Gears

A gear train having gear wheels mounted on gear wheel supports, each support being of composite construction and comprising a gear wheel support sleeve, an internal abutment pillar fast with the gear wheel support sleeve, a carrier, and an abutment pillar protruding from a face of the carrier, the pillars being secured in abutting relationship and together comprising a flexible spindle co-axial with the sleeve, and carrying the gear wheel support sleeve, this spindle being capable of deflecting elastically, in use of the support, under gear load, there being an annular clearance between the spindle and the sleeve, and in which the pillars abut one another at a point along the spindle formed thereby that is the point of contraflexure of the spindle when, in use of the support, the spindle deflects under gear load;

• this point of contraflexure, the abutment faces of the pillars and the effective centre mass of the support being in a common plane transverse of the spindle and that contains the line of action of the gear tooth load.