ABSTRACT
The contact configuration o f tooth contact surfaces in gearing is very com plicated, but the following two situations can be considered: (a) two surfaces are in perfect contact, (b) two surfaces are not in contact wi th slight gap between them. Incidentally, tooth contact marking patterns provide information not only about Situation (a) but also about Situation (b), because the paint used does not have zero thickness. Therefore, the brightness o f the tooth contact pattern depends on the thickness o f transferred paint that indicates the gap between surfaces. On the other hand, the video output from the camera provides analog signals proportional to the brightness o f the contact pattern. I f binary conversion is performed, based on different threshold levels, a contact map o f a tooth contact pattern can be pro duced as shown in Figure 10. This contour map pattern corresponds to the size o f the gap between the contact surfaces, so we call this pattern a "tooth contact strength pattern."
