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  • Manual transmission or simply a gearbox

  • has been serving automobiles well for many decades.

  • Even today it's the most popular form of transmission.

  • In this video we'll give a conceptual introduction on the workings of an actual manual transmission

  • with a reverse gear.

  • The basic question is why transmission is required in an automobile.

  • The power generated by the engine flows through the transmission

  • before it reaches the drive wheels.

  • The basic function of the transmission is to control the speed and torque

  • available to the drive wheels for different driving conditions.

  • For example, if you want to climb a hill you need more torque.

  • By reducing the speed at the transmission we will be able to achieve

  • higher torque for the same power input.

  • Conversely, if the torque demand is low we can increase the transmission speed.

  • Now, let's look at it's inner workings.

  • Manual transmissions work on the simple principle of gear ratio.

  • A basic transmission mechanism is shown here.

  • Here, the input and output shafts are connected through a countershaft.

  • A three-speed mechanism will look like this.

  • It is clear that just by sliding the gears we can achieve different transmission ratios.

  • This transmission is more specifically called a sliding mesh transmission.

  • They're good for controlling the speed but they have an inherent disadvantage.

  • It's quite tricky to slide from one gear and engage with another gear.

  • The constant mesh transmission permanently solves this problem.

  • Here, the gears are always in mesh but with a major difference.

  • Here, the output gears are loosely connected to the shaft.

  • If we connect only one gear to the shaft at a time

  • the shaft will have the speed of the connected gear.

  • With the help of a hypothetical connector

  • different gear ratios are illustrated here.

  • It is interesting to note that in 4th gear

  • the input and output shafts are directly connected.

  • The art of locking a loosely held gear to the shaft effectively and smoothly

  • lies at the heart of the manual transmission.

  • Let's see how this is done in actual practice.

  • First of all, the main shaft gears have a synchronizer cone-teeth arrangement.

  • A hub is fixed to the shaft.

  • A sleeve that is free to slide over the hub is also used in this system.

  • It is clear that if the sleeve gets connected with the teeth of the synchronizer cone

  • the gear and shaft will turn together.

  • or the desired locking action will be achieved.

  • But during the gearbox operation, the shaft and gear will be rotating at different speeds,

  • so such a locking action is not an easy task.

  • A synchronizer ring helps to match the speed of the gear with that of the shaft.

  • The synchronizer ring is capable of rotating along with the hub but is free to slide axially.

  • Before moving the sleeve, the clutch pedal is pressed

  • this way, power flow to the gear is discontinued.

  • When we move the sleeve, the sleeve will press the synchronizer ring against the cone.

  • Due to the high frictional force between the synchronizer ring and cone,

  • the speed of the gear will become the same as the shaft.

  • At this time, the sleeve can be slated further and it will get locked with the gear.

  • Thus, the gear gets locked with the shaft in an efficient and smooth way.

  • The same mechanism is employed to shift to other gears.

  • Such as first gear.

  • 3rd gear.

  • and 4th gear.

  • You can also see the gear lever changing mechanism.

  • A fifth gear is used to turn the output shaft at a higher speed than the input shaft.

  • Now let's see how the reverse gear works.

  • The reverse gear uses a three-gear arragement as shown.

  • Out of those, one is the idle gear

  • When the idle gear is pushed and connected to the other two gears,

  • the output shaft will turn in the reverse direction.

  • Please note here that the reverse gear does not have a synchronizer ring mechanism.

  • This means that the gearbox rotation has to stop completely before applying the reverse gear.

  • Thank you for watching the video.

Manual transmission or simply a gearbox

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