Giorgio Figliolini

DiMSAT,
University of Cassino, G. Di Biasio 43,
03043 Cassino (Fr), ITALY
e-mail: figliolini@unicas.it
Jorge Angeles
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering & CIM,
McGill University, 817 Sherbrooke St.,
Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, CANADA
e-mail: angeles@cim.mcgill.ca
The Synthesis of Elliptical Gears
Generated by Shaper-Cutters
The synthesis of elliptical gears is formulated using envelope theory by means of a
suitable shaper-cutter with involute tooth prole. A general algorithm producing the pitch
curves of elliptical gears and their rack with any number of lobes is proposed. Evolutes of
pitch curves can be also obtained in order to choose a suitable shaper-cutter, even for
pitch curves with concave-convex proles. The complete synthesis of both meshing ellip-
tical gears and their rack is reported, several graphical results being shown for design
and analysis purposes. Computer animations are also available.
DOI: 10.1115/1.1631573
Introduction
Elliptical gears can be used to obtain arbitrary motions without
full stop in automatic machinery, printing presses, winding ma-
chines, packaging machines, pumps, ow meters and instruments,
as described in 13. Moreover, a steering mechanism using non-
circular gears was proposed and analyzed by Emura and Arakawa
4. Noncircular gears were designed by Dooner 5 for reducing
undesirable torque and speed uctuations that may occur in rotat-
ing shafts. Basic elliptical gears can mesh properly only when
they are twins and rotate about their focal points. However,
N-lobed elliptical gears can be generated from a basic ellipse,
thereby increasing the number of speed cycles per revolution.
In addition, N-lobed elliptical gears are well balanced because
they rotate about their geometric center 68. Elliptical gears are
generally more expensive than linkages and cams, but more com-
pact and better balanced. However, they have not found the broad
acceptance of their circular counterparts 913. Current CNC
machine tools allow a proper and accurate manufacturing of ellip-
tical gears for several applications, although suitable algorithms
and their implementing software are needed for this purpose. The
teeth of elliptical gears can be manufactured by rack-cutters and
shaper-cutters, but also by hobbing, milling and wire EDM
Electrical-Discharge-Machining. However, rack-cutters and
hobbing-cutters are not suitable for generating concave-convex
N-lobed elliptical gears, while the milling-cutters can give errors
because of the variation of the tooth prole along the pitch curve
and wire EDM does not ensure an accurate manufacturing of the
tooth ank 1418.
In addition, arbitrary motion between intersecting or skew axes
can be produced by noncircular gears or pure-rolling cams 19
22.
In this paper, the synthesis of N-lobed elliptical gears and their
rack is formulated by means of a conjugate shaper-cutter with
involute tooth prole. Previous results obtained by using the
shaper-cutter method are extended to synthesize any pair of spur
elliptical gears and their rack. Moreover, the evolutes of pitch
curves allow a suitable choice of the shaper-cutter, even for
concave-convex pitch curves. This means that multiple contact
points between the pitch circle of the shaper-cutter and the pitch
curve of the gear to generate can be avoided. Therefore, an algo-
rithm is formulated and several graphical results are shown for
design and analysis purposes. Computer animations are also sup-
ported by the proposed algorithm.
For the optimum design of elliptical gear trains, we should
dene performance indices; those pertaining to the geometry of
the train are: pressure angle, maximum curvature and size. A pair
of elliptical gears which is synthesized for a value of the pressure
angle that leads to undercutting is also reported. However, this
paper leaves the issues of the optimization and undercutting aside,
since they lie beyond the scope of the paper.
Pitch Curves of Gears and Their Rack
The synthesis of elliptical gears and their rack is formulated
considering rst of all the corresponding pitch curves, which rep-
resent the moving centrodes for the relative motion between gears
or between pinion and rack. These pitch curves are expressed in a
general way, referring to the minimum and maximum radii of the
lobes, i.e. leaving aside the common formulation which makes use
of a basic ellipse. We have chosen to refer to the lobes in order to
stay away from the common term high-order elliptical gears,
which can be misunderstood because high-order ellipses do not
look like N-lobed pitch curves.
Thus, a kinematic scheme for a pair of elliptical gears and their
rack is shown in Fig. 1. Pinion 1, rotating around O
1
, gear 2,
rotating around O
2
, and the rack 3, translating along the Y-axis,
are represented through their pitch curves P
1
, P
2
and P
3
, re-
spectively. A xed frame OXY is assumed with origin O coinci-
dent with O
1
and the X-axis passing through O
1
and O
2
.
Moving frames O
1
X
1
Y
1
, O
2
X
2
Y
2
and O
3
X
3
Y
3
are assumed to
be xed to pinion 1, gear 2 and rack 3, respectively. When pinion
1 rotates through an angle
1
, O
2
X
2
Y
2
rotates through an angle

2
and O
3
X
3
Y
3
translates through Y
r
* along the Y-axis, because
of the pure-rolling contact among P
1
, P
2
and P
3
that occurs at
the common instant center I. Notice that these instant centers of
the three bodies in relative motion coincide at I, which is the
common contact point as well.
Points P
1
, P
2
and P
3
of P
1
, P
2
and P
3
, respectively, be-
come coincident at I because of a rotation (
1

1
) of the pinion
1, as shown in Fig. 1. The pitch curve P
i
of pinion 1 and gear 2,
for i1, 2, can be expressed in homogeneous coordinates in
frame O
i
Y
i
Y
i
by means of vector r
i
as
r
i
O
i
P
i
cos
i
sin
i
1
T
(1)
where angle
i
has been chosen according to the relative motion
of each gear. Moreover,
O
i
P
i

2 i1cr
A
i1cr
B

2 i1c r
A
r
B
r
A
r
B
cosn
i

i
n
i
i1
(2)
where r
A
and r
B
are the maximum and minimum pitch radii, n
i
indicates the number of lobes of the pinion 1 and gear 2 for
i1, 2, respectively, while c is the center distance. Moreover, the
upper sign of the denominator of Eq. 2 applies to i1, while the
lower sign to i2. The center distance c and angle
2
of Fig. 1
take the forms
Contributed by the Reliability Stress Analysis and Failure Prevention Committee
for publication in the JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN. Manuscript received
May 2002; rev. April 2003. Associate Editor: J. C. Moosbrugger.
Copyright 2003 by ASME Journal of Mechanical Design DECEMBER 2003, Vol. 125 793
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c
1
2

r
A
r
B
r
A
r
B

2
4r
A
r
B
1
n
2
2
n
1
2

(3)

2r
A
r
B
n
1
r
A
r
B
cr
A
cr
B

tan
1

r
A
cr
B

r
A
r
B
cr
A
cr
B

tan
n
1

1
2

(4)
As shown by Eqs. 2 and 3, r
A
and r
B
take the same values for
the pinion and gear respectively, only for a pair of pitch curves
with the same number of lobes. The position vectors r
i0
of a point
on P
i
in frame OXY can be expressed by
r
i0
M
i
r
i
(5)
where the homogeneous transformation matrix M
i
, for i1, 2, is
given by
M
i

cos
i
sin
i
i1c
sin
i
cos
i
0
0 0 1

(6)
Angle
2
of the above equation is obtained from Eq. 4 by setting

1
.
The pitch curve P
3
of the rack can be expressed in homoge-
neous coordinates in frame O
3
X
3
Y
3
by vector r
3
as
r
3
O
i
P
i
Y
r
1
T
(7)
where O
i
P
i
is given by Eq. 2 for i1 and Y
r
by
Y
r
2
r
A
r
B
n
1
tan
1

r
A
r
B
tan
n
1

1
2
(8)
In particular, for
1
2, we have
Y
r
1
2
2r
A
r
B
(9)
which means that the rack performs the same translation for a full
rotation of the pinion 1 with any number of lobes n
1
and for
assigned pitch radii r
A
and r
B
. The position vector r
30
of points
on P
3
in frame OXY is given by Eq. 5 for i3, where the
homogeneous transformation matrix M
3
is given by
M
3

1 0 0
0 1 Y
r
*
0 0 1

(10)
The term Y
r
* , that is obtained from Eq. 8 for
1

1
, represents
the rigid translation of the rack because of the counterclockwise
rotation
1
of the pinion.
Evolutes of Elliptical Pitch Curves
The involute prole of the gear tooth depends mainly on the
shape of the pitch curve, which can be convex as for gears, con-
cave, as for internal gears, straight, or with inection points, as for
racks. The synthesis of elliptical gears is formulated by taking into
account the shape of the pitch curves through the determination of
their evolute curves and the formulation of a convexity condition.
This analysis will be useful in the ensuing discussion in order to
choose a suitable shaper-cutter for synthesizing N-lobed elliptical
gears.
Referring to Fig. 2a, the evolute curve of the pitch curve P
1
can be expressed in frame O
1
X
1
Y
1
by means of vector s
1
as
s
1
r
1

1
n
1
(11)
where vector r
1
of the pitch curve P
1
is given by Eq. 1 for
i1, its radius of curvature
1
being given by

2r
A
r
B
r
AB
d cos n
1

2
dn
1
sin n
1

3/2
r
AB
d cos n
1

3
r
AB
d cos n
1

1
dn
1
2
cos n
1

(12)
where r
AB
r
A
r
B
and dr
A
r
B
. The unit normal vector n
1
,
Eq. 11, of P
1
is given by n
1

1
k
1
, where the tangent unit
vector
1
is given by

dr
1
d
1

dr
1
d
1
(13)
and k
1
is the unit vector of the Z
1
-axis.
Likewise for the evolute curve of P
2
, the expression for the
radius of curvature
3
of P
3
of the rack takes the form

2r
A
r
B
r
AB
d cos n
1

2
dn
1
sin n
1

3/2
r
AB
d cos n
1

2
d
2
n
1
2
r
AB
dn
1
2
cos n
1

(14)
The above expression can be used for obtaining its evolute curve
as shown in Figs. 2d and 3d. Moreover, the minimum radii of
curvature for the concave proles of the elliptical pitch curves are
important design parameters because they are used to detect un-
dercutting, multiple contact points, and concavities. Using Eq.
12, the minimum radius of curvature
1m
for the concave prole
of P
1
can be expressed by

1m

2r
A
r
B
n
1
2
r
A
r
B
2r
A
(15)
which is positive when the correspondent center of curvature lies
outside the gear pitch curve; otherwise,
1m
is negative. By the
same token, is negative when the center of curvature is on the
same side of the gear center with respect to the pitch curve. A
concave prole involves 0 and a convex prole 0, while the
convexity condition of the elliptical pitch curve of gears is given
by
r
B
r
A
12/n
1
2
(16)
Likewise, the minimum radius of curvature
3m
for both concave
and convex proles of P
3
of the rack is given by

3m

2r
A
r
B
n
1
2
r
A
r
B

(17)
Equations 15 and 17 for r
A
r
B
r give
1m
r and

3m
, that correspond to a pair of circular and straight pitch
curves.
Fig. 1 Pitch curves of the elliptical gears and their rack
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Therefore, the proposed algorithm allows the designer to deter-
mine the evolute curves of the pitch curves P
i
of gears and their
rack through Eqs. 11 to 14, as per the graphical results shown
in Figs. 2 and 3. Referring to the convexity condition of Eq. 16,
Figs. 2 and 3 show the pitch curves and their evolute curves for
r
A
200 mm, n
1
2 and n
1
3, respectively. Figures 2a and
2b show convex proles of the pitch curves for r
B
150 and 100
mm, respectively, while Fig. 2c shows a concave prole for r
B
50 mm that gives
1m
100 mm by virtue of Eq. 15. Likewise,
Figs. 3a and 3b show convex proles for r
B
180 and 155.55
mm, while Fig. 3c shows a concave prole for r
B
100 mm that
gives
1m
80 mm by virtue of Eq. 15. Moreover, Figs. 2c and
3c show inection points of the pitch curves that give innite
points of the evolute curves, with the limit condition r
B
r
A
(1
Fig. 2 Pitch curves and their evolute for r
A
200 mm and
n
1
2: a convex prole for r
B
150 mm; b convex prole for
r
B
100 mm; c concave prole for r
B
50 mm and n
1
2; d
rack for the same parameters as c
Fig. 3 Pitch curves and their evolute for r
A
200 mm and
n
1
3: a convex prole for r
B
180 mm; b convex prole for
r
B
155.55 mm; c concave prole for r
B
100 mm and n
1
3;
d rack for the same parameters as c
Journal of Mechanical Design DECEMBER 2003, Vol. 125 795
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2/n
1
2
) of convexity has been imposed to obtain Figs. 2b and
3b. Figure 2d shows the pitch curve of the rack for n
1
2,
r
A
200 mm and r
B
50 mm, as in Fig. 2c, while Fig. 3d was
obtained for n
1
3, r
A
200 mm and r
B
100 mm, as in Fig. 3c.
According to Eq. 9, the rack length for a full rotation of the
pinion is equal to 628.32 mm and 888.58 mm, as shown in Figs.
2d and 3d, respectively.
Moreover, using Eq. 17, we obtain
3m
33.33 mm for the
pitch curve of Fig. 2d and
3m
44.44 mm for the pitch curve of
Fig. 3d. Pitch curves and their evolute for r
A
200 mm and
n
1
2 yield: a a convex prole for r
B
150 mm; b a convex
prole for r
B
100 mm; c a concave prole for r
B
50 mm and
n
1
2; and d a rack for the same parameters as c, as shown in
Fig. 2. Pitch curves and their evolute for r
A
200 mm and
n
1
3 yield, in turn: a a convex prole for r
B
180 mm; b a
convex prole for r
B
155.55 mm; c a concave prole for
r
B
100 mm and n
1
3; and d a rack for the same parameters as
c, as shown in Fig. 3.
Synthesis of the Shaper-Cutter
The synthesis of elliptical gears and their rack is formulated
using the generating method by means of a shaper-cutter, accord-
ing to the procedure proposed by Chang and Tsay 14,15. These
researchers proposed a method based on the inverse mechanism
relation and the equation of meshing, which allows the complete
generation of elliptical gears by means of a shaper-cutter with
involute teeth.
In the present paper, this method has been applied to generate
an elliptical pinion and extended to synthesize any pair of N-lobed
elliptical gears and their rack, even for visualizing and analyzing
their engagement through computer animations of their motion.
Moreover, the proposed analysis about evolute curves allows a
choice of the shaper-cutter by avoiding any multiple contact
points between the pitch circle of the shaper-cutter and the ellip-
tical pitch curve of the pinion or gear to generate.
Thus, referring to Fig. 4, the geometric model of the shaper-
cutter is formulated dening the homogeneous position vectors
r
j S
, for j 1,2, . . . 6, of points in the six regions in which the
tooth prole can be divided. These regions are identied in Fig. 4
with numbers inside parentheses. Tip radii at points A and B of
Fig. 4 and backlash are not considered, but the straight regions 5
and 6 are taken into account. The frame O
S
X
S
Y
S
, that is xed to
the shaper-cutter, is chosen conveniently, the formulation of each
position vector r
j S
being described below for the corresponding
region of the shaper-cutter tooth prole:
Regions 1 and 2 of the shaper-cutter tooth prole
The position vector r
1S
of points on the involute prole 1 of the
tooth in frame O
S
X
S
Y
S
is given by
r
1S
r
b
sin r
b
cos r
b
cos r
b
sin 1
T
(18)
where r
b
is the radius of the shaper-cutter base circle and angle
is measured with respect to the Y
S
-axis, as shown in Fig. 4. Angle
varies within the range 0,
M
, where the maximum value
M
is
given by

r
0
r
b

2
1 (19)
and r
0
is the outside radius of the shaper-cutter.
The position vector r
1S
of Eq. 18 can be also expressed in
frame O
C
X
C
Y
C
, where it is named r
1C
, by means of a suitable
transformation of coordinates from O
S
X
S
Y
S
to O
C
X
C
Y
C
. Thus, a
general position vector r
j S
, for j 1,2, . . . 6, of regions 1 to 6 of
the shaper-cutter tooth prole can be conveniently expressed in
frame O
C
X
C
Y
C
by means of the vector r
j C
in the form
r
j C
M
SC
r
j S
(20)
where M
SC
is a homogeneous transformation matrix, namely
M
SC

sin cos 0
cos sin 0
0 0 1

(21)
Angle is obtained, in turn, as

2N
S
inv (22)
where N
S
is the number of teeth of the shaper-cutter, while the
involute function at the intersection of the involute prole with the
pitch circle is given by
inv tan (23)
with dened as the pressure angle. This angle is constant, since
the shaper-cutter is a circular spur gear with involute tooth prole,
but the effective pressure angle between the teeth of the elliptical
gears is not constant, neither considering the contact point coinci-
dent with the instant center of rotation I.
In particular, the position vector r
1C
of points on the involute
prole 1 of the tooth in frame O
C
X
C
Y
C
takes the form
r
1C
r
b
cos r
b
sin , r
b
sin r
b
cos
,1
T
(24)
where is given by Eq. 22 and in agreement with Eq. 20.
Likewise, r
2C
is obtained as
r
2C
r
b
cos r
b
sin , r
b
sin
r
b
cos ,1
T
(25)
because of the symmetry between the regions 1 and 2 with respect
to the X
C
-axis, as shown in Fig. 4.
Regions 3 and 4 of the shaper-cutter tooth prole
The position vector r
3S
of points of the outside prole 3 of the
tooth in frame O
S
X
S
Y
S
is given by
r
3S
r
0
sin r
0
cos 1
T
(26)
where angle is measured with respect to the Y
S
-axis and varies
within the range
m
,
M
, as shown in Fig. 4. The minimum
angle
m
and the maximum angle
M
can be expressed as

M
tan
1

M
(27)
and
Fig. 4 Geometric model of the shaper-cutter
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2N
S
inv (28)
where inv is obtained from Eq. 23 and N
S
is the number of
teeth of the shaper-cutter.
Thus, the position vectors r
3C
and r
4C
of points on the outside
proles 3 and 4 of the tooth in frame O
C
X
C
Y
C
can be expressed
by
r
3C
r
0
cos r
0
sin 1
T
(29)
and
r
4C
r
0
cos r
0
sin 1
T
(30)
taking into account both Eq. 20 and the symmetry between re-
gions 3 and 4 of Fig. 4 with respect to the X
C
-axis. Angle , in
turn, is given by Eq. 22.
Regions 5 and 6 of the shaper-cutter tooth prole
The straight region 5 of the tooth can be expressed by means of
the position vector r
5S
in frame O
S
X
S
Y
S
as
r
5S
0 g 1
T
(31)
where the design parameter g varies within the range r
r
, r
b
,
with r
r
corresponding to the root radius of the shaper-cutter. The
position vectors r
5C
and r
6C
in frame O
C
X
C
Y
C
are given by
r
5C
g cos g sin 1
T
(32)
and
r
6C
g cos g sin 1
T
(33)
from Eq. 21 and because of the symmetry between regions 5 and
6. Angle , in turn, is given by Eq. 22.
Points A and B of shaper-cutter tooth prole
The position vector r
AS
of point A can be expressed in frame
O
S
X
S
Y
S
as
r
AS
r
0
sin
m
r
0
cos
m
1
T
(34)
where
m
is given by Eq. 27. From Eq. 21, and taking into
account the symmetry between points A and B with respect to the
X
C
-axis, vectors r
AC
and r
BC
in frame O
C
X
C
Y
C
can be expressed
by
r
AC
r
0
cos
m
r
0
sin
m
1
T
(35)
and
r
BC
r
0
cos
m
r
0
sin
m
1
T
(36)
Therefore, Eqs. 18 to 33 express all regions 1 to 6 in frame
O
C
X
C
Y
C
with respect to the design parameters , and g, while
Eqs. 35 and 36 give the position vectors of points A and B in
O
C
X
C
Y
C
.
Elliptical Gears
The teeth of elliptical gears and their rack can be generated by
a pure-rolling motion of the pitch circle of the shaper-cutter on the
elliptical pitch curve of the gear to be generated. During this mo-
tion, each j-region of the tooth prole of the shaper-cutter gener-
ates a family of curves that envelopes the corresponding region of
the tooth prole of the elliptical gear or the rack. Each family of
curves depends on two independent parameters, where one denes
the shape of the curve and the other is related to the pure-rolling
motion between pitch curves. This means that the second param-
eter gives the position of the shaper-cutter, with respect to the
frame xed to the gear to be generated during the pure-rolling
motion between the pitch curves. The conjugate envelope curve
can be obtained tracing the normal to each curve of the family by
the instant center of rotation about the relative motion between
shaper-cutter and the elliptical gear. Thus, the conjugate envelope
curve is obtained by connecting all intersecting points between
each curve of the family and its normal with the instant center of
rotation.
Referring to Fig. 5, the pitch curve P
1
of the elliptical pinion 1
is considered with maximum radius r
A
along the X-axis and xed
to O
1
X
1
Y
1
OXY, while the pitch circle P
S
with radius r
p
rolls
attached to O
C
X
C
Y
C
on P
1
. At the starting position, the center
O
C
of P
S
lies in the X-axis and I is the instant center of rotation,
that moves to I
0
due to a rotation of P
S
. Each family of curves
can be formulated using the homogeneous transformation matrix
below:
M
sp

sin cos
X
O
C
cos sin
Y
O
C
0 0 1

(37)
where X
O
C
and Y
O
C
are given by
X
O
C
O
i
P
i
cos
1
r
p
sin
1
(38)
Y
O
C
O
i
P
i
sin
1
r
p
cos
1
and
1
, where
1
is the angle made by the unit tangent
vector
1
to P
1
with the X-axis.
Matrix M
sp
depends only on because O
i
P
i
and
1
are both
functions of
1
, which is related to because of the pure-rolling
motion between pitch curves. Angle is the parameter of motion
and thus each family of curves can be obtained by
r
j 1
M
sp
r
j C
(39)
where M
sp
is given by Eq. 37 and r
j C
by Eqs. 2425, 2930
and 3233. Thus, using Eq. 39, we obtain
r
u1
r
b
sin r
b
cos X
O
C
, r
b
cos
r
b
sin Y
O
C
,1
T
(40)
r
v1
r
0
sin X
O
C
, r
0
cos Y
O
C
,1
T
(41)
r
z1
g sin X
O
C
, g cos Y
O
C
,1
T
(42)
where angles and are the variable parameters of r
u1
for
u1, 2 and r
v1
for v3, 4, respectively, while g is the parameter
of r
z1
for z5, 6. Moreover, the upper sign of Eqs. 40 to 42
applies to an odd j-region of the shaper-cutter tooth prole, while
the lower sign of the same equations to an even j-region. These
position vectors produce six families of curves in frame O
1
X
1
Y
1
,
that correspond to regions 1 to 6, of the shaper-cutter tooth prole,
respectively.
Fig. 5 Pure-rolling motion of the pitch circle P
S
of the shaper-
cutter on the pitch curve P
1
the pinion 1
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According to the above-mentioned procedure and using the
equation of meshing given by Litvin in 10 and 11, we obtain
cos cos (43)
sin 0 (44)
gr
p
cos (45)
for regions 12, 34, and 56, respectively. Similar to Eqs. 40
to 42, the upper sign of Eqs. 43 to 45 applies to regions 1, 3
and 5, while the lower sign to regions 2, 4 and 6.
The position vectors of points A and B in frame O
1
X
1
Y
1
are
given by
r
A1
, r
B1
r
0
sin
m

X
O
C
, r
0
cos
m
Y
O
C
,1
T
(46)
where the upper sign applies to A and the lower sign to B.
Design and Results
A general algorithm for the synthesis of elliptical gears and
their rack was developed using envelope theory, with a suitable
Fig. 6 Elliptical gears for n
1
n
2
1, N
1
N
2
31, r
A
44 mm,
r
B
22 mm, 20 deg, N
s
20: a
1
0 deg; b
1
45 deg; c

1
90 deg. The code produces: C66 mm, m2.07 mm,
L
1
L
2
201.46 mm and: a
2
0 deg; b
2
79.28 deg; c

2
126.87 deg.
Fig. 7 Prototype of the elliptical pair of gears of Fig. 6: a

1
0 deg; b
1
45 deg; c
1
90 deg
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involute shaper-cutter. This algorithm synthesizes elliptical gears
and their rack for any number of lobes and for any angular posi-
tion. The proposed method can also work for the synthesis of
other types of noncircular gears. The implementing code has been
devised to produce animations in order to visualize the meshing of
elliptical gears and their rack. Animations are available at URL:
http://webuser.unicas.it/weblarm/larmindex.htm
Some results and one prototype are shown in Figs. 6 to 14.
Regarding pitch curves, the input data are:
maximum pitch radius r
A
minimum pitch radius r
B
number of lobes n
1
of elliptical pinion 1
number of lobes n
2
of elliptical gear 2
angular position
1
of elliptical pinion 1
which let us determine the center distance C from Eq. 3, the
rotation
2
of gear 2 from Eq. 4 for
1

1
, and pitch curves
P
1
, P
2
and P
3
from Eq. 5 for i1, 2, 3, respectively; other
input data have to be given to obtain elliptical gears:
number of teeth N
1
of elliptical pinion 1
number of teeth N
2
of elliptical gear 2
pressure angle
number of teeth N
S
of the shaper-cutter
First of all, both lengths L
1
and L
2
of pitch curves P
1
and P
2
are
calculated by means of numerical integration. Thus, one obtains
pitch and module of the shaper-cutter as pL
1
/N
1
and
mp/, the pitch radius r
p
as r
p
(mN
S
)/2, the root and out-
side radii as r
r
r
p
m and r
0
r
p
1.25 m, respectively.
Therefore, the teeth of the elliptical gears are obtained by using
the algorithm that stems from Eqs. 18 to 46. However, in order
to obtain a suitable meshing between teeth, not all the above input
data are independent. In fact, one has
L
1
N
1

L
2
N
2
(47)
because the pitch p is the same for the two meshing elliptical
gears. Moreover,
L
1
n
1

L
2
n
2
(48)
From Eqs. 47 and 48, moreover,
n
1
n
2

N
1
N
2
(49)
which states that the ratio between the number of lobes must be
equal to the ratio between the number of teeth for a general pair of
elliptical gears. Thus, N
2
can be obtained by Eq. 49 for assigned
values of n
1
, n
2
and N
1
.
Figure 6 shows a pair of identical elliptical gears with only one
lobe. Multiple contact points, during the pure-rolling motion of
the pitch circle of the shaper-cutter on the pitch curves of the
pinion and gears, respectively, do not occur because of the convex
proles of both pitch curves. The data generating those gears fol-
low: n
1
n
2
1; N
1
N
2
31; r
A
44 mm; r
B
22 mm; 20
deg; and N
s
20. The numerical results are c66 mm; m
2.07 mm; L
1
L
2
201.46 mm. Moreover,
2
0 deg for
1
0 deg of Fig. 6a;
2
79.28 deg for
1
45 deg of Fig.
6b; and
2
126.87 deg for
1
90 deg, have been obtained.
Figure 7 shows a prototype of a pair of elliptical gears at the same
congurations of Figs. 6a, 6b, 6c.
Figures 8 to 10 show other examples of elliptical gears for
n
1
1, N
1
31, r
A
44 mm, r
B
22 mm, 20 deg, N
s
20 and

1
45 deg. In particular, n
1
2 and N
2
62, n
1
3 and
N
2
93, n
1
4 and N
2
124 led to the elliptical gears of Figs. 8,
9 and 10, respectively. A concave-convex prole of the pitch
curve occurs only for the four-lobed elliptical gear of Fig. 10.
Apparently, any multiple contact point can occur.
Figures 11 and 12 show two examples of elliptical pinion-rack
pairs. In particular, Fig. 11 was obtained for n
1
1, N
1
31,
r
A
44 mm, r
B
22 mm, 20 deg, N
s
20. The proposed algo-
Fig. 8 Elliptical gears for n
1
1, n
2
2, N
1
31, N
2
62,
r
A
44 mm, r
B
22 mm, 20 deg, N
s
20,
1
45 deg. The
code produces:
2
34.93 deg, c96.19 mm, m2.07 mm,
L
1
201.46 mm, L
2
402.92 mm.
Fig. 9 Elliptical gears for n
1
1, n
2
3, N
1
31, N
2
93,
r
A
44 mm, r
B
22 mm, 20 deg, N
s
20,
1
45 deg. The
code produces:
2
22.25 deg, c126.98 mm, m2.07 mm,
L
1
201.46 mm, L
2
604.38 mm.
Fig. 10 Elliptical gears for n
1
1, n
2
4, N
1
31, N
2
124,
r
A
44 mm, r
B
22 mm, 20 deg, N
s
20,
1
45 deg. The
code produces:
2
16.31 deg, c157.94 mm, m2.07 mm,
L
1
201.46 mm, L
2
805.84 mm.
Journal of Mechanical Design DECEMBER 2003, Vol. 125 799
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rithm gives the displacement Y
r
*22.54 mm of the rack due to a
rotation
1
45 deg of the pinion. In particular, r
p
(mN
S
)/2
20.7 mm, that leads to
3m
88 mm from Eq. 17.
Figures 12 and 13 pertain to the same example for n
1
3,
N
1
93,
1
30 deg, with other data identical. The code produced
Y
r
*19.81 mm. Moreover, the minimum radii of curvature
1m
17.6 mm of P
1
and
3m
9.78 mm of P
3
have been calculated
using Eqs. 15 and 17, respectively, because of the concave-
convex proles of the elliptical pitch curves. In particular,
r
p
8.3 mm is smaller than
1m
and
3m
by avoiding any multiple
contact point between the pitch circle P
S
and the pitch curves
P
1
and P
3
, respectively. Figure 14 depicts a general case for
n
1
2, n
2
3, N
1
62, N
2
93, r
A
74 mm, r
B
52 mm, 20
deg, N
s
20 and
1
45 deg.
Figures 15 and 16 show two numerical tests of the proposed
algorithm, which lead to undercutting and overcutting respec-
tively. In particular, Fig. 15 is obtained for n
1
1, N
1
15,
r
A
44 mm, r
B
22 mm, N
s
20 and 10 deg, while in Fig. 16,
40 deg has been assumed. Apparently, a low pressure angle
leads to undercutting; correspondingly, a high pressure angle leads
to overcutting, but these issues are not considered in depth in
this paper.
Conclusions
The geometry of elliptical gears and their rack was determined
by means of envelope theory and a conforming shaper-cutter with
involute tooth prole. Our formulation yields any pair of elliptical
pitch curves for any number of lobes and any number of compat-
ible teeth. Evolute curves can be also determined for the synthesis
of elliptical gears with concave-convex pitch curves. This analysis
allows the choice of the pitch radius or the number of teeth of the
shaper-cutter. Thus, the proposed algorithm allows the design and
analysis of any pair of elliptical gears and their rack, along with
computer animations of their motions.
Fig. 11 Elliptical pinion-rack for n
1
1, N
1
31, r
A
44 mm,
r
B
22 mm, 20 deg, N
s
20,
1
45 deg. The code yields
Y
r
*22.54 mm and m2.07 mm.
Fig. 12 Elliptical pinion-rack for n
1
3, N
1
93, r
A
44 mm,
r
B
22 mm, 20 deg, N
s
20,
1
30 deg. The code yields
Y
r
*19.81 mm and m0.83 mm.
Fig. 13 Zoom-in of the elliptical pinion-rack of Fig. 12
Fig. 14 Elliptical gears for n
1
2, n
2
3, N
1
62, N
2
93,
r
A
74 mm, r
B
52 mm, 20 deg, N
s
20,
1
45 deg. The
code produces:
2
35.54 deg, c156.70 mm, m2.06 mm,
L
1
401.74 mm, L
2
602.61 mm.
Fig. 15 Tooth proles of elliptical gears for n
1
1, N
1
15,
r
A
44 mm, r
B
22 mm, 10 deg, N
s
20 undercutting
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the contribution of Nanni Ingranaggi
of Bologna, Italy, which produced the prototype of Fig. 7.
Nomenclature
c center distance
g, , design parameters of shaper-cutter
I instant center of rotation
L
i
length of pitch curve P
i
m module
M
i
homogeneous transformation matrix from
O
i
X
i
Y
i
to OXY
M
SC
homogeneous transformation matrix from
O
S
X
S
Y
S
to O
C
X
C
Y
C
M
sp
homogeneous transformation matrix from
O
S
X
S
Y
S
to O
1
X
1
Y
1
n
i
, n
i
unit normal vector to P
i
and number of lobes
of P
i
N
i
, N
S
number of teeth of gears and shaper-cutter
OXY xed frame
O
i
X
i
Y
i
moving frame attached to pitch curve P
i
O
S
X
S
Y
S
frame xed to shaper-cutter
O
C
X
C
Y
C
centered frame xed to shaper-cutter
p, P i , P
S
pitch, elliptical and shaper-cutter pitch curves
r
A
, r
B
maximum and minimum pitch radii
r
b
, r
p
base and pitch radii of shaper-cutter
r
r
, r
o
root and outside radii of shaper-cutter
r
i
position vector of points on P
i
in frame O
i
X
i
Y
i
r
i0
position vector of points on P
i
in frame OXY
r
j S
, r
j C
position vectors of points on the j-region of the
shaper-cutter in O
S
X
S
Y
S
and O
C
X
C
Y
C
, respec-
tively
r
u, v, z1
family of curves generated by the shaper-cutter
tooth prole in frame O
1
X
1
Y
1
(u1, 2; v3,
4; z5, 6
s
i
position vector of points on evolute curve in
O
i
X
i
Y
i
X
O
C
, Y
O
C
coordinates of center of the shaper-cutter in
OXY
Y
r
Y-component of position vector r
3
of the rack
Y
r
*
displacement of rack along the Y-axis

i
angle of rotation of pinion and gear
pressure angle

i
angle that
i
makes with X-axis
angle that r
3S
makes with the Y
S
-axis

i
angle that vector r
i
makes with the X-axis

i
radius of curvature of the pitch curve P
i

i
unit tangent vector to P
i
angle that r
1S
makes with Y
S
-axis
angle between frames O
S
X
S
Y
S
and O
C
X
C
Y
C
Subscript i1, 2, 3 denotes pinion, gear and rack, while subscript
j 1,2, . . . 6 denotes regions 1 to 6 of the shaper-cutter tooth
prole. Throughout the paper, subscripts m and M denote mini-
mum and maximum values, respectively.
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Fig. 16 Tooth proles of elliptical gears for n
1
1, N
1
15,
r
A
44 mm, r
B
22 mm, 40 deg, N
s
20 overcutting
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