Bevel Gears

Bevel Gears

Bevel gears are industrial gears that are intended to operate on axes that intersect, usually at a 90 degree angle, to work around corners. Bevel gears may contain spiral teeth, which require a set of teeth that mate or mesh with them. The tooth-bearing faces of the bevel gears themselves are conically shaped. These gears allow minor adjustment during assembly and provide for some displacement from deflection under operating loads without concentrating the load on the end of the tooth.

Bevel gears are typically constructed from metal or plastic. Bevel gears can be made of various types of materials with differing properties, such as aluminum, bronze, cast iron, brass, steel, hardened steel, and stainless steel. Plastic materials used to make bevel gears include Delrin, nylon, acetal, and polycarbonate.

Important factors to keep in mind when selecting a bevel gear is power transmission requirements, design life, presence of corrosive elements, and noise and heat generation. All of these factors determine the success of the gear in a particular application. While bevel gears are most often used at a 90 degree angle, they can be designed to work at other angles as well. Four bevel gears in a square make a differential gear, which can transmit power to two axles spinning at different speeds, such as in an automobile.