Oh my gosh! By changing keywords and searching 'automata gears', I found a website that is geared (no pun intended, but how cool, right?) to people making mechanical toys, Automata! At this website, the gears are broken down into types of mechanisms: cams, gears, ratchets, pulleys, levers, and cranks. Each one has a specific action associated with it and when combined with each other, a mechanized product can do just about anything.
Gears are divided into input and output gears. An input gear is the one being turned; an output gear is the one being moved by the input gear. The number of teeth per gear will determine the speed. A ratchet is a jerky version of a gear. It is a little more complicated but is effective in slowing the motion down in an automata. Pulleys can connect gears across a distance, or change the direction of the gear action. For example, a rubber band can be wrapped onto two gears that are a distance apart and, in essence, connect them. Because they work with friction, having an incredibly smooth edge would be a disadvantage.
Cams work in a circular motion with a rod (called a follower) rubbing along its edge to move whatever is attached to the rod up and down. This is called a reciprocal movement. Having absolutely smooth edges is critical because the follower has to slide along the edge of the cam in order to produce effortless movements.
Cranks convert circular motion into reciprocal motion (the up and down of the moving parts of the toy). They only move in a circular fashion and only 1 drive action per revolution. They are usually the mechanism used for hand-operated kinetic toys.
Levers work with a fulcrum of balance to achieve varying amounts of movement. Like a see-saw, the longer end produces the most amount of energy so a designer has to look critically at the end where the action is supposed to happen to determine how much length and force is needed.
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