A rack and pinion is a type of

linear actuator A linear actuator is an actuator that creates linear motion (i.e., in a straight line), in contrast to the circular motion of a conventional electric motor. Linear actuators are used in machine tools and industrial machinery, in computer perip ...

that comprises a circular

gear A gear or gearwheel is a rotating machine part typically used to transmit rotational motion and/or torque by means of a series of teeth that engage with compatible teeth of another gear or other part. The teeth can be integral saliences or ...

(the ''

pinion A pinion is a round gear—usually the smaller of two meshed gears—used in several applications, including drivetrain and rack and pinion systems. Applications Drivetrain Drivetrains usually feature a gear known as the pinion, which may v ...

'') engaging a linear gear (the ''rack''). Together, they convert between rotational motion and linear motion: rotating the pinion causes the rack to be driven in a line. Conversely, moving the rack linearly will cause the pinion to rotate. The rack and pinion mechanism is used in

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...

s, where the pinion mounted on a

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

or a

railroad car A railroad car, railcar (American English, American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and International Union of Railways, UIC), also called a tra ...

engages a rack usually placed between the rails, and helps to move the

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

up a steep

gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...

. It is also used in

arbor press An arbor press is a small hand-operated press. It is typically used to perform smaller jobs, such as staking, riveting A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft w ...

es and

drill press A drill press is a Drill, drilling machine suitable for quick and easy drilling of straight holes, Countersink, countersinking or Counterbore, counterboring that are perpendicular to both directions of a table surface. In comparison, it is more di ...

es, where the pinion is connected to a

lever A lever is a simple machine consisting of a beam (structure), beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or '':wikt:fulcrum, fulcrum''. A lever is a rigid body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, l ...

and displaces a vertical rack (the ram). In

pipelines A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...

and other industrial piping systems, a rack displaced by a

turns a pinion to open or close a

valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

. Stairlifts,

lock gate A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a chamber in a permanently fixed position i ...

electric gate An electric gate is a type of gate that can be opened and closed using an electrically powered mechanism. Electric Gate Options Driveway gate openers can be the rollback (sliding) type that retracks a gate along the fence or wall on wheels ...

s, and the mechanical

steering Steering is the control of the direction of motion or the components that enable its control. Steering is achieved through various arrangements, among them ailerons for airplanes, rudders for boats, cylic tilting of rotors for helicopters, ...

mechanism of cars are other notable applications. The term "rack and pinion" may be used also when the rack is not straight but arcuate (bent), namely just a section of a large gear. A single pinion can simultaneously drive two racks, parallel but opposite; which will always be displaced by the same distance, only in opposite directions. Conversely, by applying opposite forces to the two racks one can obtain pure torque on the pinion, without any force component. This double rack and pinion mechanism can be used, for example, with a pair of

pneumatic actuator A pneumatic control valve actuator converts energy (typically in the form of compressed air) into mechanical motion. The motion can be rotary or linear, depending on the type of actuator. Principle of operation A pneumatic actuator mainly con ...

s to operate a

with minimum stress.

Applications gallery

File:Lock gate cogs, Montgomery Canal - geograph.org.uk - 1806427.jpg,

Lock gate A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a chamber in a permanently fixed position i ...

lifter on a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

File:Sliding electric gate-001.JPG, Electric gate File:Steer system.jpg, Automobile steering mechanism File:Budapešť, Városmajor, pomník zubačky.jpg, Rack railway wheelset File:Muzeum MHD, dvoukolí vozu petřínské lanovky 1891.jpg, Funicular wheelset and brake File:Pneumatic Rack and Pinion Actuators.JPG, Double-rack pneumatic valve actuator

History

The time and place of the invention of the rack-and-pinion mechanism are unknown, but it presumably was not long after the invention of gears. The

south-pointing chariot The south-pointing chariot (or carriage) was an ancient Chinese two-wheeled vehicle that carried a movable pointer to indicate the south, no matter how the chariot turned. Usually, the pointer took the form of a doll or figure with an outstretch ...

from China and the

Antikythera mechanism The Antikythera mechanism ( , ) is an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek hand-powered orrery (model of the Solar System). It is the oldest known example of an Analog computer, analogue computer. It could be used to predict astronomy, astronomical ...

are evidence of these being well-known already a couple of centuries BC. In 1598, firearms designer Zhao Shizhen developed the Xuanyuan

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. The term ''arquebus'' was applied to many different forms of firearms ...

(軒轅銃), featuring a rack-and-pinion

matchlock A matchlock or firelock is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of flammable cord or twine that is in contact with the gunpowder through a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or Tri ...

mechanism derived from an Ottoman Turkish matchlock design.Zhao Shizhen (1598): ''Shen Qi Pu'' (神器譜) The ''

Wu Pei Chih The ''Wubei Zhi'' (; ''Treatise on Armament Technology'' or ''Records of Armaments and Military Provisions''), also commonly known by its Japanese translated name Bubishi, is a military book in Chinese history. It was compiled in 1621 by （� ...

'' (1621) later described Ottoman Turkish

muskets A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

that used a rack-and-pinion mechanism. The use of a variable rack (still using a normal pinion) was invented by Arthur Ernest Bishop in the 1970s, so as to improve vehicle response and steering "feel", especially at high speeds. He also created a low cost press forging process to manufacture the racks, eliminating the need to machine the gear teeth.

Comparison with Worm gear

A rack and pinion has roughly the same purpose as a

worm gear A worm drive is a gear train, gear arrangement in which a worm (which is a gear in the form of a Screw thread, screw) meshes with a worm wheel (which is similar in appearance to a spur gear). Its main purpose is to translate the motion of two p ...

with a rack replacing the gear, in that both convert torque to linear force. However the rack and pinion generally provides higher linear speed — since a full turn of the pinion displaces the rack by an amount equal to the pinion's

pitch circle This page lists the standard US nomenclature used in the description of mechanical gear construction and function, together with definitions of the terms. The terminology was established by the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA), unde ...

whereas a full rotation of the worm screw only displaces the rack by one tooth width. By the same token, a rack and pinion mechanism yields a smaller linear force than a worm gear, for the same input torque. Also, a rack and pinion pair can be used in the opposite way, to turn linear force into torque; whereas a worm drive can be used in only one way.ZHY Gear(1023):
Worm Gears vs. Rack and pinion
. Online article a
the company's websiteArchived on 2024-07-28

Geometry

The teeth of a rack and pinion pair may be either straight (parallel to the rotation axis, as in a

spur gear Spur gears or straight-cut gears are the simplest type of gear. They consist of a cylinder or disk with teeth projecting radially. Viewing the gear at 90 degrees from the shaft length (side on) the tooth faces are straight and aligned parallel to ...

) or helical. On the pinion, the profile of the working tooth surfaces is usually an arc of

involute In mathematics, an involute (also known as an evolvent) is a particular type of curve that is dependent on another shape or curve. An involute of a curve is the Locus (mathematics), locus of a point on a piece of taut string as the string is eith ...

, as in most gears. On the rack, on the other hand, the matching working surfaces are flat. One may interpret them as involute tooth faces for a gear with infinite radius. In both parts the teeth are typically formed with a gear cutter (a hob).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rack and Pinion Automotive steering technologies Gears Actuators Turkish inventions

Applications gallery

History

Comparison with Worm gear

Geometry

See also

References