MOC: square gears

[SNIPE]

hi,

I was watching some YouTube videos and learned a bit about odd shapes and how they can still mesh fine when rotating this goes for things like gears, pulleys, etc and so i came up with the idea to make some square spur gears with LEGO:

they should work fine because they are meshing in the picture although at some points of rotation the teeth may not completely go in to each other when they mesh but that's just because of how the corners are in the model in lego digital designer.

[DLuders]

[Dan the Brickman]

Thats interesting, and crazy!

[SNIPE]

Sure, i am insane, we all are.

Edited August 13, 2011 by SNIPE

[Nazgarot]

This is what I call an original idea! I've got to try it, if for nothing else, just for the wow factor. Could be a nice little ting to throw on the shelf and show of...

-ED-

[SNIPE]

Glad you like it, here is LDD file so that you know of the parts

you will have to experiment slotting the gears onto the axles a bit to get the correct meshpoints so i would try each gear, but keeping one in the same position and meshing the other one tooth by tooth until that gear is in the rotational position in which the gears will not un-mesh or jam, I think the rotation of the gears in the image is about right).

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/finneykris/ge/go_cart_2_and_square_gears.lxf

Please ignore the other thing beside that, it is a separate project.

[Blakbird]

There is a reason that gears are not square. Try building this and see what happens.....

[SNIPE]

There is a reason that gears are not square. Try building this and see what happens.....

go youtube "square gears"

or youtube "odd gears"

they mesh fine

[AussieJimbo]

That's all well and good but you don't know that this design works because you haven't built it.

Interesting idea though.

:classic:

[Blakbird]

go youtube "square gears"

or youtube "odd gears"

they mesh fine

I didn't say it wasn't possible to make a set of square gears that mesh, I said there's a reason that gears are not square. I design and analyze gears for a living. A square gear set can ONLY work if both gears have the same number of teeth and they can ONLY mesh if they are clocked 45 degrees apart. This means you cannot change the gear ratio; it will always be 1:1. Also, the pressure angle of the gears is not constant, the pitch circle is not constant, and there is no involute. This means the gears will have massive wear, terrible efficiency, and the output gear will move at a non-constant speed. It isn't even a sine wave, so the constant acceleration will fatigue any bearings and axles in short order.

So as a novelty, they are kind of neat, but they don't have a practical application.

[Paul Boratko]

Square Gears..?

It's an interesting gimmick, but makes about as much sense as driving a car with square wheels...

Then again, according to

, that is how they roll in Canada...

[SNIPE]

I said they may mesh in the model so I do not know for sure, I assumed they will but not perfectly.

LEGO is not practical compared to the real thing anyhow, I doubt these gears are going to be used in a model, they are just there to show that they (may) mesh.

I expect the corners are not going to mesh because there is no diagonal gear in the space and because the teeth are at an invalid angle

Edited August 15, 2011 by SNIPE