Gearboxes redirect high-speed motor energy to spin another component at a lower speed and higher torque. They reduce speed for safety and can vary gear ratios. Examples include cars, clocks, bicycles, winches, and CVTs. Planetary gear systems provide high torque for heavy equipment.
A gearbox is a mechanism by which the energy produced by a high-speed motor or motor is redirected to spin another mechanical component at a lower rotational speed and higher torque. Gearboxes are devices that can take many forms. They are also referred to as gearboxes or paddle shifters and are simple transmissions. Gearboxes also offer mechanical safety by reducing the speed of rotating equipment. In its simplest form, gear reduction occurs in predetermined ratios that are related to a characteristic value of the input and output gear components.
The automobile has a common example of gear reduction. Internal combustion engines must operate at high speeds to maintain smooth power generation. When the vehicle is stopped, slowing down or traveling slowly, engine speed, if applied directly to the wheels, would cause the wheels to spin or increase the car’s speed or even cause loss of steering control. Through the use of a reduction gear, energy can be used to overcome the inertia of the stationary vehicle, decrease the momentum of a slowing vehicle or allow heavier loads to be towed but at lower speed.
A gearbox performs energy transformation by changing the rotation ratio of two moving parts. In a clock, gears of different sizes contact each other directly in fixed ratios to change the rate of movement between the central rotating shaft and the various hands of the clock. In a bicycle, a lever pushes a chain between sprockets of different sizes. In a winch or winch, a belt switches between pulleys of different diameters to control how fast a load is lifted as it gains momentum. Gear ratios are calculated from ratios of the number of teeth in each gear, the diameter of the sprocket wheels, or the diameter of the pulleys.
A more advanced gearbox can be obtained by varying one or both mechanical dimensions without actually changing gear. Instead of a cylinder as a pulley if a conical shape is used, the belt can travel up or down the cone, continuously changing the diameter and therefore the gear ratio as it moves. This type of gear control is called a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Smaller, less expensive vehicles, like go-karts, or vehicles that require only a small speed range, like farm tractors, can take advantage of the simplicity of a CVT.
In a continuously variable transmission (IVT), a CVT is combined with an epicyclic gear system. This system, also known as a planetary gear system, includes a central gear, called the sun, which meshes with two or more gears that rotate around it, called the planets. The planetary gears in turn mesh with the teeth facing inward in a large toothed ring called a ring.
Either the sun or the ring is held fixed. The input and output shafts can be any of three positions. A pencil sharpener is a blunt planetary gearbox. In heavy construction equipment, planetary gear systems are used to provide the high torque needed to move these machines.
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