External spur gears are cylindrical gears with straight teeth cut parallel to the axes. Gears transmit drive between parallel shafts. Tooth loads produce no axial thrust. Excellent at moderate speeds but tend to be noisy at high speeds. Shafts rotate in opposite directions. Internal spur gears provide compact drive arrangements for transmitting motion between parallel shafts rotating in the same direction.
Crossed helical gears are helical gears that mesh together on non-parallel axes. Straight bevel gears have teeth that are radial toward the apex and are of conical form. Designed to operate on intersecting axes, bevel gears are used to connect two shafts on intersecting axes. The angle between the shafts equals the angle between the two axes of the meshing teeth. End thrust developed under load tends to separate the gears.