Gears essays

Gears essays One of the burning questions that are on everyones mind these days is, How many different types of gears are there and what are they used for. I understand, this question has kept me awake most nights as well. Well put your mind at ease, because I am going to tell you all about several gears and their uses. Gears are used in all most every type of machinery that we use today. A gear is a device consisting of two mechanisms linked together. This combination creates a force or drive that can move an object (Candelora, par.1). One of the most common types of gear used is the Spur gear. This gear consist of two wheels with teeth or pegged, that when turned the teeth make contact therefore turning the wheels and creating a drive or force. These wheels are mounted on two parallel shafts; one wheel is always larger than the other and rotates at a slower pace than the smaller wheel. The force or drive created is used turn a corresponding gear or move an object (Candelora par. 3). Spur gears are used primarily in clocks, but also in oscillating sprinklers; wind up alarm clocks, and washing machines. Although useful, the main flaw in spur gears is the teeth are straight and when the teeth come in contact with each other they make a loud clicking sound, like the sound heard in some traditional clocks. This clicking also creates stress on the teeth of the gear and can cause them to break. To improve upon the design of the spur gear, helical gears were introduced.(Nice par. 7) A helical gear works on the same principle as the spur gear. The difference is the teeth are cut diagonally across the gear and these gears can be mounted on perpendicular shafts. In the Helical gear, these angular teeth help relieve some of the stress on the teeth, by gradually spreading the pressure of contact over the tooth. (Nice par. 5) This helps reduce the s ...