Gears without teeth

26th September 1952, Page 64

26th September 1952

Page 64

Page 64, 26th September 1952 — Gears without teeth

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Whatever poets may say, it's gears that make the world go round—gears ao mall that they would fit into your waistcoat pocket, gears so big that they would dwarf a house, gears of every size and cut—spur, bevel, helical, worm, hypoid.

It is not, therefore, surprising that the Shell research people at Thornton are constantly experimenting to find even better lubricants for use in gears. What is surprising, to the uninitiated, is the range of that research. For specialised wear study, four-ball and two-ball machines simulate ingeniously the combined rolling-sliding motion that occurs in gear tooth engagement.

In another machine, spinning bronze discs in loaded contact give an accurate representation of wear on gears in actual service.

What happens to oils in high-speed gears ? That many-sided problem is studied at Thornton in gear rigs which turn at up to 15,000 r.p.m.

Shell research is not a rapid process because any one result has to be tested again and again, in theory and practice, before it is allowed to stand, The Shell Lubricant in your gears is the result of this kind of research-in-depth.

Shell's laboratories at Thornton, Cheshire, cover an area of 800,000 sq. ft., manned by a. staff of over 800—that's how Shell makes sure.