Two-Piece Bevel Gear Assembly for Misalignment Tolerance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Misalignment of gears in a gear train leads to increased wear and stress, reducing durability, and requires customized tooth profiles to ensure proper contact, which limits flexibility and increases costs due to variations in movement, tolerance, and thermal expansion.
Innovation Solution
A two-piece bevel gear assembly with specifically designed dimensions, including a conical base with defined teeth profiles and dimensions, such as outside diameters, face widths, and cone distances, to accommodate misalignment and ensure proper meshing, with a method for installing these gears in a gearbox to maintain optimal alignment and reduce wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If customized tooth profiles are designed for each application, then proper tooth contact and gear durability are ensured, but manufacturing complexity and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gear is divided into two separate pieces: a gear body and a tooth ring. This segmentation allows the tooth ring to be customized with specific tooth profiles while the gear body can be standardized, reducing overall manufacturing complexity while maintaining proper tooth contact and durability
Solution Approach 2:
The gear body is designed as a universal component that can be used across different applications, while only the tooth ring requires customization. This multi-functionality approach allows the same gear body to work with different tooth rings, reducing the number of unique components needed
2Ease of manufacture
If standard gear dimensions are used, then manufacturing is simplified, but misalignment effects from movement and thermal expansion cannot be accommodated
Solution Approach 1:
The tooth ring is designed with dynamic characteristics that allow it to accommodate misalignment effects from movement and thermal expansion. The separate tooth ring can adjust independently from the gear body, providing flexibility to handle dimensional changes while maintaining proper gear meshing
Solution Approach 2:
The invention allows for parameter changes in the tooth ring dimensions and tooth profiles to compensate for misalignment effects. By adjusting these parameters, the gear assembly can accommodate thermal expansion and movement variations while maintaining reliable operation
3Reliability
If precise alignment is maintained, then wear is reduced, but flexibility to accommodate thermal expansion and movement is limited
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the gear into a gear body and a separate tooth ring, the design allows the tooth ring to move and expand independently with thermal changes while maintaining proper tooth contact. This segmentation provides both wear resistance through proper alignment and adaptability through independent movement capability
Solution Approach 2:
The gear assembly uses a composite structure combining the gear body and tooth ring, which can be made from materials with different thermal expansion properties. This composite approach allows the assembly to accommodate thermal expansion while maintaining proper tooth contact and minimizing wear
Data Source
AI summary
A gear set is provided for use in a gearbox. The gear set includes a first bevel gear having a first rotational axis and a second bevel gear having a second rotational axis. The second gear is driven by the first gear. The first gear has an outside diameter of about 3.1956 inches, an outer cone distance of about 2.1044 inches, a face width of about 0.62 inches, and a ratio of the outside diameter to a length parallel to the axis of rotation between the crown and the pitch apex of about 1.83. The second gear has an outside diameter of about 2.8337 inches, an outer cone distance of about 2.1044 inches, a face width of about 0.62 inches, and a ratio of the outside diameter to a length parallel to the axis of rotation between the crown and the pitch apex of about 2.33.