Triple gear

This shows a 3d print I produced using shapeways.com. This model is available at http://shpws.me/mQ6F. A smaller version is available at http://shpws.me/mX9t. This is joint work with Saul Schleimer. The three gear images are from http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/whoops..... Here is a paper Saul and I wrote on the mathematics behind the Triple gear: http://arxiv.org/abs/1304.6859.

• Category

  Education

[thedogbird44]

Did you know for sure this was going to work before you got it?

[Henry Segerman]

No. I had checked that rotating all of the gears along their axes by very small increments (in fact, in steps of 2pi/256) worked without crashing, but it was very hard to tell what would happen if the gears were not perfectly aligned. It might have been very difficult to hold in such a way that the gears could turn. As it is, it just requires a bit of practice.

[noonebesides]

Sorry, yeah radii. If each ring were held so that the plane and axis of rotation for each was fixed, maintaining the meshing, would it work then with the larger major radius?

[Henry Segerman]

If they were held in place somehow, then yes, they would mesh and turn, sure. This might be possible using some sort of external structure. Axles and spokes don't seem to be possible though, due to the linking of the gears.

[noonebesides]

Various schemes to hold the meshing steady look doable. One using several much smaller guide-gears meshing with the two teeth sets on each triple-gear that meet along the outermost perimeter of each triple-gear torus. Or, if a groove can be put along that perimeter, slim-tread rollers could ride in the groove, constraining the range of motion for each triple-gear. If the major radius can be increased, small guide-gears could be placed on the inner surface to push outward from the triple-meshing.

[Henry Segerman]

Yes it does seem that some mechanisms could work. Ideally I wouldn't want to change the major/minor radius ratio, because part of the interest is that the gears cannot move independently. What I really want is to have the gears powered by some mechanism, but also be able to pick it up out of the mechanism and run it by hand. And if it's likely to work, the mechanism should have as few moving parts as possible!

[cncsteplt]

Cool

[Harlan Brothers]

Beautiful work, Henry!

[GretgorPooper]

This looks so fantastic, and also fun to play with :D

3D printed?

[ThatBamaDude14]

What is the point?

[TheZiggen]

Shit it really does. I want one.

[Jack Anthony]

1. Get baked.

2. Full screen

3. Get real close

4. Start video

Definitely looks like a centipede trying to suck its own dick.

[Damien Pollet]

These are more like screws or worm gears… I wonder what a proper gear version would be like (with teeth rolling instead of sliding)

[Alex Hernandez]

This wile cool, don't quite get the practical applications