Chapter 4.

Gear
Train

Engr. Jonathan S. Rodolfo

Introduction
A gear train is a series of mating gear sets.
Gear trains are commonly used to achieve
large speed reductions. Many mechanical
power sources, such as engines, turbines, and
electric motors, operate efficiently at high
speeds (1800–10,000 rpm). Many uses for this
power, such as garage door openers,
automotive drive wheels, and ceiling fans,
require low speeds (10–100 rpm) for
operation. Therefore, a desire to achieve
large-velocity reductions is common, and the
use of gear trains is very common.
 Introduction
 For
example, it may be desired to reduce the
speed of a shaft from 1800 rpm to 10 rpm. Thus,
a velocity reduction of 180:1 is required. If this
reduction were attempted with one gear set, it
would reveal that the driven gear would be 180
times larger than the drive gear.
Introduction
 Example
A gear train is shown above. The gears have the
following properties:

 Determine the rotational velocity of gear 7 as

gear 2 drives at 1800 rpm counterclockwise. Also
determine the distance between the shafts that
carry gears 2 and 7.
IDLER GEARS
PLANETARY GEAR TRAINS
 The gear trains presented in preceding
sections all had gear centers attached to
fixed bodies. With planetary gear trains,
this restriction is removed. In these trains, a
link that holds the center of the gears is
allowed to move. A planetary gear train is
also called an epicyclic train.
 Planetary trains can be used to achieve large
speed reductions in a more compact space
than a conventional gear train. However, a
greater benefit is the ability to readily alter the
train value. Because all links are capable of
moving, one can alter the train value by holding
different gears or carriers. For this reason,
planetary gear trains are very common in
automotive transmissions.
Planetary gear analysis by superposition

 Step 1: The first step is to relax the constraint on

the fixed link and temporarily assume that the
carrier is locked. Turn one gear one revolution
and calculate the effect on the entire train
 Step 2: The second step is to free all constraints
and record the movement of rotating each link
one revolution in the opposite direction of the
rotation in step one.
 Step3: The motion of all links is
determined by combining the rotations
from the first two steps. Finally, velocities
are proportional to the rotational
movements.
 Sample
A planetary gear train is illustrated in Figure 10.24.
The carrier (link 2) serves as the input to the train.
The sun (gear 1) is the fixed gear and has 30
teeth. The planet gear (gear 3) has 35 teeth. The
ring gear serves as the output from the train and
has 100 teeth. Determine the rotational velocity
of all members of this gear train when the input
shaft rotates at 1200 rpm clockwise.
A planetary gear train is illustrated in Figure
10.25. The carrier (link 2) serves as the input
to the train. The ring gear (gear 1) is the
fixed gear and has 120 teeth. The planet
gear (gear 4) has 40 teeth. The sun gear
(gear 3) serves as the output from the train
and has 30 teeth. Determine the rotational
velocity of al members of this gear train
when the input shaft rotates at 1200 rpm
clockwise.