In the world of custom gear manufacturing, teeth are some of the most important parts of our job. Our engineers and equipment focus on cutting teeth precisely, and that means understanding their function in the broader system, and being able to define and describe them correctly.
Why Gear Teeth Are Important
Teeth are the main conduit for transferring torque in a gear-based structure. They’re meant to interlock with the teeth of another gear, while rotating, to transmit and/or translate force. If tooth specs are off even slightly, it could cause significant problems for the machine, including improper transmission of force, or the slow degradation of the system.
That’s why we pay careful attention to these four gear teeth terms, and how they’re defined for each gear we produce:
- Pitch diameter. In a system with two connected gears, the pitch circle diameter refers to the diameters of the discs that would transmit an identical velocity ratio through friction as the gears themselves—assuming there was no slipping.
- Diametral pitch (DP). The number of teeth of a gear per inch of its pitch diameter. It is a ratio equal to the pitch diameter of a gear in inches divided by the number of teeth in the gear. Gears can only mesh if their DPs are identical
- Module. Abbreviated as m, the module is the metric equivalent of DP and describes the tooth size. It is the number of mm of pitch diameter per tooth. Gears can only mesh if their modules are identical.
- Circular pitch. The circular pitch refers to the distance between a point on one tooth’s pitch circle to the corresponding point on an adjacent tooth’s pitch circle.
Are you ready to get a quote for your custom gear manufacturing process? Contact us at Federal Gear, or check out our capabilities. We’re one of the oldest gear manufacturers in the state of Ohio, and we have the equipment and the expertise to make sure your teeth are cut with precision.