What are idler gears?
1 : a gear placed between a driving and a driven gear to transfer motion without change of direction or gear ratio. 2 : a gear for support or guidance instead of power transmission.
What is an idler gear and what is its purpose?
The purpose of an idler gear can be two-fold. Firstly, the idler gear will change the direction of rotation of the output shaft. Secondly, an idler gear can assist to reduce the size of the input/output gears whilst maintaining the spacing of the shafts.
Where is a idler gear used?
An idler gear in a gear train is defined as the gear placed between the input and output shafts (between the drive gear and the driven gear). For example, it is used to change the rotational direction of the output shaft, or to fill a large gap between the input and output shafts without affecting the speed ratio.
What is the purpose of idler gear in a gear train?
The purpose of an idler gear used in gear trains is to have the required direction of rotation at the output shaft. It may be noted that when the number of intermediate gears (idler gear) is odd, the motion of both the gears (i.e. driver and driven or follower) is like.
Are idler gears stationary?
So-called stationary gearboxes are characterised by the fact that the gear wheels have stationary axes of rotation. An input gear drives an output gear by an idler gear (intermediate gear).
What are the three types of gears?
There are three major categories of gears in accordance with the orientation of their axes. Configuration : Parallel Axes / Spur Gear, Helical Gear, Gear Rack, Internal Gear.
Who invented gears?
Gears were invented by the Greek mechanics of Alexandria in the third century B.C., were considerably developed by the great Archimedes, and saw wide use in the Roman world.
Where are gears found?
Gears are found in everything from cars to clocks. Photo courtesy Emerson Power Transmission Corp. Gears are used in tons of mechanical devices. They do several important jobs, but most important, they provide a gear reduction in motorized equipment.
When do you use an idler gear what does it mean?
A gear which does not affect the overall reduction ratio between the input and the output shaft is called an idler gear. Gears are primarily used to increase torque by reducing speed.
How is the ratio of drive to idler calculated?
Considering only these gears, the gear ratio between the idler and the input gear can be calculated as if the idler gear was the output gear. Therefore, the gear ratio is driven/drive = 21/13 ≈1.62 or 1.62:1. At this ratio, it means the drive gear must make 1.62 revolutions to turn the driven gear once.
Is the addition of an intermediate gear called a reverse idler?
However, the addition of each intermediate gear reverses the direction of rotation of the final gear. An intermediate gear which does not drive a shaft to perform any work is called an idler gear. Sometimes, a single idler gear is used to reverse the direction, in which case it may be referred to as a reverse idler.
Can a toothed belt be used instead of idler gears?
Instead of idler gears, of course, a toothed belt or a roller chain can be used to transmit torque over distance. For short distances, a train of idlers may be used; whether an odd or even number is used determines whether the final output gear rotates the same direction as the input gear or not.