Offset plane gearing

[SNIPE]

Hi

I am not sure if this has been done before in MOC's but was wondering if there are any MOC, or official set examples of having gears meshed on different planes.

This generally applies to bevel/crown/worm gears, maybe gear knobs.

Here is an example of what I mean, the offset is an entire 1L, however a 0.5L offset works better with smaller bevel gears.

It reduces space significantly.

I was also wondering if offsetting one of the gears effects the speed and/or torque.

This idea works with the 3L wide differential too!.

Regards. Snipe

Edited December 6, 2015 by SNIPE

[Tommy Styrvoky]

It shouldn't have any effect on torque or speed, as the ratio is the same, and I think that there would be an issue with slippage between the gears under torque.

[SNIPE]

It does not slip unless the frame is weak, however different gear combinations may do so more.

It helps to get a better idea of the performance if you build the real model rather than imagining the structural and mechanical aspects of it

Edited December 6, 2015 by SNIPE

[aeh5040]

Interesting! Such arrangements do of course exist in real life, but usually the gear teeth are specially designed for it:

My guess is that using standard Lego gears for this will result in more friction and part wear, but perhaps the effect is not significant in some situations. It would definitely be interesting to see more expirements!

[Victor Imaginator]

In real life this offset is only for moving driveshaft lower. So, in lego this construction is pointless unless it's neccessary to move axle from perpendicular position.

[aeh5040]

In real life this offset is only for moving driveshaft lower. So, in lego this construction is pointless unless it's neccessary to move axle from perpendicular position.

The two axles are still perpendicular. The point is that they are not in the same plane.

[Victor Imaginator]

Yep, my logical mistake) But conclusion is the same.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Victor Imaginator

[aeh5040]

Yep, my logical mistake) But conclusion is the same.

Actually I'm not sure what your conclusion is. You seem to be saying "it is useless except for the thing that it is useful for", which is true of most things...

[Technyk32231]

Actually I'm not sure what your conclusion is. You seem to be saying "it is useless except for the thing that it is useful for", which is true of most things...

And sometimes it's not even useful for the thing it's useful for

[Captainowie]

I do this quite often with 8t gears meshing slightly off-axis with the 24t crown gears (that aren't really used any more since the advent of the bevel gears)

[Immo]

My MOC, the Getaway Rod, uses the offset alignment of the gears for the transmission. As it's a complete 42024 C-Model, it has no differential and I wanted to incorporate aggressive stance for the car, so it has an extruding rear axle supports and the drive shaft bends twice with Cardan joints, while not being completely aligned with the axle's plane. The transmission works smooth.

I have no good pics of the gear alignment, but here you can see the small bit of the drive shaft (covered with a 13971 18x8 wheel used to protect the transmission from anything that get under the car and could stuck in the gearing) and can notice it is not aligned perfectly with the rear axle:

To get the question of "why the transmission in a C-Model of engine-less set?" out of the way - it is used for rotating a set of pulleys (you can see the topmost one) in a completely fake V8.

Edited December 31, 2015 by Immo