Thursday, March 28, 2024

Converting to linear motion using rack and pinion

As the summer heat builds, we all look forward to the annual family vacation. Whether the trip takes us to the mountains, or to...

Worms and worm wheels – a primer

First published in 1973, the novel How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell tells the story of Billy and his desire to win...

Increasing surface contact with ground gears

Older drivers probably owned a car during a time when most automobiles in the United States had a manual transmission. For those people, learning...

Cones are not just for ice cream

At this time of year, as we are transitioning from the doldrums of winter through the rebirth of spring and the eventual sunshine of...

Is it Strong Enough?

While walking through a field of wildflowers one might find a feather nestled amongst the flora. The feather is light, airy and delicate. Beneath...

What Are You Made Of?

If you have ever sat down for Sunday dinner in an authentic Italian-American home, you know not to question the red sauce known as...

Making the best selection

In today’s online dating world, you are asked several pointed questions in order to determine your perfect match. Just like human relationships, gears work...

The Zen of Gear Design

The feeling of Zen is one that we all can aspire to. Through practice and self-reflection, we can work toward being centered and grounded....

Pitch-Perfect Gear Design

The pitch of a gear is defined as the distance between two identical points on two adjacent gear teeth. Ideally, it is measured at...

Under Pressure

The pressure angle of a gear is defined as the angle formed by the radial line and the line tangent to the profile at...

Calculating the Weighted Average Load and Life for Bearings

In most gearbox applications, there is not one single torque and speed that the gearbox operates at but a series of torques and speeds...

A Brief Overview Of Splines

Splines provide a connection between two shafts or other components that transmit torque and rotation. Splines may be straight sided, tapered, or have an...

Non-Design Engineering Considerations

The function of design interacts with non-design engineering considerations and functions of a product. Four key elements include: design for manufacturing, design for assembly,...

Designing Quiet Gears

In today’s industrial and commercial environment, gear noise is increasingly undesirable. Conversely, quiet gears are necessary and important in nearly every industry and for...

Designing High Contact-Ratio Gears

High contact-ratio (HCR) gears are gears defined with a contact ratio greater than 2.0. Standard gears have a typical contact ratio of 1.2 to...

Achieving Gearbox Design Excellence

In this month’s column, general concepts related to design excellence are discussed. The first one is simplicity in designs. Always seek the simplest and...

Micropitting

Micropitting is a topic that has generated a lot of interest, discussion, research, and many technical papers in the last few years, but it...

Achieving Gear Design Success

After a gear design is completed, enough of the gear, stress, and life data is established so that the gear set can be completely...

Requirements for Gear Design

A gearbox design program includes technical and non-technical requirements, including legal and regulatory as well as commercial considerations. The process starts with a description...

Driving Creativity and Innovation

Even in the best design teams, day-to-day repetitive tasks can foster stagnation and diminish creativity and efficiencies. Without creativity and new approaches, your team...