This is a type of Rotary Force Pump. Gear
pumps are extremely simple and reliable. Depending on the number of teeth,
the "idler" gear might be driven directly by the "drive" gear. Generally with
six or more teeth this is possible. In other cases an extra gear external to the
pump drives the secondary gear at the same rate.
The teeth on Gear Pumps can
be spur (straight), helical (slanted), herringbone, etc. There can be two, or
more teeth on each gear -- twenty is not uncommon. The diameter of the gears and
their thickness varies widely.
The many variations have different effects
on the efficiency, strength, smoothness and other areas of operation.
(This is an 12-frame
animation, converted to animated GIF format and then super-compressed for Internet
transmission. (Note: On some Internet browsers it may be displayed much less smoothly
than the CD-ROM version, where the frames are timed to a thousandth of a second.))
