GEAR HAVING SMALL RELATIVE CURVATURE AT CONTACT POINT

Abstract: The radius of curvature of a tooth surface is increased and decreased repeatedly from a point on the pitch circles toward the addendum and deddendum without being varied monotonously. The centre of the radius of curvature positioned on the pitch circles (2, 4) at a point at which the radius of curvature is minimal. The curvature of the tooth profile curves (1, 3) is represented by a nonmonotonously varying, continuous and differentiable function with the locus of the curvature centre forming a series of continuous curves which is usually located in the vicinity of the pitch circles. Due to the tooth profile the contact ratio of the gears is set to at least unity by gradually approximating the relative curvatures of the surfaces of the gear teeth from values of involute tooth profiles to that of Wildhaber-Novikov's tooth profiles. An increase in the surface pressure and bearing stress is reduced by reducing an operating pressure angle to a relatively low level.

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to gears, and more particularly to gears having a tooth-profile with a small relative curvature at a contact point. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART As a tooth-profile of power transmitting gears, an involute tooth-profile is typically employed, but other tooth-profiles are also utilized, for example a cycloid tooth-profile, a circular arc tooth-profile, or a combination thereof. In the gear art, tooth-profiles except for the circular arc tooth-profile, have a radius of curvature which is monotonically and continuously varied. Also, in the circular arc tooth-profiles of gears having a finite number of gear teeth, the radius of curvature thereof is continuously varied. It is impossible, therefore, to retain or maintain the relative curvatures between two adjacent tooth-profiles at a small value or a constant value during their engagement. Further, the strength of the tooth-profile has an upper limit determined by a bending stress therein and another upper limit determined by the tooth surface pressure stress. Generally in an involute gear, however, since the limit determined by the bending stress is higher than the limit determined by the tooth surface pressure stress, it is necessary to increase the limit (named the K value) determined by the tooth surface pressure stress. In order to increase the K value, however, it is required to decrease the relative curvature between tooth surfaces at the point of engagement thereof, because the Hertz stress is affected by the relative curvature. As an example of a tooth-profile having a smaller relative curvature, there is a tooth-profile of the Wildhaver-Novikov type, but in order to use this tooth-profile for power transmitting gears, the gears must be a helical gear with a large width, since this tooth-profile is a point contact type (contact interval = 0) in which tile tooth-profiles engage with each other only at a single point thereon. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention was made from the above view point. It is an object of the present invention to provide gears wherein the relative curvature between tooth-surfaces is brought near to that of Wildhaver-Novikov type tooth-profile, its contact interval is more than one, the operating pressure angle is decreased to thereby prevent the surface pressure and the bearing stress from being increased, and the relative curvature between two tooth-surfaces is maintained at a lower level to thereby markedly increase the strength of the tooth-profile. Specifically, according to the present invention, the radius of curvature of the tooth-profile is repeatedly increased and decreased from a pitch line in the direction of addendum and dedendum of a tooth without monotonically changing as in the prior art. And, preferably at the point where the radius of curvature is minimum, the center of the radius of curvature is positioned on the pitch line. In this case, the relative curvature between tooth-profiles at this point becomes zero, but in the gears according to the present invention, a plurality of the points at which the relative curvature becomes zero periodically appear in one pitch. In these points, of course, the specific sliding is also zero. The present invention is intended to provide a complete tooth-profile obtained through many trials and errors on various tooth-profiles formerly proposed. The above object of the present invention is accomplished by providing a tooth-profile wherein the curvature of the tooth-profile curve is a function which is not monotonously varied and is continuous and capable of being differentiated, and a locus of the center of curvature forms a series of continuous curves which exist generally near a pitch circle. In this case, the center of curvature corresponding to the point of relative curvature being zero is preferably positioned on a pitch line. Also, it is preferred that a locus of the center of curvature is a series of curves which is formed by alternately connecting a small arc having its center within the pitch circle and a small arc having its center outside the pitch circle so that the arcs have a common normal line at each end thereof, and that the tooth-profile curve consists of a curve formed by connecting alternately and smoothly the involutes of said two types of small arcs. By forming the tooth-profile as described above, it is possible for the relative curvature to be brought from the involute gear value to near the value in a Wildhaver-Novikov type tooth-profile, with the ratio of contact being more than one, and for the operating pressure angle to be decreased to thereby prevent the increase in surface pressure and bearing stress, and for the relative curvature between tooth-surfaces of the gears to be maintained at a lower level than in the prior art, whereby the strength of the tooth-profile is markedly increased. The present invention can be applied not only to general external gears but also to internal gears, as well as to other gears, such as bevel gears. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is an enlarged partial view showing an embodiment of the tooth-profile of the gear according to the present invention, the tooth-profile having a small relative curvature at a point of contact thereof; Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial view of an embodiment of the tooth-profile of the opposite gear engaging with the gear shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a state of engagement of the above two gears; Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a part of the tooth-profile of a basic rack used for making the tooth-profile according to the present invention; Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the tooth-profile of the basic rack in which twenty-four points having a relative curvature of zero appear during engagement of one gear tooth of the basic rack with the opposite gear tooth; Fig. 6 is a diagram of the tooth-profile according to the present invention which is generated by the basic rack shown in Fig. 5. PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a tooth-profile curve of a gear with fifteen teeth, 2 denotes the pitch circle thereof, 3 denotes a tooth-profile curve of a gear with five teeth, and 4 denotes the pitch circle thereof. The tooth-profiles 1 and 3 of the gears according to the present invention are constructed so that their respective radii of curvature vary, repeatedly increasing and decreasing from respective pitch circles in the direction of addendum and dedendum of the teeth respectively. At the point where relative curvature is zero, the center of the radius of curvature is on the pitch circle. When the gears engage with each other in such a condition, therefore, the relative curvature of the tooth-profiles 1 and 3 becomes zero. In the gears according to the present invention, plural points at which the relative curvature of the tooth-profiles 1 and 3 becomes zero, appear cyclically in one pitch. The tooth-profile of a basic rack used to form the above-described tooth-profiles will now be explained with reference to Fig. 4. In Fig. 4 the X axis represents a pitch line, and reference numeral 5 denotes a part of the tooth-profile curve of the rack. A section C i - C of the tooth-profile curve 5 is an involute of a small arc g i - g, the center A i of curvature of the arc g i - g being at the side of the addendum, and the radius of the base circle of the arc g i - g is G i . A section C - C i+1 of the tooth-profile curve 5 is an involute of a small segmental curve g - g i+1 , the center A i+1 of curvature of the arc g - g i+1 being at the side of the dedendum, the radius of the base circle of the arc g - g i+1 being G i+1 , and the small arcs g i - g and g - g i+1 have a common normal line at point g. Accordingly, in the section C i - C, ρ gradually increases (that is, ρ i <ρ), and in the section C - C i+1 , ρ gradually decreases (that is, ρ>ρ i+1 ). In the same manner as described above, the tooth-profile curve 5 is extended toward the right and left in Fig. 4. One end point g i of the arc g i - g and one end point g i+1 of the arc g i+1 - g are on the pitch line X, and the other end points g are at an opposite side of the tooth-profile curve 5 near the pitch line X. The angles that spread from each of the centers A i , A i+1 of curvature to each of the arcs g i - g, g i+1 - g are preferably within 1 - 5 degrees and more preferably within 2 - 3 degrees. If these angles are converged to zero the resulting tooth-profile is a Wildhaver-Novikov type, and if the angles are increased the resulting tooth-profile becomes substantially the involute tooth-profile, in both cases the object of the present invention can not be achieved. In view of the above, it is noted that the gear according to the present invention is positioned midway between the involute gear and Wildhaver-Novikov type gear. When the said angle is about three degrees, the tooth-profiles as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are obtained. Since these tooth-profiles can be designed with a relatively large degree of freedom and without requiring a large pressure angle, and since the radii of curvature along the whole depth are repeatedly increased and decreased, the relative curvature at the point of contact can be reduced. An example of rack tooth-profiles thus obtained is shown in Fig. 5. In this rack tooth-profile, during one tooth engagement there are twenty four points at which the relative curvature (and also the specific sliding) becomes zero. Fig. 6 shows the tooth-profile obtained by machining with the rack shown in Fig. 5. Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it is possible to have a smaller relative curvature, to have the contact interval more than one without having too large an operating pressure angle, and to prevent the surface pressure and the bearing stress from being increased, and therefore the strength of the tooth-profile can be markedly increased. Therefore the gear according to the present invention is suitable for power-transmitting gears. In addition, the present invention is applicable also to internal gears, bevel gears etc. as well as external gears. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The gears according to the present invention can be advantageously utilized for power-transmitting gears, because the strength of the tooth-profile is greater than in the prior art.

Claims: A rack for producing a gear wherein the radius of curvature (ρ₁, ρ, ρ i+1 ) of each tooth profile (5) of the rack is repeatedly increased and decreased from the pitch line (X) in the direction of addendum and dedendum, characterized in that each tooth profile comprises a series of curves (Ci, C, Ci + 1) formed as involute curves from further curves (gi, g, gi+1) located near the pitch line (X) and that said further curves (gi, g, gi+1) comprise adjacent arcs having a common tangent and having their centres of curvature (A i , A i+1 ) alternatively inside and outside the pitch line (X). A rack as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said further curves (g i , g i+1 ) have angles of less than 5°. A rack as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said further curves (g i , g i+1 ) have angles of within 1 to 5°. A rack as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 3 wherein said further curves (g i , g i+1 ) have angles of less than 3°. A rack as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein said further curves are arcs (g i , g i+1 ). A rack as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5 wherein centres of curvature (g₁, g i+1 ) of the tooth profile corresponding to minima (ρ i , ρ i+1 ) in the radius of curvature of the tooth profile are nearer to the pitch line X of the gear than to its tip circle and root circle. A rack as claimed in Claim 6 wherein said centres of curvature (g i , g i+1 ) corresponding to said minima (ρ i , ρ i+1 ) lie on said pitch line X. A gear produced by a rack, characterised in that the tooth profile of the gear is shaped by the rack as claimed in any preceding Claim. A gear train comprising two intermeshing gears as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the relative curvature of the mutually engaging tooth profiles (1, 3) is zero at a plurality of points in one pitch.

Inventors: KYOIKU HAGURUMA KOGYO KABUSHIK, NAGATA SHIGEYOSHI, KYOIKU HAGURUMA KOGYO KABUSHIKI-KAISHA, NAGATA, SHIGEYOSHI
Applicants: KYOIKU HAGURUMA KOGYO KABUSHIK, NAGATA SHIGEYOSHI, KYOIKU HAGURUMA KOGYO KABUSHIKI-KAISHA, NAGATA, SHIGEYOSHI
Application year: 1986
Main classification: F16H55
IPC codes: F16H55