Standard Gear Units

Abstract

To solve a problem of transmission it is possible to design a special gear unit as follows. Its study can be prolonged or rapid. In the first case the result is a good product characterized, however, by exorbitant production costs. In the second there could also be some problems during operation as the solution has been adopted in a too hurried way; the different possibilities may not have been considered; no improvements of any kind might have been studied or the improvements predicted have been applied in too hurried a way. The production costs of a gear unit, whose particular dimensions are linked to its future application, are extremely high; in fact in mass-production it is not possible either to consider the dampening factor of the material or to adopt better solutions, as it is necessary, for example, to use welded housings instead of cast-iron housings, which are usually considered preferable. So it is possible to produce a special gear unit for each specific application if such application cannot be solved by means of other methods owing to reasons of specificity or particular dimensions. If there are no problems of price, it will be possible to start the production, which is extremely difficult, of the particular gear unit. Gear units for the motor-car industry (gear boxes and transmission axles) are mass-produced and have a particular design. These transmissions always have a particular solution to specific the type of automobile, even if automobiles are mass-produced and consequently their costs are amortized.