The pitch circle is an imaginary circle that passes through the points where two interlocking gears touch. It’s important to know the pitch circle diameter when calculating measurements related to gear mechanics. The teeth of the gears must rotate effectively, and the pitch circle can be subdivided into circular pitch, addendum, and dedendum. The pitch circle diameter and radius can be determined to ensure the gears are of the appropriate size and diameter to transfer the right amount of power at the desired speed. Knowing the ratio of the pitch circle diameters is crucial in determining whether one gear will work with the next in a gear system.
“Pitch circle” is a term used when discussing the mechanics of gears. It is the imaginary circle that passes through the points where two interlocking gears touch. Knowing the pitch circle diameter of a gear is important when calculating various measurements related to gear mechanics.
Two gears can interlock in various ways. A gear can rotate inside another gear, outside another gear, or even perpendicular to another gear. Interlocking gears transfer power from one part of a machine to another part of the machine. To work properly, the system must be designed so that the gears are of the appropriate size and diameter to transfer the right amount of power at the desired speed.
To make sure that power transfers as efficiently as possible, gear systems must be carefully designed so that the teeth of one gear rotate the teeth of the next gear. The diameter of the pitch circle is needed to perform some of these calculations. When two gears mesh effectively, the pitch circles of the two gears must be tangent to each other.
The pitch circle can be subdivided into further important components. Circular pitch, or pitch, is the distance between the teeth of a gear. For two gears to fit together, the distance from one tooth along the pitch circle to the next tooth must be the same in both gears. Otherwise, they will not sync during rotation. The area of a gear tooth between the pitch circle and the top of the gear tooth is called the addendum, and the area from the pitch circle to the bottom of the gear tooth is called the dedendum.
After plotting the pitch circle, the pitch circle diameter and pitch circle radius of each wheel can be determined. The ratio of the pitch circle diameter of the first gear to that of the pitch circle diameter of the second gear must be equal to the ratio of the number of teeth in the first gear to the number of teeth in the second gear. So, knowing the ratio of the two pitch circle diameters, the engineer also knows how many teeth each gear must have per square inch or square centimeter. The ratio of the pitch circle diameters of the gears is also equal to the speed ratio, which is the ratio of the rotational speed of the input gear to the rotational speed of the output gear. Therefore, knowing the pitch circle diameter of a gear is crucial in determining whether one gear will work with the next in a gear system.
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