MACHINE ELEMENTS IN

MECHANICAL DESIGN
Chapter 1:
Kinematics of Gears

Objectives
Recognize and describe the main features of spur gears,
helical gears, bevel gears and worm/wormgear sets.
Describe the important operating characteristics of these
various types of gears with regards to the similarities and
differences among them and their general advantages and
disadvantages.
Describe the involute-tooth form and discuss its relationship
to the law of gearing.

Objectives (Concluded)
Define velocity ratio as it pertains to two gears operating
together.
Specify appropriate numbers of teeth for a mating pair of
gears to produce a given velocity ratio
Define train value as it is pertains to the overall speed ratio
between the input and output shafts of a gear-type speed
reducer (or speed increaser) that uses more than two gears.

INTRODUCTION

A gear is a component within a transmission device that transmits rotational force to

another gear or device.

A gear is different from a pulley in that a gear is a round wheel which has linkages
("teeth" or "cogs") that mesh with other gear teeth, allowing force to be fully
transferred without slippage.

Depending on their construction and arrangement, geared devices can transmit

forces at different speeds, torques, or in a different direction, from the power source.
Gears are a very useful simple machine.

Gears are used to reverse rotational direction, increase or decrease speed of rotation,
transfer rotation to a different axis, or to synchronize rotation across two or more axis
in a machine or engine

The smaller gear in a pair is often called the pinion; the larger, either the gear, or the
wheel.
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INTRODUCTION

Gears may be classified according to the relative

position of the axes of revolution. The axes may be

parallel,
intersecting,
neither parallel nor intersecting.

Gears for connecting parallel

shafts:
Spur gear
1

pair of gears makes external

contact

pair of gears makes internal

contact

 Parallel helical gears

2

 Rack and pinion

3

Rack and pinion gears are used

to convert rotation into linear
motion.
Example: ?

Gears for connecting

intersecting shafts
Straight bevel gears
1

2 Spiral bevel gears

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Neither parallel nor

intersecting shafts
Crossed-helical gears
1

2 Worm and worm gear

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Why Use Gears??

Reduce speed
Increase torque
Move power from one point to another
Change direction of power

Generally this functionality is accomplished by many

gears mounted in a gear box

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1.

Spur gears

Gears that have teeth that are straight and arranged

parallel to the axis of the shaft that carries the gear.
Spur gears are the most common type of gears. They
have straight teeth, and are. mounted on parallel shafts

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Teeth have involutes curves to maintain a constant angular velocity ratio

when two working gears mate.
Angular velocity can be achieved when a line drawn perpendicular to the
surfaces of two rotating bodies at their point of contact always crosses
the center-line between the two bodies at the same place.
The above statement is also known as the law of gearing.

Above: the involute

tooth form

Above: diagram
illustrating the law of
gearing.

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Terminology for Spur Gears

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Spur gear teeth features:

Circular pitch:

Diametral Pitch
(teeth/in):

Module (mm):

where

N - number of teeth and the

D - pitch diameters of the gears.

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Gear Tooth Features

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.
Addendum circle: A circle bounding the ends of the teeth, in a right section of the gear.
Root (or dedendum) circle: The circle bounding the spaces between the teeth, in a right section
of the gear.
Addendum: The radial distance between the pitch circle and the addendum circle.
Dedendum: The radial distance between the pitch circle and the root circle.
Clearance: The difference between the dedendum of one gear and the addendum of the mating
gear.
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.
Circular pitch p: The width of a tooth and a space, measured on the pitch circle.
Diametral pitch P: The number of teeth of a gear per inch of its pitch diameter. A toothed gear
must have an integral number of teeth. The circular pitch, therefore, equals the pitch
circumference divided by the number of teeth. The diametral pitch is, by definition, the number
of teeth divided by the pitch diameter.
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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.
Fillet : The small radius that connects the profile of a tooth to the root circle.
Pinion: The smaller of any pair of mating gears. The larger of the pair is called
simply the gear.
Velocity ratio: The ratio of the number of revolutions of the driving (or input) gear
to the number of revolutions of the driven (or output) gear, in a unit of time.
Pitch point: The point of tangency of the pitch circles of a pair of mating gears.
Common tangent: The line tangent to the pitch circle at the pitch point.
Line of action: A line normal to a pair of mating tooth profiles at their point of
contact.
Pressure angle : The angle between the common normal at the point of tooth
contact and the common tangent to the pitch circles. It is also the angle between the
line of action and the common tangent.
Base circle :An imaginary circle used in involute gearing to generate the involutes
that form the tooth profiles.

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Pressure angle

The pressure angle is the angle between the tangent to the

pitch circles and the line drawn normal to the surfaces of the
gear tooth.

Db D cos

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Summary of Gear Nomenclature:

DP = Pitch diameter of pinion
D

= Pitch diameter of gear

= No. teeth (t) for pinion

= No. teeth (t) or gear

= diametral pitch = N/D = constant for meshing gears

= circular pitch = D/N = constant for meshing gears

n = speed of pinion (rpm)
P
p

= speed of gear (rpm)

VR

= velocity ratio = nP/nG = NG/NP

Power

= constant across mating gears or series system:

Pin = Pout
Power in branched system is conserved:
Pin = P + P + ..
A
B
63,000 hp
Torque willTorque
change!!
(lb in)
rpm

P = T
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Standard Spur Gears (Berg Master Catalog)

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Gears used for Speed Reducer

Recall the main purpose of mating/meshing gears is to provide

speed reduction or torque increase.

nP N G N driven
Velocity Ratio VR

nG N P N driver

Gear
Pinion

nG NG

nP NP

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Example:
Want a 3:1 reduction, so
what is NG if NP is 22

Solution:
NP=22 teeth

VR = 3 = NG/NP

NG = 3*22 = 66 teeth

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Gear Nomenclature

Diametral Pitch, (Pd) Number of teeth per inch of pitch

diameter

N
Pd =
D
*Two gears in mesh must have equal Pd:

NG
NP
= D
Pd =
DG
P
*Standard diametral pitches can be found in Table 8-1 and 8-2

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Gear Nomenclature Example

8-1) Gear has 44 teethfull depth involute form
diametral pitch Pd = 12

Pitch Diameter

NG
44 teeth
= 12 t/in
DG =
Pd

= 3.667 inch

Circular Pitch

DG
3.667in
= .2617 in/t
Pc =
=
NG
44 t
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2.

Helical Gears

Gears that have teeth

aligned at an angle with
respect to the axis of the
shaft.
Operate more smoothly than
spur gears of equal number
of teeth.
Parallel shafts or Crossed
helical gears shown below:

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Helical Gears

Teeth are at an angle to the gear axis (usually 10 to 45)

called helix angle
Advantages
Smooth and quite due to gradual tooth engagements
More tooth engagement allows for greater power
transmission for given gear size.
Parallel to perpendicular shaft arrangement
Disadvantage
More expensive

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Helix angle () typically range from 15 to 45.

Circular pitch:

Diametral pitch:

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3.

Bevel Gears

Gear teeth arranged in a cone shape manner.

Types:
Straight bevel gears
Spiral bevel gears
Hypoid gears

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Bevel Gears

Gear axis at 90, based on

rolling cones
Advantages
Right angle drives
Disadvantages
Get axial loading which
complicates bearings and
housings

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Geometrical features of straight bevel gears

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4.

Worm Gears

Used to transmit motion and power between two

nonintersecting shafts, usually 90 to each other.
Have threads rather than teeth as like most gears.
Can achieve higher speed reduction, but lower mechanical
efficiency.

Worms and Worm gears

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Worm Gears

worm gear

Gears that are 90 to each other

Advantages
Quiet / smooth drive
Can transmit torque at right angles
No back driving
Good for positioning systems
Disadvantage
Most inefficient due to excessive
friction (sliding)
worm
Needs maintenance
Slower speed applications
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5.

Gear Trains

Gear trains consist of two or more gears for the purpose of

transmitting motion from one axis to another. Ordinary gear trains
have axes, relative to the frame, for all gears comprising the train.
Velocity ratio:
Defined as the ratio of the rotational speed of the input gear to that
of the output gear for a single pair of gears.

P nP RG DG N G speed P sizeG
VR

G nG RP DP N P speed G sizeP
where

subscripts P and G represents the pinion and

the driven gear respectively.
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Gear trains are a group of gears that work together to

produce large gear ratios
A gear train is a set or system of gears arranged to
transfer rotational torque from one part of a
mechanical system to another

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Gear trains consists of:

Driving gears - attached to the input shaft

Driven gears - attached to the output shaft

Idler gears - interposed between the driving and

driven gear in order to maintain the direction of the
output shaft the same as the input shaft or to increase
the distance between the drive and driven gears. A
compound gear train refers to two or more gears used
to transmit motion.

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Examples of Gear Trains

Types of gear trains
1. Simple gear train
2. Compound gear train
3. Epicyclic gear train
4. Reverted gear train
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Gear Train Rule Pitch of two gears in mesh must be

identical
PINION

DG DP
=
P=
NP
NG

GEAR
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Train value:
Refers to the ratio of the input speed (for the first
gear in the train) to the output speed (for the last gear
in the train).
It is the product of the values of VR of each gear pair
in the train.
TV

product of driven gear teeth

product of driving gear teeth

TV

nin
=
nout
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6.

The AGMA

The American Gear Manufacturers Association

(AGMA)

Standardizes terms and symbols use, gear design and

applications.
More information can be obtained from their website:
http://www.agma.org

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QUIZ FOR TODAY

WHAT TYPE OF THIS GEAR?

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AND FOR THIS TOO

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TUTORIAL HOMEWORK
BICYCLE GEAR RATIO EXPLAIN HOW IT
WORK?
HOW PENDULUM CLOCKS WORK?
HOW CAR MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS WORK?

FIND OUT THE INFO & SOMEONE NEEDS TO

EXPLAIN. GOOD LUCK.

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