transmission, in mechanical engineering, a device interposed between a source of power and a specific application for the purpose of adapting one to the other. Most mechanical transmissions function as rotary speed changers; the ratio of the output speed to the input speed may be constant (as in a gearbox) or variable. On variable-speed transmissions the speeds may be variable in discrete steps (as on an automobile or some machine-tool drives) or they may be continuously variable within a range. Step-variable transmissions, with some slip, usually employ either gears or chains and provide fixed speed ratios with no slip; stepless transmissions use either belts, chains, or rolling-contact bodies.
A widely used and inexpensive stepless drive consists of a V-belt running on variable-diameter pulleys. The sides of the pulleys are conical on the inside to match the taper of the V-belt, and moving them closer together causes the V-belt to move outward from the centre of the pulley and operate on a larger effective circle; this movement changes the speed ratio. Such drives depend on friction and are subject to slip.
Stepless transmissions employing rolling-contact bodies are known as traction drives. In these transmissions, power is transmitted in a variety of ways that depend on the rolling friction of bodies in the form of cylinders, cones, balls, rollers, and disks.
The transmission shown in the consists of input and output members having toroidal (doughnut-shaped) surfaces connected by a series of adjustable rollers. If R in the were twice r, the output speed would be half the input speed. For some applications, these transmissions are designed so that as the applied torque (turning moment) increases, the contact pressure between the bodies increases and slippage is reduced. A special traction lubricant that stiffens as the load is applied may be used to increase the tractive effort. Traction transmissions are used in applications where quietness is important. See also automatic transmission.