Rack and pinion gears are used to convert rotation into linear motion.The circular pinion engages teeth on a flat bar - the rack. Rotational motion applied to the pinion will cause the rack to move to the side, up to the limit of its travel.The rack and pinion arrangement is commonly found in the steering mechanism of cars or other wheeled, steered vehicles.A good example of a ‘rack and pinion’ gear system can be seen on trains that are designed to travel up steep inclines. The wheels on a train are steel and they have no way of griping the steel track. Usually the weight of the train is enough to allow the train to travel safely and at speed along the track. However, if a train has to go up a steep bank or hill it is likely to slip backwards. A ‘rack and pinion’ system is added to some trains to overcome this problem. A large gear wheel is added to the centre of the train and an extra track is, with teeth, called a ‘rack’ is added to the track. As the train approaches a steep hill or slope the gear is lowered to the track and it meshes with the ‘rack’. The train does not slip backwards but it is pulled up the steep slope.
Application:-
Rack and pinion gears provide a less mechanical advantage than other mechanisms, but greater feedback and steering sensation. A rack and pinion gear gives a positive motion especially compared to the friction drive of a wheel in tarmac. In a rack and pinion railway, a central rack between the two rails engages with a pinion on the engine allowing a train to be pulled up very steep slopes.
Rack and pinions gears are commonly used in the steering system of cars to convert the rotary motion of the steering wheel to the side to side motion in the wheels. The steering wheel rotates a gear which engages the rack. As the gear turns, it slides the rack either to the right or left, depending on which way the wheel is turned. Rack and pinion gears are also used in some scales to turn the dial that displays a weight.
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