It wasn’t long ago that cylindrical gear chamfering and deburring was almost an afterthought. Now the process ranks as high in importance as hobbing, shaping and grinding. Seemingly every gear manufacturer, particularly those developing transmission gears for e-drive applications, recognizes that anything less than a flawless tooth flank can result in premature transmission failure, less-than-optimal efficiency, and unacceptable noise. Thus, generating a chamfer to precise customer specifications is critical to minimize the potential for sharp, brittle edges after heat treat; avoid edge load situations in the gearbox; and eliminate excessive stock and hardened burrs in the tooth flank prior to the hard finishing operations (conditions which can greatly diminish tool life).
Production demands continue to rise with the burgeoning electrification movement. The desire for high-precision gears and low-cost manufacturing requires versatile and affordable high-efficiency processing to serve the needs of a variety of industries. Gathered here are a few recent hobbing solutions from Affolter Group, Helios Gear Products, and Nidec Machine Tool Corporation.
Helios Gear Products will debut two state-of-the-art gear manufacturing solutions at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, September 12–17, 2022.
Forest City Gear, an industry-leading manufacturer of fine and medium pitch custom gears, is proud to announce the promotion of Kent Blatchford to Gear Hobbing Supervisor.