Gear Manufacturers

About Gear Manufacturers and Gears Including: Bevel Gears, Industrial Gears, Plastic Gears, Spline Gears, Sprockets, Spur Gears & Worm Gears.

Gears are devices, used in conjunction with other gears and parts, that engage motion and/or transfer power and motion through a product or series of parts. Gears consist of an object, usually cylindrical, with a toothed perimeter. This turns in concurrence with a matching toothed part. The intersecting points of these teeth transfer the motion/power from one to the other. Gears are involved in the mechanics and workings of anything that has an engine or motor producing rotational motion. The top four sectors of clients for gear manufacturers are industrial, marine, aerospace and automotive, which is the largest.
 
Gear manufacturers specifically design their products to withstand harsh and repetitive use. The fundamental components of gears are the teeth and the ratio. These two factors determine the function, speed and control offered with the pairing of gear pieces. The key to selecting the appropriate gears for any purpose revolves around the size, material make-up and ratio of the gear. These factors will determine the gear’s durability and strength, and also the speed it will be able to engage.
 
When working with gear manufacturers, the size specifications that should be considered are number of teeth, pitch diameter, face width and length. The pitch of the gears is determined by the number of teeth and the preferred pitch diameter. Another important factor is materials of construction, with there being a variety to consider and all with different properties. Design life, power transmission requirements, noise, heat generation and presence of corrosive elements contribute to optimal performance of gear materials. Gear manufacturers can create aluminum gears, brass gears, bronze gears, cast iron gears, steel gears, hardened steel gears and stainless steel gears, plastic gears, acetal gears, Delrin® gears, nylon gears and polycarbonate gears. Gears may also be made with a combination of metal and plastic with the teeth being plastic and the inserts being metal. Consulting with gear manufacturers for a specific application is best when deciding on construction material.
 
Production of gears may be segmented into several dimensions, but the most common are open gears or loose gears and enclosed drive gears. Open gears or loose gears are usually produced in pairs consisting of the gear and pinion. Gears are produced by contract machine shops to certain specifications and standards that are set by the customers. Most of these manufacturers do not produce for their own gears. Enclosed drive gear manufacturers supply complete assemblies, which an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) installs into the final gear product.

Gear Manufacturers and Gears Image Provided by Omni Gear & Machine Corporation	Gear Manufacturers and Gears Image Provided by Commercial Gear & Sprocket Co., Inc.

Gear Manufacturers and Gears Manufacturers Images Provided by Griffin Gear

Types of Gears

• Bevel gears are intended to operate on axes that intersect, usually at a 90 degree angle, to work around corners.
  
• Differential gears link two shafts through a covering, forcing the total of the rotational angles of the shafts to be the same as the rotational angle of the covering.
  
• Helical gears have angled teeth to create a thrust load on the gears when they mesh. Car transmissions often have these.
  
• Herringbone gears conduct power and motion between non-intersecting, parallel axes that may or may not have a center groove, with each tooth making two opposite helices.
  
• Hypoid gears are similar to bevel gears but differ by operating on non-intersecting axes.
  
• Industrial gears are round mechanical components that have “teethed” circumferences, allowing them to interconnect with corresponding teethed gear wheels or parts; these gear pairs transfer/reverse motion, increase/decrease rotational speed and torque or sychronize axes.
  
• Metric gears are defined by the length in millimeters of the pitch circle diameter per tooth.
  
• Miter gears are bevel gears put together with equal numbers of teeth and axes that are usually at right angles.
  
• Planetary gears come sets of usually two, or more, that operate on or inside larger industry gears. Planetary gears make drastic gear ratios possible.
  
• Plastic gears are made primarily of plastic, sometimes with both metal and plastic components. These gears are generally cost effective and light; some are injection molded plastic gears.
  
• Spline gears contain a series of ridges on a driveshaft that even out rotation speed of the companion piece.
  
• Sprockets are gears with metal teeth that enmesh with chains.
  
• Spur gears are cylinder shaped gears that have both straight and parallel teeth and work on parallel axes.
  
• Straight bevel gears have straight teeth that radiate from a center point.
  
• Spiral bevel gears are similar to helical gears and have a higher potential load transmission compared to straight bevel gears, which is achieved by cutting the teeth in a curved shape.
  
• Worm gears have a curved and recessed throat that gives the worm access to the worm gear teeth. Usually they are made of bronze, iron or steel.

Common Terms Related to Gear Manufacturers

Backlash - The distance the width of a tooth space surpasses the thickness of the engaging tooth on the pitch circles of industry gears.
 
Bore - The diameter of the hole in a industry gear.
 
Bull - The larger gear of a set of industry gears.
 
Center Distance (CD) - The smallest distance between the axes of non-intersecting, mating industry gears.
 
Coupling Sprockets - Used for connecting two non-continuous shaft ends of industry gears.
 
Dedendum (DED) - The distance, radial or perpendicular, between the bottom of the gullet and the pitch circle on industry gears.
 
Gullet - The distance between the teeth of industry gears.
 
Hob - A cutting tool used for cutting teeth in industry gears by using a hobbing machine.
 
Hub - An extension projecting from the side of industry gears that creates width to a part so it can be mounted on a shaft.
 
Hub Style - The type of style of the hubs on industry gears.  Type 'A' indicates there is no hub on the industry gear; type 'B' indicates there is a hub on only one side of the industry gear; type 'C' indicates there is a hub on both sides of the industry gear.
 
Module (MOD) - The pitch diameter's ratio to the number of teeth on the industry gear expressed in millimeters.
 
Mounting Distance (MD) - The distance from the crossing point of the axes to the location surface of industry gears.
 
Pinion - The smaller industry gear of a set of industry gears.
 
Pitch - The size of the teeth of industry gears.
 
Rack - A steel bar with teeth on one side where a pinion can be driven across. Also a
spur gear with an unlimited pitch diameter.
 
Ratio - The distance from the center of industry gears to the point where the teeth or edges come into contact with one other.  It is directly related to the size of one industry gear compared to the other.
 
Teeth - Edges or outside of industry gears have pits and extrusions to interlock with other industry gear parts. The teeth of the industry gears prevent slippage between the gears and promote consistency and regularity in the industry gears.