Gears are used in many mechanical devices.

They do several important jobs, including transmission of power, change direction of power transmission, but most importantly, they provide gear reduction in motorized equipment. This is important because a small motor spinning very fast can provide enough power for a device, but not enough torque. For example, an electric screwdriver has a very large gear reduction because it needs lots of torque to turn screws, but the motor only produces a small amount of torque at a high speed. With a gear reduction, the output speed can be reduced while the torque is increased. This results in devices and appliances that can be made smaller and lighter due to the smaller motor needed to produce the required torque. An example of direction change of power transmission is in the differential between the rear wheels of a car, the power is transmitted by a shaft that runs down the center of the car, and the differential turns that power 90 degrees to apply it to the wheels. The Case for Helical Gears As seen in the table below, helical gears can run with very high pitch velocity and can achieve much higher efficiencies (94%-98%) with maximum gear ratios up to 10:1 Gear Efficiency Comparison Table No 1 Type Spur Normal Ratio Range Efficiency Range 1:1 to 6:1 3:2 to 5:1 3:2 to 4:1 5:1 to 75:1 10:1 to 200:1 3:2 to 10:1 10:1 to 100:1 94-98% 93-97% 95-99% 50-90% 80-95% 94-98% 75% to 85%

2 Straight Bevel 3 4 5 6 7 Spiral Bevel Worm Hypoid Helical Cycloid

Helical gears offer a refinement over spur gears. The leading edges of the teeth are not parallel to the axis of rotation, but are set at an angle. Since the gear is curved, this angling causes the tooth shape to be a segment of a helix.

Helical gears can be meshed in parallel, Figure 1, or crossed orientations, Figure 2. Parallel is the most common orientation, but crossed is used in many applications as well.

Figure 1. Parallel helical gears

Figure 2. Crossed helical gears

The teeth on helical gears are cut at an angle to the face of the gear. When two teeth on a helical gear system engage, the contact starts at one end of the tooth and gradually spreads as the gears rotate, until the two teeth are in full engagement. This gradual engagement makes helical gears operate much more smoothly and quietly than spur gears. Spur gears make a characteristic whine at high speeds. Whereas spur gears are used for low speed applications and those situations where noise control is not a problem, the use of helical gears is indicated when the application involves high speeds, large power transmission, or where noise abatement is important. For this reason, helical gears are used in almost all car transmissions. One interesting thing about helical gears is that if the angles of the gear teeth are correct, they can be mounted on perpendicular shafts, adjusting the rotation angle by 90 degrees. A disadvantage of helical gears is, because of the angle of the teeth, there is a resultant thrust load along the axis of the gear, which needs to be accommodated by appropriate thrust bearings, and a greater degree of sliding friction between the meshing teeth, often addressed with additives in the lubricant. Application of Helical Gears Helical Gears have applications in a large variety of industries. They include: Steel, Mining, Packaging machinery, Rubber industry, Textile, Specialty machinery, OEM equipment manufacturers, Conveyor pumps and pumping equipment, Medical, Defence, Material handling , and the Automotive industry. Manufacturing of Helical Gears Materials from which helical gears can be manufactured includes all the grades of steel, stainless, iron, brass, plastic, phenolic, rawhide, bronze etc. Actually there are many factors that can contribute to selecting the right material for gears. They are design, power transmission

obligations, noise, heat generation and absence or presence of corrosive elements. For the process of manufacture forging casting and then Hobbing are effectively used. Selection Process of Helical Gears Important parameters that needs to be given a thought in specifying Helical Gears are the following: Number of teeth, Face or width of the tooth, Pitch, Diameter, Outside diameter, Gear hand, direction, Pressure angle, Manufacturing material. The most common mounting methods are on a hub, or on a shaft. Machining Main article: Machining Spur may be cut or ground on a milling machine or jig grinder utilizing a numbered gear cutter, and any indexing head or rotary table. The number of the gear cutter is determined by the tooth count of the gear to be cut. To machine a helical gear on a manual machine, a true indexing fixture must be used. Indexing fixtures can disengage the drive worm, and be attached via an external gear train to the machine table's handle (like a power feed). It then operates similarly to a carriage on a lathe. As the table moves on the X axis, the fixture will rotate in a fixed ratio with the table. The indexing fixture itself receives its name from the original purpose of the tool: moving the table in precise, fixed increments. If the indexing worm is not disengaged from the table, one can move the table in a highly controlled fashion via the indexing plate to produce linear movement of great precision (such as a vernier scale). There are a few different types of cutters used when creating gears. One is a rack shaper. These are straight and move in a direction tangent to the gear, while the gear is fixed. They have six to twelve teeth and eventually have to be moved back to the starting point to begin another cut. A popular way to build gears is by form cutting. This is done by taking a blank gear and rotating a cutter, with the desired tooth pattern, around its periphery. This ensures that the gear will fit when the operation is finished.