Also called an epicyclic gear, a planetary gear is a system containing one or more outer (planet) gears that revolve a central (sun) gear. The outer gears are mounted onto a carrier (moveable arm) that rotates in a manner that’s relative to the sun gear. There are two types of planetary gears: simple and compound. The simple gear has one sun with a single ring, a single set of planets and one carrier – one example would be a manual pencil sharpener that uses a crank. Compound gears have a meshed-planet, stepped-planet or multi-stage structure – for example, bicycle gears….
5 Great Tips for Working with Gearmotors
Whether you’re using a traditional model or a gearmotor with encoder, using it the right way will help extend its life and give you better results. The next time you work with a gearmotor, keep the following in mind: 1. Determine the required torque. When working with a gearmotor, including a reversible gearmotor, it’s important to consider the running and starting torque separately because the gearing and starting characteristics can differ. When determining the torque, the most important factors include the amount of work the gearmotor can do and its speed. 2. Consider an AC motor for optimal performance. When…
