Our society relies on gears for thousands of different mechanisms and devices. We understand how they work somewhat intuitively, and even play with small plastic gears in childhood. But to really understand how gears work, and why they’re so important, you need to have a conceptual understanding of the main functions that gears can provide.
Ultimately, there are four typical motivations for including a gear in a machine:
- Force translation. First, you can use gears to translate or modify force from one part of a machine to another. For example, if you have a small gear connected to a large gear, and the small gear is turning at a fixed speed, the larger gear attached to it will turn slower, but with much more force. This is especially important for weight- or pressure-sensitive applications.
- Speed translation. Similarly, you can use gears to translate or modify speed. In the above example, we used a large gear to translate a small gear’s high speed into a much lower final speed. A reversed setup could make a small gear turn faster.
- Rotational motion. Gears are also important for changing or preserving the direction of rotational motion within a system. For example, two spur gears (the most commonly recognizable type of gear) usually reverse each other’s direction, while worm gears change the rotational direction by 90 degrees. Bevel gears can even translate motion around corners.
- Movement. Finally, gears can be responsible for driving direct movement. For example, rack and pinion gear setups rely on a gear wheel interacting with a ridged, bar-like gear to climb hills or steer a vehicle.
As long as we’re using physical machines to do some kind of work, and accomplish any of the above four goals, gears are going to remain relevant—and a mainstay in the manufacturing world. If you’re interested in getting a quote for your next gear manufacturing job, or you want to learn more about how gears should work in your machines, contact Federal Gear today!