Diametral pitch is a common way to classify gears based on the number of teeth per inch or centimeter of its diameter. It helps determine what size and type of gear is needed to interlock with another gear and how fast a gear can move in a machine.
“Diametral pitch”, sometimes called “diametric pitch”, is a term used to classify different types and sizes of gears. Gears are precision instruments classified according to a variety of different parameters. The number of gear teeth, the shape and size of the gear teeth, the design of the gear hub, and how the gear is attached to the shaft are all ways of classifying gears. Diametral pitch is the most common way of classifying gears.
To understand this concept, you need to know what a field circle is. In any gear system, the pitch circle is the imaginary circle connecting the gear points where two interlocking gears meet. The pitch circle divides the gear tooth into the upper gear tooth, or addendum, and the lower gear tooth, called the dedendum. At any point where two gears touch, their pitch circles will be tangent to each other if the gear system is designed correctly.
The diametral pitch, therefore, is a function of the pitch circle diameter of the gear. It is equal to the number of teeth of the gear per inch or per centimeter of its diameter, depending on the measurement system used. For example, if a gear has 32 teeth and a diameter of 8 inches (20 cm), the diameter pitch is four teeth per inch, or 1.6 teeth per centimeter. When a consumer buys or orders a gear, a manager would tell his gear salesman or mechanical engineer the diametral pitch of the gear needed to ensure the correct type of gear is being ordered.
When a gear system is first being designed, the diametral pitch is important because it helps determine what size and type of gear is needed to interlock with any other gear. A gear is designed to transfer power from one section of a machine to another section of the machine. Two gears that mesh properly must have the same measurements or they will not work properly together and power will not be transferred. For example, the ratio of the number of teeth of a gear to the second gear must be the same as the ratio of the diametral pitch of the first gear to that of the second gear.
This measurement helps determine how fast a gear can move in a machine as well. The speed ratio of a gear is defined as the ratio of the rotational speed of the first gear to the ratio of the rotational speed of the second gear. This same ratio must also be applied to the diametral pitches of the two gears for the system to work properly.
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