It may now be pointed out that the degrees of angle that the teeth move through always exceeds the number of degrees of angle contained in the paths of contact, or, in other words, exceeds the degrees contained in the arcs of approach and recess combined.
In Fig. 50, for example, are a wheel A and pinion B, the teeth on the wheel being extended to a point. Suppose that the wheel A is the driver, and contact will begin between the two teeth D and F on the dotted arc. Now suppose tooth D to have moved to position C, and F will have been moved to position H. The degrees of angle the pinion has been moved through are therefore denoted by I, whereas the degrees of angle the arcs of contact contain are therefore denoted by J.
The degrees of angle that the wheel A has moved through are obviously denoted by E, because the point of tooth D has during the arcs of contact moved from position D to position C. The degrees of angle contained in its path of contact are denoted by K, and are less than E, hence, in the case of teeth terminating in a point as tooth D, the excess of angle of action over path of contact is as many degrees as are contained in one-half the thickness of the tooth, while when the points of the teeth are cut off, the excess is the number of degrees contained in the distance between the corner and the side of the tooth as marked on a tooth at P.
With a given diameter of pitch circle and pitch diameter of wheel, the length of the arc of contact will be influenced by the height of the addendum from the pitch circle, because, as has been shown, the arcs of approach and of recess, respectively, begin and end on the addendum circle.
If the height of the addendum on the follower be reduced, the arc of approach will be reduced, while the arc of recess will not be altered; and if the follower have no addendum, contact between the teeth will occur on the arc of recess only, which gives a smoother motion, because the action of the driver is that of dragging rather than that of pushing the follower. In this case, however, the arc of recess must, to produce continuous motion, be at least equal to the pitch.
It is obvious, however, that the follower having no addendum would, if acting as a driver to a third wheel, as in a train of wheels, act on its follower, or the fourth wheel of the train, on the arc of approach only; hence it follows that the addendum might be reduced to diminish, or dispensed with to eliminate action, on the arc of approach in the follower of a pair of wheels only, and not in the case of a train of wheels.