TRANSMISSION

Transmission is the mechanism which is used to transfer the power developed by

engine to the wheels of an automobile.
The transmission system of an automobile includes clutch, gear box, propeller
shaft axle and wheels, etc.
Description of various types of clutches and gear boxes has been given in the
following sections of this unit. The term Transmission is used for a device which is
located between clutch and propeller shaft. It may be a gear box, an over drive or a
torque converter, etc.
CLUTCH
Clutch is used to engage or disengage the engine to the transmission or gear box.
When the clutch is in engaged position, the engine power or rotary motion of
engine crankshaft is transmitted to gear box and then to wheels. When clutch is
disengaged, the engine power does not reach to gear box (and to wheels) although
engine is running.
Clutch is also used to allow shifting or changing of gears when vehicle is running.
For shifting gears, clutch is first disengaged then gear is shifted and then clutch is
engaged. Clutch has to be disengaged to stop the vehicle and also at the time of
idling.

PRINCIPLE OF CLUTCH
It operates on the principle of friction. When two surfaces are brought in contact
and are held against each other due to friction between them, they can be used to
transmit power. If one is rotated, then other also rotates. One surface is connected
to engine and other to the transmission system of automobile. Thus, clutch is
nothing but a combination of two friction surfaces.

MAIN PARTS OF A CLUTCH

It consists of
(a) a driving member,
(b) a driven member, and
(c) an operating member.

Driving member has a flywheel which is mounted on the engine crankshaft. A disc
is bolted to flywheel which is known as pressure plate or driving disc.
The driven member is a disc called clutch plate. This plate can slide freely to and
fro on the clutch shaft.
The operating member consists of a pedal or lever which can be pressed to
disengaged the driving and driven plate.

TYPES OF CLUTCH
Some types of clutches used in vehicles are given below :
(a) Friction Clutch : It may be (i) single plate clutch, (ii) multi-plate clutch, or
(iii) cone clutch. Multi-plate clutch can be either wet or dry. A wet clutch is
operated in an oil batch whereas a dry clutch does not use oil.
(b) Centrifugal clutch.
(c) Semi-centrifugal clutch.
(d) Hydraulic clutch.
(e) Positive clutch.
(f) Vacuum clutch.
(g) Electromagnetic clutch.

SINGLE PLATE CLUTCH

A single plate is commonly used in cars and light vehicles. It has only one clutch
plate which is mounted on the splines of the clutch shaft. A flywheel is mounted on
the crankshaft of the engine. A pressure plate is connected to the flywheel through
the bolts and clutch springs. It is free to slide on the clutch shaft with the movement
of clutch pedal. When clutch is in engaged position, the clutch plate remains
gripped between flywheel and pressure plate. Friction linings are provided on both
the sides of clutch plate. On one side clutch plate is in touch with flywheel and on
other side with pressure plate. Due to friction on both sides, the clutch plate
revolves with engine flywheel. Therefore, clutch transmits engine power to clutch
shaft. Clutch shaft is connected to transmission (or gear box) of automobile. Thus,
clutch transmits power from engine to transmission system which inturn rotates
wheels of engine.

When the clutch plate is to be disengaged, the clutch pedal is pressed. Because of
this pressure plate moves back and clutch plate is disengaged from flywheel. Thus,
clutch shaft stops rotating even if engine flywheel is rotating. In this position, power
does not reach the wheels and vehicle also stops running. Single plate clutch is
shown in figure.

MULTIPLATE CLUTCH
Multi-plate clutch consists of more than one clutch plates contrary to single plate
clutch which consists of only one plate. Friction surfaces are made in case of multiplate clutch. Due to increased number of friction surfaces, a multi-plate clutch can
transmit large torque. Therefore, it is used in racing cars and heavy motor vehicles
witch have high engine power. The clutch plates are alternatively fitted with engine
shaft and the shaft of gear box. He plates are firmly held by the force of coil springs
and they assembled in a drum. One plate slides in the grooves on the flywheel and
the next plate slides on spines provided on pressure plate. Thus, each alternate
plate slides in grooves on the flywheeland the other on splines of pressure plate. If
we take two consecutive plates, then one has inner and other has outer splines.
When the clutch pedal is pressed, the pressure plate moves back against the force
of coil spring, hen the clutch plates are disengaged and engine flywheel and gear
box are decoupled. However, when clutch pedal is not pressed the clutch remain in

engaged position and the power can be transmitted from engine flywheel to the
gear box. This type of clutch has been shown in Figure.

FUNCTION OF GEAR BOX

An automobile is able to provide varying speed and torque through its gear box.
Various functions of a gear box are listed below :
(a) To provide high torque at the time of starting, vehicle acceleration, climbing up a
hill.
(b) To provide more than forward speeds by providing more than one gear ratios. In
modern cars, five forward gears and reverse gear is provided. For given engine
speed, higher speed can be obtained by running in higher (4th and 5th) gears.
(c) Gear box provides a reverse gear for driving the vehicle in reverse direction.

TYPES OF GEAR BOXES

(a) Selective type gear boxes :
(i) Sliding mesh gear box
(ii) Constant mesh gear box
(iii) Synchromesh gear box
(b) Progressive type gear box

(c) Epicyclic type gear box.

SLIDING MESH GEAR BOX

It is simplest type of gear box out of the available gear boxes. In this type of gear
box, gears are changed by sliding one gear on the other. This gear box consists of
three shafts; main shaft, clutch shaft and a counter shaft. In a four speed gear box
(which includes one reverse gear), the counter shaft has four gears which are
rigidly connected to it. Clutch shaft has one gear and main shaft has two gears.
The two gears on the main shaft can slide in the horizontal direction along the
splines of the main shaft. However, the gears on the counter shaft cannot slide.
The clutch gear is rigidly fixed to the clutch shaft. It is always connected to the
countershaft drive gear.
The two gears on the main shaft can be slided by the shifter yoke by operating the
shift lever (not shown in Figures). These two gears are second gear and
low/reverse gear respectively. These gears can be meshed with corresponding
gears on the countershaft with the help of shifter yoke and shift lever. Shift lever is
operated by hand in four wheelers for changing the gears. A reverse idler gear is
mounted on another (third) shaft and is always in mesh with reverse gear on
countershaft.

Neutral Position
In this position, the engine is in running condition, clutch remains engaged and
clutch gear drives the countershaft drive gear. The direction of rotation of
countershaft is opposite to that of clutch shaft. In this position Ist, IInd and IIIrd and
reverse gears are free. Thus, main (transmission) shaft does not rotate and
automobile wheels do not rotate. So vehicle remains stationary.
First Gear
When first gear position is selected by the shift lever, first gear (large gear) on the
main shaft slides and is connected to first gear on the countershaft. The direction
of rotation of main shaft is same as that of clutch shaft. In first gear, small gear of
countershaft meshes with larger gear on main shaft, speed reduction in the ratio 3:
1 (approximate) is obtained.
Second Gear

When second gear is selected by the shift lever, second gear on countershaft
meshes with second gear (small gear on main shaft) on the main shaft. The
direction of main shaft is same as that of clutch shaft. Speed reduction of the order
of 2 : 1 is obtained in second gear.

Third Gear
In third gear, the main shaft is slided axially towards the clutch shaft so that main
shaft is directly connected to the clutch shaft. In this position, the main shaft rotates
at the speed of clutch shaft. Thus, a speed ratio of 1 : 1 is obtained. It can be
noted that the clutch gear is directly connected to engine crankshaft and main
shaft is connected to the wheels through propeller shaft.
Reverse Gear
When the shift lever is operated to engage the reverse gear, the larger (reverse)
gear of the main shaft meshes with the reverse idler gear. Reverse idler gear is
always connected to reverse gear on countershaft. The reverse idler gear between
countershaft reverse gear and main shaft larger gear changes the direction of
rotation of main shaft. Thus, the direction of main shaft becomes opposite to that of
clutch shaft. Therefore, wheels of the automobile start moving in backward
direction.

A QUICK PRIMER ON HOW GEARS WORK

In this case we're talking about gears meaning 'toothed wheel' as oppose to gears
as in 'my car has 5 gears'. A gear (or cog, or sprocket) in its most basic form is a
flat circular object that has teeth cut into the edge of it. The most basic type of gear
is called a spur gear, and it has straight-cut teeth, where the angle of the teeth is
parallel to the axis of the gear. Wider gears and those that are cut for smoother
meshing are often cut with the teeth at an angle, and these are called helical gears.
Because of the angle of cut, helical gear teeth have a much more gradual
engagement with each other, and as such they operate a lot more smoothly and
quietly than spur gears. Gearboxes for cars and motorbikes almost always use
helical gears for this reason. A side effect of helical gears is that if the teeth are cut
at the correct angle - 45 degrees - a pair of gears can be meshed together
perpendicular to each other. This is a useful method of changing the direction of
movement or thrust in a mechanical system. Another method would be to use
bevel gears.

The number of teeth cut into the edge of a gear determines its scalar relative to
other gears in a mechanical system. For example, if a 20-tooth gear is meshed
together with a 10-tooth gear, then spun for one rotation, it will cause the 10-tooth
gear to turn twice. Gear ratios are calculated by divinding the number of teeth on
the output gear by the number of teeth on the input gear. So the gear ratio here is
output/input, 10/20 = 1/2 = 1:2. Gear ratios are often simplified to represent the

number of times the output gear has to turn once. In this example, 1:2 is 0.5:1 "point five to one". Meaning the input gear has to spin half a revolution to drive the
output gear once. This is known as gearing up.
Gearing down is exactly the same only the input gear is now the one with the least
number of teeth. In this case, driving the 10-tooth gear as the input gear gives us
output/input of 20/10 = 2/1 = 2:1 - "two to one". Meaning the input gear has to spin
twice to drive the output gear once.

By meshing many gears together of different sizes, it is possible to create a

mechanical system to gear up or gear down the number of rotations very quickly.
As a final example, imagine an input gear with 10 teeth, a secondary gear with 20
teeth and a final gear with 30 teeth. From the input gear to the secondary gear, the
ratio is 20/10 = 2:1. From the second gear to the final gear, the ratio is 30/20 =
1.5:1. The total gear ratio for this system is (2 * 1.5):1, or 3:1. ie. to turn the output
gear once, the input gear has to turn three times.
This also neatly shows a shortcut calculation that misses the middle gear ratio ultimately what is needed is the ratio of input to output. In this example, the final
output is 30 and the original input is 10. 30/10 = 3/1 = 3:1.

Collections of helical gears in a gearbox are the process by which the speed of the
engine crank is geared down to the final speed of the output shaft from the
gearbox. The table below shows some example gear ratios for a 5-speed manual
gearbox:

Gear

Ratio

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th

3.166:1
1.882:1
1.296:1
0.972:1
0.738:1

RPM
of
gearbox
when the engine is at 3000rpm
947
1594
2314
3086
4065

output

shaft

Final drive - calculating speed from gearbox ratios. It's important to note that in
almost all vehicles there is also a final reduction gear. This is also called a final
drive, rear-axle reduction or front-axle gear reduction. It's normally done in the
differential with a small pinion gear and a large ring gear (see the section on
differentials lower down the page). In the example above, the final reduction from
the output shaft of the gearbox to the driveshafts coming out of the differential to
the wheels is 4.444:1. In 5th gear, at 3000rpm, the gearbox output shaft spins at
4065rpm. This goes through a 4.444:1 reduction in the differential to give a wheel
driveshaft rotation of 914rpm. For a typical 4 door passenger car, assume a wheel
and tyre combo of 205/55R16 giving a circumference of 1.985m or 6.512ft (see
The Wheel & Tyre Bible). Each minute, the wheel spins 914 times meaning it
moves the car (914 x 6.512ft) = 5951ft along the ground, or 1.127 miles. In an
hour, that's (60minutes x 1.127miles) = 67.62. In other words, knowing the gearbox
ratios and tyre sizes, it is possible to calculate that at 3000rpm, this car will be
doing 67mph in 5th gear.

MAKING THOSE GEARS WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE A GEARBOX

The image here shows the internals of a generic gearbox. Notice the helical gears
meshing with each other. The lower shaft in this image is called the layshaft - it's
the one connected to the clutch - the one driven directly by the engine. The output
shaft is the upper shaft in this image. To the uneducated eye, this looks like a
mechanical nightmare, but when followed through in a logcial fashion, you will be

able to look at this image and say with some authority, "Ah yes, that's a 5-speed
gearbox".

So how is it possible to make that statement? First, look at the output shaft. There
are 5 helical gears and 3 sets of selector forks. At the most basic level, that
indicates that this is a 5-speed box (note that this example has no reverse gear)
But how does it work? It's actually a lot simpler than most people think although
after reading the following explanation you might be in need of a brain massage.
With the clutch engaged (see the section on clutches below), the layshaft is
always turning. All the helical gears on the layshaft are permanently attached to it
so they all turn at the same rate. They mesh with a series of gears on the output
shaft that are mounted on slip-rings so they actually spin around the output shaft
without turning it. Look closely at the selector forks; they are slipped around a
series of collars with teeth on the inside. Those are the 'dog gears' and the teeth
are the 'dog teeth'. The dog gears are mounted to the output shaft on a splined
section which allows them to slide back and forth. When the gear selector is
moved, a series of mechanical pushrod connections move the various selector
forks, sliding the dog gears back and forth.

In the image to the left, I've rendered a close-up of the area between third and
fourth gear. When the gearstick is moved to select fourth gear, the selector fork
slides backwards. This slides the dog gear backwards on the splined shaft and the
dog teeth engage with the teeth on the front of the helical fourth gear. This locks it

to the dog gear which itself is locked to the output shaft with the splines. When the
clutch is let out and the engine drives the layshaft, all the gears turn as before but
now the second helical gear is locked to the output shaft and voila - fourth gear.
Grinding gears. In the above example, to engage fourth gear, the dog gear is
disengaged from the third helical gear and slides backwards to engage with the
fourth helical gear. This is why a clutch is necessary and it's also the cause of the
grinding noise from a gearbox when someone is cocking up their gearchange. The
common misconception is that this grinding noise is the teeth of the gears grinding
together. It isn't. Rather it's the sound of the teeth on the dog gears skipping across
the dog teeth of the helical output gears and not managing to engage properly.
This typically happens when the clutch is let out too soon and the gearbox is
attempting to engage at the same time as it's trying to drive. Doesn't work. In older
cars, it required something called double-clutching.
Double-clutching, or double-de-clutching (I've heard it called both) was a process
that needed to happen on older gearboxes to avoid grinding the gears. First, the
clutch pedal was pressed to take the pressure off the dog teeth and allow the gear
selector forks and dog gears to slide into neutral, away from the engaged helical
gear. With the clutch pedal released, the engine would be 'blipped' to bring the revs
up to the speed needed to engage the next gear, clutch-in and move the gear stick
to slide the selector forks and dog gear to engage with the next helical gear.

THE SYNCHROMESH (OR WHY DOUBLE-CLUTCHING IS NO LONGER

NEEDED)
Synchros, synchro gears and synchromeshes - they're all basically the same thing.
A synchro is a device that allows the dog gear to come to a speed matching the
helical gear before the dog teeth attempt to engage. It matches the speeds of the
various spinning gearbox components. To the left is a colour-coded cutaway part of
the example gearbox. The green cone-shaped area is the syncho collar. It's
attached to the red dog gear and slides with it. As it approaches the helical gear, it
makes friction contact with the conical hole. The more contact it makes, the more
the speed of the output shaft and free-spinning helical gear are equalised before
the teeth engage. If the car is moving, the output shaft is always turning (because
ultimately it is connected to the wheels). The layshaft is usually connected to the
engine, but it is free-spinning once the clutch has been operated. Because the
gears are meshed all the time, the synchro brings the layshaft to the right speed for
the dog gear to mesh. This means that the layshaft is now spinning at a different
speed to the engine, but that's OK because the clutch gently equalises the speed

of the engine and the layshaft, either bringing the engine to the same speed as the
layshaft or vice versa depending on engine torque and vehicle speed.

So to sum up that very long-winded description, I've rendered up an animation seeing the parts of the gearbox moving in an animation will hopefully make more
sense. What we have here is a single gear being engaged. The layshaft the blue
shaft with the smaller helical gear attached to it. To start with, the larger helical
gear is free-spinning on its slip ring around the red output shaft - which is turning at
a different speed because it's connected to the wheels. As the gear stick is moved,
the gold selector collar begins to slide the dog gear along the splines on the output
shaft. As the synchromesh begins to engage with the large helical gear, the helical
gear starts to spin up to speed to match the output shaft. Because it is meshed
with the gear on the layshaft, it in turn starts to bring the layshaft up to speed too.
Once the speed of everything is matched, the dog gear locks in place with the
output helical gear and the clutch can be engaged to connect the engine to the
wheels again.

CRASH GEARBOXES OR DOG BOXES

Having gone through all of that business about synchromeshes, it's worth
mentioning what goes on in racing gearboxes. These are also known as crash
boxes, or dog boxes, and use straight-cut gears instead of helical gears. Straightcut gears have less surface area where the gears contact each other, which means
less friction, which means less heat and less loss of power. That's why people who
make racing boxes like to use them.
Normally, straight-cut gears are mostly submerged in oil rather than relying on it
sloshing around like it does in a normal gearbox. So the extra noise that is
generated is reduced to a (pleasing?) whine by the sound-deadening effects of the
oil.

But what is a dog box? Motorbikes have been using them since the dawn of time.
Beefing the system up for cars was the brainchild of a racing mechanic who
wanted to provide teams with a quick method of altering gear ratios in the pits
without having to play "chase the syncro hub ballbearings" as they fell out on to the
garage floor.
Normal synchro gearboxes run at full engine speed as the clutch directly connects
the input shaft to the engine crank. Dog boxes run at a half to a third the speed of
the engine because there is a step-down gear before the gearbox. The dog gears
in a dog box also have less teeth on them than those in a synchro box and the
teeth are spaced further apart. So rather than having an exact dog-tooth to doghole match, the dog teeth can have as much as 60 "free space" between them.
This means that instead of needing an exact 1-to-1 match to get them to engage,
there is up to 1/6th of a rotation to get the dog teeth pressed together before they
touch each other and engage. The picture on the right shows the difference
between synchro dog gears and crash box dog gears.
So the combination of less, but larger dog teeth spaced further apart, and a slower
spinning gearbox make for an (allegedly) easier-to-engage crash box. In reality, it's
still quite difficult to engage a crash box because exactly the right rpm is needed
for each gear or the dog teeth just end up grinding together or bouncing over each
other. That results in metal filings in the transmission fluid, which ultimately results
in an expensive and untimely gearbox rebuild.
But it is more mechanically reliable - it's stronger and able to deal with a lot more
power and torque which is why it's used in racing.
So in essence, a dog box relies entirely on the driver to get the gearchange right.
But does it?. Nowadays the gearboxes have ignition interrupters connected to
them. As the driver goes to change gear, the ignition system in the engine is cut for
a fraction of a second as the transmission comes to the point where the dog teeth
are about to engage. This momentarily removes all the drive input from the
gearbox making it a hell of a lot easier to engage the gears. And when I say
'momentary' I mean milliseconds. Because of this, it is entirely possible to upshift
and downshift without using the clutch (except from a standstill). Pull the gear out

of first, and as the throttle is blipped to get the engine to about the right speed, the
ignition is cut just as the gears engage.
Even the blip of the throttle isn't necessary now either - advanced dog boxes can
also attempt to modify the engine speed by adjusting the throttle input to get the
revs to the right range first.
Of course even with all this cleverness, it's still possible to get nasty mechanical
wear from cocked up gear changes, but in racing that doesn't matter so much - the
gearbox is stripped down and rebuilt after each race.