According to historical records, far in 400~200 BC in ancient China has begun to use gears, bronze gear unearthed in Shanxi is the oldest gear has been discovered so far, as a manifestation of ancient scientific and technological achievements of the south-pointing cart is the gear mechanism as the core of the mechanical device. In the West, more than 300 BC, the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle in the "Mechanical Problems", elaborated on the use of bronze or cast iron gear to transfer rotating motion. However, the ancient gear is made of wood or metal cast, can only transfer the rotary movement between shafts, can not ensure the smooth transmission, gear bearing capacity is also very small.

With the development of production, the smoothness of gear operation is valued. In 1674, The Danish astronomer Romer first proposed to use the epicycloid as the tooth profile curve to get smooth running gear. In the period of industrial Revolution in the 18th century, gear technology developed rapidly, and people carried out a lot of research on gear. In 1733, French mathematician Cami published the basic law of tooth meshing. In 1765 euler, a Swiss mathematician, suggested the use of involute tooth profile curve. In the 19th century, hobbing and gear shaper machines solved the problem of mass production of high-precision gears.

In 1900, Puford gear hobbing machine installed on the differential device, can bevel gear processing on the hobbing machine, hobbing gear has been popular since then, development method processing gear accounted for the overwhelming advantage, involute gear has become the most widely used gear.

In 1899, Lasher first implemented the scheme of shifting gears. The modified gear can not only avoid tooth root cutting, but also match the center distance and improve the bearing capacity of gear. In 1923, Wilderhaber in the United States first proposed the gear with circular tooth profile. In 1955, Sunovikov conducted in-depth research on the circular tooth profile, and the circular tooth profile gear was then applied in production. The gear has higher load capacity and efficiency, but it is not as easy to manufacture as involute gear and needs further improvement.