Herringbone Gears with Gear Milling and Hobbing for Material Handling Equipment

1.Structural Characteristics of Herringbone Gear

Herringbone gears consist of two helical gears with opposing spiral directions arranged side-by-side. Their tooth profile forms a ‘V’ shape,

with no clearance between the left and right spirals. Viewed from the end face, the tooth profile curve resembles a fishbone pattern.

2.Advantages of Herringbone Gear

• High load capacity: The unique tooth profile design enables more even load distribution across the teeth. With relatively longer tooth length, these gears can transmit high torque, making them suitable for heavy-duty applications.
• Low Vibration and Noise: Symmetrical design counteracts axial thrust, resulting in smoother gear operation. This reduces vibration and noise, enhancing equipment stability and operational comfort.
• High Contact Ratio: Typically achieves greater overlap than spur gears, ensuring more teeth are in contact at any given moment. This guarantees more uniform load distribution and minimises the risk of tooth failure.
• Superior lubrication performance: The double-helical design promotes enhanced oil flow, ensuring effective lubrication between mating surfaces and reducing the likelihood of premature wear or damage.
• High misalignment tolerance: The symmetrical tooth arrangement helps compensate for minor misalignment, ensuring smooth gear meshing and preventing premature wear.

3.Applications of Herringbone Gear

• Automotive Industry: Frequently employed in automotive transmissions to deliver smooth, precise gear changes. Also utilised in differentials to transmit torque from the engine to the wheels, enabling seamless cornering.
• Aerospace Industry: Functions within aircraft engines, helicopter gearboxes, and landing gear systems, delivering the requisite strength and load-bearing capacity for these high-reliability applications. Ensures stable operation of rotor systems and other critical components.
• Precision Machinery: Widely employed in machine tools and robotics, guaranteeing high-precision motion control and positioning. Its unique tooth design helps eliminate backlash, ensuring accurate movement.
• Power Generation: Efficiently transmits power within wind turbines, hydroelectric generators and other power generation equipment, withstanding heavy loads while delivering reliable power transfer.
• Industrial Machinery: Employed in rolling mills, extruders, heavy-duty conveyors and similar industrial equipment, handling substantial loads with precise motion control to guarantee efficient manufacturing processes.