Producing cylindrical and Bevel Gears with One Machine
When dealing with the production and machining of gears, mentioning Klingelnberg follows suit. The German group carries on an intense development activity. We will focus on C30, a machine which can produce both bevel and cylindrical gears thanks to the Power Skiving technology.
by Elena Magistretti
The Klingelnberg Group is active in the design and manufacture of gear cutting and grinding machines, measurement machines and software, while the “drive technology” division deals with third party productions of gears for such key segments as the automotive, naval, power station and wind farm industries.
Besides measurement machines and related software, Klingelnberg offers solutions with high technological content for the machining of cylindrical gears (branded as Höfler) and for the machining of bevel gears (branded as Oerlikon). Two main product lines are offered for bevel gear machining: the C (Cutting) series, for toothing operations, and the G (Grinding) series, for grinding operations. The first series includes C30, a machine capable of setting new standards for dry machining. All the machines in this series are equipped with a thermally stable, anti-vibration baseplate. The optimized axis configuration remarkably shortens the tool stroke thereby reducing the workload on transmission components and increasing the structure’s overall rigidity.
An integrated deburring tool provides the highest productivity and maximum security of the process thanks to the Pulsar method.
Among innovations introduced on the C series there is the Power Skiving concept, a technology which allows to increase productivity and flexibility. The Power Skiving technology enables gear production with a cutting tool without the need for successive grinding activities. It is therefore possible to create both bevel and cylindrical gears with the same machine.
A diversified range even for the production of cylindrical gears
In the field of cylindrical gear production, the Höfler Speed Viper machine stands out among the innovations introduced by the German group: this machine for gear grinding with generation grinders, which we already dealt with in the pages of this magazine, is ideal for high productivity and large series productions.
The range is available in four different configurations, with single and double spindle to perform operations in concurrent operation time, optimizing the process and eliminating idle times for loading and unloading.
The new Speed Viper machines are also equipped with Siemens 840D SolutionLine numeric control, operator panel with a multitouch 19” monitor and a dedicated software package developed internally by Klingelnberg.
Optical and roughness measurement are the main novelties
A number of innovations have been developed for the measurement machine domain, especially thanks to the integration of dedicated software.
These new tools enable the concept of “in-process” measurement, which helps avoiding any bottlenecks in the metrological rooms and therefore, thus optimizing the product development cycle.
The major innovations in the measurement are involved with software and the introduction of roughness measurement on any type of item, an unquestionable advantage in the field of measurement tools for swivelling and sliding details. Among the innovations which directly concern the machines, we mention optical measurement and the item temperature probe, a sensor which can detect temperature values of part, tailstock and table.
The availability of these values enables the machine to self-adjust automatically in order to make the necessary compensations, and to obtain a measurement precision down to one tenth of a micron in the 15-35 °C temperature range.