes with the driver and the other with the driven or follower attached to the next shaft.

The advantage of a compound train over a simple gear train is that a much larger speed reduction from the first
shaft to the last shaft can be obtained with small gears.
Design of Spur Gears

Sometimes, the spur gears (i.e. driver and driven) are to be designed for the given velocity ratio and distance
between the centres of their shafts.

x = Distance between the centres of two shafts,

N1 = Speed of the driver,
T1 = Number of teeth on the driver,
d1 = Pitch circle diameter of the driver,
N2 , T2 and d2 = Corresponding values for the driven or follower, and pc = Circular pitch.
We know that the distance between the centres of two shafts,

speed ratio or velocity ratio,

The motor shaft is connected to gear A and rotates at 975 r.p.m. The gear wheels B, C, D and E are fixed
to parallel shafts rotating together. The final gear F is fixed on the output shaft. What is the speed of
gear F ? The number of teeth on each gear are as given below :
Gear A B C D E F
No. of teeth 20 50 25 75 26 65

Two parallel shafts, about 600 mm apart are to be connected by spur gears. One shaft is to run at 360
r.p.m. and the other at 120 r.p.m. Design the gears, if the circular pitch is to be 25 mm.
Reverted Gear Train

When the axes of the first gear (i.e. first driver) and the last gear (i.e. last driven or follower) are co-axial,
then the gear train is known as reverted gear train

In a reverted gear train, the motion of the first gear and the last gear is like.
T1 = Number of teeth on gear 1,
r1 = Pitch circle radius of gear 1, and
N1 = Speed of gear 1 in r.p.m.
T2, T3, T4 = Number of teeth on respective gears,
r2, r3, r4 = Pitch circle radii of respective gears, and
N2, N3, N4 = Speed of respective gears in r.p.m.
Since the distance between the centres of the shafts of gears 1 and 2 as well as
gears 3 and 4 is same, therefore
r+r=r+r
1 2 3 4
 Epicyclic Gear Train
arm is fixed, the gear train is simple and gear A can drive gear B
or vice- versa, but if gear A is fixed and the arm is rotated about
the axis of gear A (i.e. O1), then the gear B is forced to rotate upon
and around gear A. Such a motion is called epicyclic.

The gear trains arranged in such a manner that one or more of

their members move upon and around another member are known
as epicyclic gear trains
let us suppose that the arm is fixed.
In an epicyclic gear train, an arm carries two gears A and B having 36 and 45 teeth respectively. If the
arm rotates at 150 r.p.m. in the anticlockwise direction about the centre of the gear A which is fixed,
determine the speed of gear B. If the gear A instead of being fixed, makes 300 r.p.m. in the clockwise
direction, what will be the speed of gear B ?