Spur gears are the most easily visualized common gears that transmit motion between two parallel shafts. Because of their shape, they are classified as a type of cylindrical gears. Since the tooth surfaces of the gears are parallel to the axes of the mounted shafts, there is no thrust force generated in the axial direction. Also, because of the ease of production, these gears can be made to a high degree of precision. On the other hand, spur gears have a disadvantage in that they easily make noise. Generally speaking, when two spur gears are in mesh, the gear with more teeth is called the “gear” and the one with the smaller number of teeth is called the “pinion”.
The unit to indicate the sizes of spur gears is commonly stated, as specified by ISO, to be “module”. In recent years, it is usual to set the pressure angle to 20 degrees. In commercial machinery, it is most common to use a portion of an involute curve as the tooth profile.