Pinion
Template:Short description Template:About
.svg)
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 vary in different systems, including
- the typically smaller gear in a gear drive train (although in the first commercially successful steam locomotive—the Salamanca—the pinion was rather large).<ref name="agma">Template:Cite book</ref> In many cases, such as remote controlled toys, the pinion is also the drive gear for a reduction in speed, since electric motors operate at higher speed and lower torque than desirable at the wheels. However the reverse is true in watches, where gear trains commence with a high-torque, low-speed spring and terminate in the fast-and-weak escapement.
- the smaller gear that drives in a 90-degree angle towards a crown gear in a differential drive.
- the small front sprocket on a chain driven motorcycle.
- the clutch bell gear when paired with a centrifugal clutch, in radio-controlled cars with an engine (e.g., nitro).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Rack and pinion
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In rack and pinion systems, the pinion is the round gear that engages and moves along the linear rack.