////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Public Domain Parametric Involute Spur Gear (and involute helical gear and involute rack) // version 1.1 // by Leemon Baird, 2011, Leemon@Leemon.com // http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5505 // Tweaked, and improved by Revar Desmera, 2017-2019, revarbat@gmail.com // // This file is public domain. Use it for any purpose, including commercial // applications. Attribution would be nice, but is not required. There is // no warranty of any kind, including its correctness, usefulness, or safety. // // This is parameterized involute spur (or helical) gear. It is much simpler and less powerful than // others on Thingiverse. But it is public domain. I implemented it from scratch from the // descriptions and equations on Wikipedia and the web, using Mathematica for calculations and testing, // and I now release it into the public domain. // // http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Involute_gear // http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear // http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gear_nomenclature // http://gtrebaol.free.fr/doc/catia/spur_gear.html // http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rapidproto/mechanisms/chpt7.html // // The module gear() gives an involute spur gear, with reasonable defaults for all the parameters. // Normally, you should just choose the first 4 parameters, and let the rest be default values. // The module gear() gives a gear in the XY plane, centered on the origin, with one tooth centered on // the positive Y axis. The various functions below it take the same parameters, and return various // measurements for the gear. The most important is pitch_radius, which tells how far apart to space // gears that are meshing, and adendum_radius, which gives the size of the region filled by the gear. // A gear has a "pitch circle", which is an invisible circle that cuts through the middle of each // tooth (though not the exact center). In order for two gears to mesh, their pitch circles should // just touch. So the distance between their centers should be pitch_radius() for one, plus pitch_radius() // for the other, which gives the radii of their pitch circles. // // In order for two gears to mesh, they must have the same mm_per_tooth and pressure_angle parameters. // mm_per_tooth gives the number of millimeters of arc around the pitch circle covered by one tooth and one // space between teeth. The pitch angle controls how flat or bulged the sides of the teeth are. Common // values include 14.5 degrees and 20 degrees, and occasionally 25. Though I've seen 28 recommended for // plastic gears. Larger numbers bulge out more, giving stronger teeth, so 28 degrees is the default here. // // The ratio of number_of_teeth for two meshing gears gives how many times one will make a full // revolution when the the other makes one full revolution. If the two numbers are coprime (i.e. // are not both divisible by the same number greater than 1), then every tooth on one gear // will meet every tooth on the other, for more even wear. So coprime numbers of teeth are good. // // The module rack() gives a rack, which is a bar with teeth. A rack can mesh with any // gear that has the same mm_per_tooth and pressure_angle. // // Some terminology: // The outline of a gear is a smooth circle (the "pitch circle") which has mountains and valleys // added so it is toothed. So there is an inner circle (the "root circle") that touches the // base of all the teeth, an outer circle that touches the tips of all the teeth, // and the invisible pitch circle in between them. There is also a "base circle", which can be smaller than // all three of the others, which controls the shape of the teeth. The side of each tooth lies on the path // that the end of a string would follow if it were wrapped tightly around the base circle, then slowly unwound. // That shape is an "involute", which gives this type of gear its name. // ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //gear_tooth_profile(mm_per_tooth=5, number_of_teeth=20, pressure_angle=20); module gear_tooth_profile( mm_per_tooth = 3, //this is the "circular pitch", the circumference of the pitch circle divided by the number of teeth number_of_teeth = 11, //total number of teeth around the entire perimeter pressure_angle = 28, //Controls how straight or bulged the tooth sides are. In degrees. clearance = 0.0, //gap between top of a tooth on one gear and bottom of valley on a meshing gear (in millimeters) backlash = 0.0, //gap between two meshing teeth, in the direction along the circumference of the pitch circle bevelang = 0.0 ) { p = mm_per_tooth * number_of_teeth / PI / 2; //radius of pitch circle c = p + mm_per_tooth / PI - clearance; //radius of outer circle b = p*cos(pressure_angle); //radius of base circle r = p-(c-p)-clearance; //radius of root circle t = mm_per_tooth/2-backlash/2; //tooth thickness at pitch circle k = -iang(b, p) - t/2/p/PI*180; //angle to where involute meets base circle on each side of tooth scale([1, 1/cos(bevelang), 1]) translate([0,-r,0]) polygon( points=[ polar(r-1, -181/number_of_teeth), polar(r, -181/number_of_teeth), polar(r, r 0) { cylinder(h=2*thickness+1, r=hole_diameter/2, center=true); } if (bevelang != 0) { h = (c-r)*sin(bevelang); translate([0,0,-thickness/2]) { difference() { cube([2*c/cos(bevelang),2*c/cos(bevelang),2*h], center=true); cylinder(h=h, r1=r, r2=c, center=false); } } } } } //these 4 functions are used by gear function polar(r,theta) = r*[sin(theta), cos(theta)]; //convert polar to cartesian coordinates function iang(r1,r2) = sqrt((r2/r1)*(r2/r1) - 1)/PI*180 - acos(r1/r2); //unwind a string this many degrees to go from radius r1 to radius r2 function q7(f,r,b,r2,t,s) = q6(b,s,t,(1-f)*max(b,r)+f*r2); //radius a fraction f up the curved side of the tooth function q6(b,s,t,d) = polar(d,s*(iang(b,d)+t)); //point at radius d on the involute curve // Creates a rack, which is a straight line with teeth. // The same as a segment of teeth from an infinite diameter gear. // The "pitch circle" is a line along the X axis. // mm_per_tooth = This is the "circular pitch", the circumference of the pitch circle divided by the number of teeth // number_of_teeth = Total number of teeth along the rack // thickness = Thickness of rack in mm (affects each tooth) // height = Height of rack in mm, from tooth top to back of rack. // pressure_angle = Controls how straight or bulged the tooth sides are. In degrees. // backlash = Gap between two meshing teeth, in the direction along the circumference of the pitch circle // Example: // rack(mm_per_tooth=5, number_of_teeth=30, thickness=5, height=5, pressure_angle=20); module rack ( mm_per_tooth = 5, //this is the "circular pitch", the circumference of the pitch circle divided by the number of teeth number_of_teeth = 20, //total number of teeth along the rack thickness = 5, //thickness of rack in mm (affects each tooth) height = 10, //height of rack in mm, from tooth top to back of rack. pressure_angle = 28, //Controls how straight or bulged the tooth sides are. In degrees. backlash = 0.0 //gap between two meshing teeth, in the direction along the circumference of the pitch circle ) { a = adendum(mm_per_tooth); d = dedendum(mm_per_tooth); xa = a * sin(pressure_angle); xd = d * sin(pressure_angle); linear_extrude(height = thickness, center = true, convexity = 10) for (i = [0:number_of_teeth-1] ) translate([i*mm_per_tooth,0,0]) polygon( points=[ [-1/2 * mm_per_tooth - 0.01, a-height], [-1/2 * mm_per_tooth, -d], [-1/4 * mm_per_tooth + backlash - xd, -d], [-1/4 * mm_per_tooth + backlash + xa, a], [ 1/4 * mm_per_tooth - backlash - xa, a], [ 1/4 * mm_per_tooth - backlash + xd, -d], [ 1/2 * mm_per_tooth, -d], [ 1/2 * mm_per_tooth + 0.01, a-height], ], paths=[[0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7]] ); } //These 5 functions let the user find the derived dimensions of the gear. //A gear fits within a circle of radius outer_radius, and two gears should have //their centers separated by the sum of their pictch_radius. function circular_pitch (mm_per_tooth=5) = mm_per_tooth; //tooth density expressed as "circular pitch" in millimeters function diametral_pitch (mm_per_tooth=5) = PI / mm_per_tooth; //tooth density expressed as "diametral pitch" in teeth per millimeter function adendum (mm_per_tooth=5) = module_value(mm_per_tooth); function dedendum (mm_per_tooth=5) = 1.25 * module_value(mm_per_tooth); function module_value (mm_per_tooth=5) = mm_per_tooth / PI; //tooth density expressed as "module" or "modulus" in millimeters function pitch_radius (mm_per_tooth=5,number_of_teeth=11) = mm_per_tooth * number_of_teeth / PI / 2; function outer_radius (mm_per_tooth=5,number_of_teeth=11,clearance=0.1) //The gear fits entirely within a cylinder of this radius. = mm_per_tooth*(1+number_of_teeth/2)/PI - clearance; ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //example gear train. //Try it with OpenSCAD View/Animate command with 20 steps and 24 FPS. //The gears will continue to be rotated to mesh correctly if you change the number of teeth. /* n1 = 11; //red gear number of teeth n2 = 20; //green gear n3 = 5; //blue gear n4 = 20; //orange gear n5 = 8; //gray rack mm_per_tooth = 9; //all meshing gears need the same mm_per_tooth (and the same pressure_angle) thickness = 6; hole = 3; height = 12; d1 =pitch_radius(mm_per_tooth,n1); d12=pitch_radius(mm_per_tooth,n1) + pitch_radius(mm_per_tooth,n2); d13=pitch_radius(mm_per_tooth,n1) + pitch_radius(mm_per_tooth,n3); d14=pitch_radius(mm_per_tooth,n1) + pitch_radius(mm_per_tooth,n4); translate([ 0, 0, 0]) rotate([0,0, $t*360/n1]) color([1.00,0.75,0.75]) gear(mm_per_tooth,n1,thickness,hole); translate([ 0, d12, 0]) rotate([0,0,-($t+n2/2-0*n1+1/2)*360/n2]) color([0.75,1.00,0.75]) gear(mm_per_tooth,n2,thickness,hole,0); translate([ d13, 0, 0]) rotate([0,0,-($t-n3/4+n1/4+1/2)*360/n3]) color([0.75,0.75,1.00]) gear(mm_per_tooth,n3,thickness,hole); translate([ d13, 0, 0]) rotate([0,0,-($t-n3/4+n1/4+1/2)*360/n3]) color([0.75,0.75,1.00]) gear(mm_per_tooth,n3,thickness,hole); translate([-d14, 0, 0]) rotate([0,0,-($t-n4/4-n1/4+1/2-floor(n4/4)-3)*360/n4]) color([1.00,0.75,0.50]) gear(mm_per_tooth,n4,thickness,hole,0,n4-3); translate([(-floor(n5/2)-floor(n1/2)+$t+n1/2-1/2)*9, -d1+0.0, 0]) rotate([0,0,0]) color([0.75,0.75,0.75]) rack(mm_per_tooth,n5,thickness,height); */ // vim: noexpandtab tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4 nowrap