There are dozens of types of gears available, but some are more popular than others. For example, you’ve undoubtedly heard of a spur gear, which is the most traditional and recognizable gear in the industry. And even if you can’t picture helical gears or bevel gears by name, you’d recognize them to see them because of their common usage.
However, there are more specialized types of gears that get far less attention and see far less practical use. They’re important to unique applications, but because they serve a specific niche, they often exist outside the public eye.
- Internal gears. When you picture a gear, you likely picture a circular structure with teeth along the outside edge. However, it’s also possible to have the teeth on the inside edge, with a smooth circle around the outside. These gears maintain the same direction as the output shaft.
- Epicyclic gears. Epicyclic gears are gear systems that feature one or more gears whose centers move around a central gear. These are sometimes called planetary gears because their path of motion mimics how planets move around the sun. They feature higher stability and torque capacity than most gear systems.
- Sun and planet gears. In this gear set, a gear is attached to a reciprocating arm, which converts reciprocating motion to rotary motion. It was frequently used in steam engines and similar devices.
- Harmonic gears. Harmonic gears, or harmonic drives, use a wave generator in the form of an elliptical disk, which serves as the input rotation for a gear set. These are frequently used when smoother motion and low backlash are required, such as in motion control and aerospace applications.
These are just some of the unique types of gears that exist outside the norm and continue advancing the engineering world forward. If you need one of these gears for a specific project, or if you need more traditional gears manufactured, be sure to contact us for a quote today!