The principal component of car transmission is the gearbox. This efficient feat of engineering innovation propels the gears into motion when the gear selector is activated, providing the driver the facility to change up and down the gears, controlling the speed effectively depending on the nature of the road.
A vehicle is propelled forward when the gearbox converts the speed of the engine into torque. Maximum torque and speed is achieved the gears are separated into separate categories with a corresponding gear attached to the category.
In more cases than not, gearboxes are designed to increase the torque whilst reducing the driveshaft speed of the engine in the car. This is achieved as the driveshaft in the gearbox rotates at a much slower speed than the driveshaft of the engine. This reduction in speed will convert energy into speed thrust, causing the gearbox driveshaft to produce more power, and ultimately more thrust.
The gearbox designs of manual transmission are simple, and require the manual movement of a sliding gear. The gear shifter and the lever are connected, allowing the slider gear to move. When the clutch is activated the sliding gear will disengage from the existing position and slide along the gearbox to re-engage with the rest of the gears, allowing you to select a higher or lower gear.
Contemporary manual gearboxes feature a diagonal gear design, resting alongside the principal gears of the vehicle. This co-ordination allows the sliding gear to effortlessly engage the remainder of the gears, preventing different gears from coming into contact with each other and damaging the transmission.
Automatic gearboxes are ever so slightly different. Unlike manual gearboxes, they select the appropriate gear automatically. The driver doesn’t need to shift the gears as they engine performs this on its own. Automatic gearboxes feature hydraulic systems, detecting the pressure of the fluids in the engine, and choosing the appropriate gear. Automatic gearboxes use torque as opposed to a clutch when selecting gears.
The eternal combustion engine is a wonderful example of engineering ingenuity. The gearbox is one of the principal, and more complicated, examples of innovation and what can be achieved with some considered thought and application.
