T1

Ratio of tensions in the belt : = e μθ  e 0.28× 2.794 = 2.187

T2
1000
i.e.  2.187 T 2  457.24N
T2
T +T   1000 + 457.24 
Initial tension in the belt T0   1 2     = 728.62N
 2   2 

Gears
Gears are toothed wheels used to transmit power from one shaft to another when a
constant velocity ratio is desired and the distance between shafts is relatively small.
Gears are classified as follows:
(i) According to relative position of shaft axes:
Parallel axes: Spur gear, helical gear
Intersecting axes: Bevel gears
Non parallel, Non intersecting: Worm gears
(ii) According to peripheral velocity (v) of gears:
V< 3 m/sec: Low velocity gears
3<V< 15 m/sec: Medium velocity gears
V>15 m/sec: High velocity gears
(iii) According to type of gearing:
Gears mesh externally & hence rotate in opposite directions: External gearing
Gears mesh internally & hence rotate in same directions: Internal gearing
(iv) According to position of the teeth on gear surface:
Straight teeth: Spur gears
Inclined teeth: Helical gears
Skewed (curved) teeth: Spiral gear

Spur Gears
• This is the simplest form of gears for transmitting power between two parallel shafts.
The teeth are straight & parallel to the axis.
• Spur gears impose only radial loads on bearings.
• Because of the instantaneous line contact during meshing, the drive will be noisy.
• Spur gear drive is widely used in machine tools, automobile gear boxes, etc.

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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 Spur Gears

Driving member(Pinion)

Pinion

Gear

Driven member(Gear)

Helical Gears
• Helical gears are used to transmit power between parallel shafts.
• In these gears, the teeth are inclined to the axis of the shaft at an angle known as
Helix angle (150 to 450).
• Helical gears are preferred to spur gears as their operation is quiet due to progressive
engagement of teeth.
• The disadvantage of helical gears is it produces an axial thrust. Hence double helical
gears (herringbone gears) are used.
Driving member(Pinion)
Helix
angle

Driven member(Gear)
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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 Bevel gears

• Bevel gears are most commonly

used for transmitting power
between intersecting shafts.
• The pitch surfaces of bevel gears are
 rolling cones. The tooth section
becomes gradually smaller as the
apex of the cone is approached.
• They impose thrust as well as radial
loads on the bearings supporting the
shaft.
• When two equal bevel gears have
their axes at right angles, they are
called Miter bevel gears.

Worm gears

• Worm gears are used to transmit

power between two non parallel, non
Worm wheel
intersecting shafts.

• A worm drive consists of a worm shaft

with helical grooves which meshes with
Worm a gear called worm wheel.
shaft
• Worm gear drives are used for high
speed reduction as high as 60:1.

• The worm gear drive may be made self

locking, i.e. does not allow the reversal
in the direction of the drive.

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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 Rack & Pinion
• When a rotary motion is to be converted into a linear motion, rack & pinion
arrangement is used.
• Theoretically rack is a straight gear of infinite diameter.

Pinion

Rack

Elliptical Gears

Focus center of ellipse

• Elliptical gears are used when there is need for varying speeds of the driven gear in
each revolution.
• In each revolution of the driven shaft, there are four different speeds, two maximum
& two minimum.
• They are used in printing machines, packaging machines, quick return motion
mechanisms, etc.

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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 Gear tooth profiles
• Gears are mainly used for transmission of motion & power and must be of accurate
profile to obtain exact velocity ratio.
• Two commonly used profiles of gear teeth are the Involute profile & the Cycloidal
profile
• Involute is defined as the path described by a point on an inextensible cord which is
unwound from a stationary cylinder.
• Cycloid is defined as the curve traced by a point on the rim of a circle which rolls
without slipping on a fixed straight line.

Advantages of Gear drives

1. They are positive drives and used to connect closely spaced shafts.
2. High efficiency, compactness, reliability, longer life, less maintenance.
3. They can transmit heavier loads.

Disadvantages of Gear drives

1. Not suitable for large center distances.
2. High production cost.
3. Due to errors and inaccuracies in manufacture, the drive may become noisy and
produce vibrations at high speeds.

Velocity ratio in Gear Drives :

n2 d1 z1
  , where n1  Speed of driving pulley,n2  Speed of driven pulley
n1 d 2 z2
d1  Pitch circle diameter (PCD) of driver gear, d 2  PCD of of driven gear
z1  No of teeth on driver gear, z2  No of teeth on driven gear
Gear Trains
A gear train is an arrangement of two or more successively meshing gears through
which power can be transmitted between the driving & driven shafts.
Train Value:
Train value is the ratio of speed of the driven gear to that of the driving gear. It is the
reciprocal of the velocity ratio.

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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 Direction of rotation
When gears mesh externally they rotate in the opposite direction and when they
mesh internally, they rotate in the same direction.
Types of Gear Trains
A gear train may be broadly classified into the following;
1. Simple Gear Train
2. Compound Gear Train
3. Reverted Gear Train
4. Epicyclic Gear Train
Simple gear train
• A simple gear train is one in which each shaft carries only one gear.
• From the fig, gear A is the driving gear and gear D is the driven gear. B & C are the
intermediate gears or Idler gears.
• The idler gears do not affect the velocity ratio but simply bridge the gap between the
driver & the driven gears.
• Also if odd number of intermediate gears are used, the driver & the driven gears
rotate in the same direction.
• If even number of intermediate gears are used, the driver & the driven gears rotate in
the opposite directions.

A B C B

N  z  C
Velocity ratio  C    A 
 N A   zC 

N  z  D
Velocity ratio  D    A 
 N A   zD 

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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 Compound gear train
• In a compound gear train the intermediate shaft carries two or more gears which are
keyed to it.
• Compound gears are used when a high velocity ratio is required in a limited space.
• The intermediate gears will have an effect on the overall velocity ratio.

C
A
B D

N  z  N   zC 
From the fig,  B    A  and also  D  
 N A   zB   NC   zD 
N  N  z  z 
 B    D    A    C 
 N A   NC   zB   zD 
As gears B & C are on same shaft, N B  N C
 N D   z A  zC 
  =  
 A   zB zD 
N
Speed of last driven shaft Product of no of teeth on driver
i.e. 
Speed of the first driving shaft Product of no of teeth on driven

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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 Reverted gear train
• A reverted gear train is a compound gear train in which the first & the last gears are
on the same axis.
• Hence, in a reverted gear train, the center distances for the two gear pairs must be
same.
• Reverted gear trains are used in automotive transmissions, lathe back gears, and in
clocks.
ZC
B
ZB
 d + d B   dC + d D 

C As  A 
 2   2 
But d=mz, and the module
Motor Shaft Spindle
'm' is same for all gears,
 z A + z B  zC + z D
ZA A
D
ZD

EPICYCLIC GEAR TRAIN

• An epicyclic gear train is one in

which the axis of one or more
gears moves relative to the
frame.

• Large speed reductions are

obtained with an epicyclic train.

• They are compact in size and

automobile differential.

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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 Problem 1
A simple train of wheels consists of successively engaging three wheels having
number of teeth 40, 50 & 70 respectively. Find its velocity ratio. If the driving wheel
having 40 teeth runs at 210 rpm clockwise, find the speed of the driven wheel and its
direction of rotation.
210 RPM

A B C

40 T
50 T
70T
N  z  N   zB 
From the fig,  B    A  and also  C  
 N A   zB   NB   zC 
N  N   z A   zB   NC   z A 
 B    C        =  
 N A   NB   z B   zC   A   zC 
N
z   40 
The speed of gear C, N C   A  × N A  N C    × 210 = 120 rpm.
 zC   70 
As there is odd number of idler gears, the driven gear rotates at 120 rpm clockwise.
(i.e. same as that of driving gear)
Problem 2
In a simple gear train consists of four wheels having number of teeth 30, 40, 50 & 60
teeth respectively. Determine the speed and the direction of rotation of the last gear
if the first makes 600 rpm, clockwise.

600 Rpm

A B C D

30 T
40 T
50 T 60 T

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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 N   z A   zB   zC 
From the fig,  D      
 NA   zB   zC   zD 
 ND   zA 
  =  
NA   zD 
z   30 
The speed of gear D, N D   A  × N A  N C   × 600 = 300 rpm.
z
 D  60 
As there is even number of idler gears, the driven gear rotates at 300 rpm counter
clockwise. (i.e. opposite to that of driving gear)

Problem 3
A compound gear train consists of 4 gears, A, B, C & D and they have 20, 30, 40 & 60
teeth respectively. A is keyed to the driving shaft, and D is keyed to the driven shaft, B
& C are compound gears. B meshes with A & C meshes with D. If A rotates at 180 rpm,
find the rpm of D.

40T
20T 60T
30T

A
B

D
C

N  z 
From the fig,  B    A  and also
 N A   zB 
 ND   zC  N  N   z A   zC 
    B    D     
 NC   zD   N A   NC   zB   zD 
 ND   z A  zC 
As gears B & C are on same shaft, N B  N C   =  
NA   zB zD 
 20  40 
N D    180 = 80 RPM
 30 60 
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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 Problem 4
Fig shows a train of gears from the spindle of a lathe to the lead screw used for
cutting a screw thread of a certain pitch. If the spindle speed is 150 rpm, what is the
lead screw speed? Gears 2 & 3 form a compound gear.

75 T
Lead screw
20T 50 T
Spindle
25 T
1
2 3
4

From the fig, velocity ratio

 Speed of the driven shaft   Product of the no of teeth on driver 
  
 Speed of the driving shaft   Product of the no of teeth on driven 
N   z1  z 3   20  25 
 4 =   As N1 = 150rpm, N 4    150 = 20 RPM
 N1   z2 z4   75  50 

Problem 5
Fig shows a reverted gear train used in a lathe headstock. If the motor runs at 1200
rpm, find the speed of the spindle.

100 T
60 T
2
3

Motor Shaft Spindle

1
4
50 T
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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore
 100 T
60 T
2
3

Motor Shaft Spindle

1
4
50 T

As the center distance between the shafts is same,

 d1 + d 2   d 3 + d 4 
     d1 + d 2  =  d 3 + d 4 
 2   2 
pd 
The circular pitch =   =p m  d  mz where 'm' is known as module.
 z 
For two gears in mesh, circular pitch and hence the module is same.
As z1 + z2  z3 + z4  50 + 100  60 + z4
 z z 
No of teeth on gear 4=90 teeth. Speed of the spindle N 4   1 3   N1
 z2  z4 
 50 × 60 
 N4 =   ×1200 = 400 rpm
 100 × 90 

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P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bangalore