Power Transmission

Belt, Chain, and Gear Drives

Belt drives
The assembly of one or more belt(s) with pulleys that
transmit mechanical power

Driven
Unit
• Flat belt drives
• V-belt drives
• Synchronous belt drives

Drive
Motor
 Flat belt drives
For a long time, flat belt drives where the
sole type of belt drives available

Friction drive since it transmits power

between the belt and pulleys via friction

Tension; Without proper tension, the belt

slips and the belt drive cannot transmit
power efficiently

Material: leather and later rubber

(high friction required)
Flat belt drives
Leather belts are characterized by their thickness

Thin belts tend to wear rapidly on heavy application

The belt must be installed with the flesh side (Rough) outside
to prevent premature wear

Always calculate the speed at which the belt will move.

Leather Belt limit; 26.8 m/s or 5280 ft/min
Flat belt drives
Alignment of the pulleys; If the pulleys are misaligned, the belt
experience excessive wear or roll out of the pulley
Flat belt drives
 V-belt drives
The drive transmits power via the
wedging action of the belt tapered sides

Greater contact surface area than flat

belts for the same belt width

Material: Rubber with embedded fibers

(Increased load carrying capacity)
V-belt drives
V-belts transmit action via their tapered sides, the shape of the
pulley groove and how the belt fits into this groove is important

Incorrect Position: Excessive Wear, Belt Failure

V-belt drives
Classical/Standard V-belts come in five sizes identified by a letter
from A to E

Some other types of v-belt profiles

V-belt drives
V-belt sizes are standardized;
Dimensions & designation of a V-belt can be determined using
sheave gauge
V-belt drives
 Synchronous belt drives
Flat belts and V-belt drives rely on friction
Disadvantage; slippage

Slippage results in power loss & loss of

timing between two pulleys/sheaves

Positive belt drives; synchronous belt

drives, rely on the positive engagement of
the belt teeth with the pulley grooves

The pulley and belt "lock“ together, which

prevents slippage and preserves timing
Timing belts
Standardized characteristics

Identification number which looks somewhat like 900H300

First number is the length of the belt with decimal separator
900 represents 90.0 in.

Letter is a code that corresponds to a belt

pitch.

Last number is the width of the belt

300 represents a belt width of 3.00 in.

Timing belts
 Chain drives
Chain drives are positive drives

• Do not slip
• Maintain a constant speed ratio
Sprockets are used in place of pulleys
Belt is replaced with a chain

• Chains are sturdier than belts

• Less frictional losses
• Wear less rapidly than Timing belts

• Require frequent lubrication

• Noisy & Heavier
• Cannot provide damping
 Roller Chain
• Most common in the industry
• Roller makes contact with a sprocket tooth, it rolls, hence reduce
friction

Roller chains are sold in

standard lengths

Chain links can be broken

using a chain breaker
 Roller Chain
Chains have their own system of identification numbers i.e.
50H-3

First digit represents the pitch in eighths of an inch.

5 represents a pitch of 5/8 in.
Second digit;
• 0 for a standard roller chain
• 5 for a rollerless chain.
The Letter H indicates a heavy-duty chain

If the chain is a multiple-strand chain, a

dash with the number of strains follows the
letter
Sprockets Misalignment
 Gear drives
Gear drives transmit mechanical power via the meshing action of
gears fixed on two close shafts.

• Gears can an change both the

orientation and speed of a rotary motion

• Efficient power transmission without

slippage

• Greater reliability and service life

High cost and lubrication requirements limit their use

Gear Types
• Spur Gear
• Helical Gear
• Bevel Gear
• Worm Gear
 Spur Gear
Teeth are straight and parallel to the
center bore line

Run on Parallel Shafts

Smaller gear is often referred as Pinion

 Helical Gear Helix

Similar to spur gears except that the

teeth arc cut at an angle to the
centerline.

Principal advantage; quiet, smooth

action (sliding contact)

Disadvantage; higher friction and wear

 Bevel Gear
Shape of a spur gear is essentially a
cylinder, while the shape of a bevel
gear is a cone.

Bevel gears transmit motion between

angular or intersecting shafts

Special bevel gears can be

manufactured to operate at any
desired shaft angle

Shaft Angle
 Worm Gear
Worm and Worm Gear are used to
transmit motion and power when a
high-ratio speed reduction is required

Steady quiet transmission of power

between shafts at right angles

The worm is always the driver and the

worm gear the driven member.
 Herringbone Gear
Consists simply of two sets of gear
teeth, one right-hand and one left-
hand, on the same gear

Overcomes the disadvantage of the

high end thrust present in helical gears
 Gear drives
Pitch circles:
Imaginary circles that are in
contact when two standard gears
are in correct mesh.

Pitch Diameter:
Diameter of pitch circle
 Gear drives
Circular Pitch

Circular pitch:
Length of the arc between
corresponding points on adjacent
teeth measured along the pitch
circle
Pressure
angle
Pressure angle: Direction of tooth to
tooth push
The angle between the line of action
and a line tangent to the pitch circle.
Pressure
20 or 14 angle

Rotation
Line of
action
Gear Train
Gear Boxes
lf the gear train is enclosed in a housing, it is called a gearbox
Questions ?