
54 CHAPTER 6
Within a gear train, a gear can serve one of three roles:
the driver gear, the driven gear, or an idler gear. Figure 6-3
shows which gears perform which roles in the mechanism
you just built. The driver gear is the first gear in the gear
train or, in other words, the first gear to transmit motion.
The driven gear is the last gear in the gear train or, in other
words, the last gear to transmit motion.
Finally, an idler gear serves two purposes. The first pur-
pose is to transmit motion from the driver gear to the driven
gear when they’re too far apart for their teeth to mesh.
The second purpose is to reverse the direction of rotation ...