Automotive gears transmit torque and rotation through an angle from a
power source to the driven member. Extreme pressure gear oil is a
lubricant for automotive gears and bearings.Automotive gears are machined from wrought bar stock and subsequently heat treated to develop the required surface hardness and tooth bending fatigue durability.
Automotive Gear Ratio
Automotive gear ratio is the number of turns of the drive wheels in relation to the number of turns of the engine. If the engine is considered the input and the drive wheel is considered to be the output then the input gear or the pinion is said to mate with the output gear or the ring gear to drive or rotate it.
Importance of Gears in Automotive Industry
Gears play an important role in trucks, car, buses, motor bikes and even geared cycles. These gears control speed and include gears like ring and pinion, spiral gear, hypoid gear, hydraulic gears, reduction gearbox.
Depending on the size of the vehicles, the size of the gears also varies. There are low gears covering a shorter distance and are useful when speed is low. There are high gears also with larger number of teeth. These high gears cover a longer distance with one revolution of pedal.
Types of Automotive Gears
- Bevel gears - Important
components on all rotorcraft drive system.
- Crown wheel and pinion
- Used in motorcycle automotive gearboxes.
- Differential gear
- Helps two wheels of the car to rotate differentially with respect
to each other.
- Fine pitch gear - It
is an anti-backlash gear used to minimize errors introduced by
backlash.
- Helical bevel gears
- Used as storage and retrieval units in automobiles.
- Herringbone gears -
Used for power transmission in automobiles.
- Internal gears - Used
in rollers and as tools for creating solid models of drive systems.
- Master gear - Used to
determine the accuracy of work gears.
- Miter gears - Used to
transmit motion and power between intersecting shafts positioned at
right angles.
- Rack - Converts the rotary
motion of the wheel into linear motion and provides a gear
reduction, making it easier to turn the wheels.
- Ring gears and pinion
- Used in heavy truck differentials. Also used to convert the
driving force from the drive shaft (power unit) to the drive wheels.
- Spiral bevel gears
- Used in rotorcraft drive system. They are also used in power
windows and power seats.
- Straight bevel gears
- Used in differential of an automobile to connect the drive shaft
to the rear axle.
- Worm gears - Used to
transmit motion between perpendicular, non-intersecting shaft.