System for lubricating gear end faces

In a gear having a plurality of circumferential gear teeth and at least one smooth end bearing face for carrying an axial thrust load against a flat housing bearing face or the like, means for maintaining a hydromechanical fluid film between said bearing faces comprising a micro-contoured surface formed on the end bearing face of each said gear teeth about a substantial portion of the edge thereof sufficient to form a wedge space between said bearing faces which when filled with a fluid establishes a hydrodynamic film pressure distribution over the entire end bearing face of the gear tooth upon relative motion between said bearing faces, said micro-contoured surface extending from the tip to the root of each gear tooth and continuously around the root between adjacent gear teeth.

In a gear having a plurality of circumferential gear teeth and at least one smooth end bearing face for carrying an axial thrust load against a flat housing bearing face or the like, means for maintaining a hydromechanical fluid film between said bearing faces comprising a micro-contoured surface formed on the end bearing face of each said gear teeth about a substantial portion of the edge thereof sufficient to form a wedge space between said bearing faces which when filled with a fluid establishes a hydrodynamic film pressure distribution over the entire end bearing face of the gear tooth upon relative motion between said bearing faces, said micro-contoured surface extending from the tip to the root of each gear tooth and continuously around the root between adjacent gear teeth and across approximately 20% of the cordal width of the respective gear tooth.

In a gear having a plurality of circumferential gear teeth and at least one smooth end bearing face for carrying an axial thrust load against a flat housing bearing face or the like, means for maintaining a hydromechanical fluid film between said bearing faces comprising a micro-contoured surface formed on the end bearing face of each said gear teeth about a substantial portion of the edge thereof sufficient to form a wedge space between said bearing faces which when filled with a fluid establishes a hydrodynamic film pressure distribution over the entire end bearing face of the gear tooth upon relative motion between said bearing faces, said micro-contoured surface extending from the tip to the root of each gear tooth and continuously around the root between adjacent gear teeth, the depth of the micro-contoured surface at the edge of the respective gear tooth in relation to the end bearing face thereof being approximately 0.000050 inch.

In a gear having a plurality of circumferential gear teeth and at least one smooth end bearing face for carrying an axial thrust load against a flat housing bearing face or the like, means for maintaining a hydromechanical fluid film between said bearing faces comprising a micro-contoured surface formed on the end bearing face of each said gear teeth about a substatial portion of the edge thereof sufficient to form a wedge space between said bearing faces which when filled with a fluid establishes a hydrodynamic film pressure distribution over the entire end bearing face of the gear tooth upon relative motion between said bearing faces, said micro-contoured surface extending from the tip to the root of each gear tooth, and the depth of said micro-contoured surface at the edge of the respective gear tooth in relation to the end bearing face thereof being approximately 0.000050 inch.