Abstract: A cutter disk having cutting blades oriented on its circumference with the cutting edges of the blades oriented perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the cutter disk thereby representing a plane which can be oriented to a work piece (e.g. face gear) under an angle equal to the pressure angle of the mating face gear set's pinion, and, which can be rotated around a virtual pinion axis to generate a tooth flank on the work piece.

Abstract: A cradle device for large pinion gears or blanks wherein a pinion may be supported and rotated for machining. The cradle device comprises one or more adjustable prismatic units each including a plurality of angular plates that are movable toward and/or away from one another along the width of the cradle device in order to raise and lower, and/or laterally shift, a pinion placed thereon so as to position the pinion for machining.

Abstract: Disclosed is a gear pair set comprising low shaft angle and offset bevel gears and a method for their manufacture including determination of the appropriate gear and pinion blanks and the basic machine settings for their manufacture. The pair of bevel gears comprises a first member and a second member wherein the members of the pair have a shaft angle in the range of greater than 0° to 30°, preferably greater than 0° to 20°, and have an offset in the range of greater than zero to the sum of half the mean pitch diameters of the two members of the bevel gear pair.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing bevel gears with a tool, such as a tapered milling tool (16), wherein the tool is located at a position offset (Rw) from the center position of a conventional face milling cutter and the tool follows a path, such as a circular arc path, during machining.

Abstract: A method of determining axial and/or radial runout due to workholding equipment and compensating for such runout during machining of a gear wherein axial and/or radial runout compensations are executed during the machining of each individual tooth slot.

Abstract: The present invention provides a controllable gear lapping process whereby the lapping process may be modified at discrete locations on the tooth surface in order to selectively modify the tooth flank surface.

Abstract: A method for providing a surface structure wherein conventional grinding micro scratches are broken up to provide a diffuse structure of micro scratches and micro flats resulting from grinding wheel motion comprising an eccentric revolving of the grinding wheel and/or grinding wheel pulsing.

Abstract: A manner of reducing or eliminating chip packing in gear cutting tools, especially in bevel gear cutting tools wherein the back surfaces of at least some cutting blades are modified by the introduction of a rake angled surface and/or a hook angled surface thereby resulting in an opening-up of the gap between successive cutting blades in a direction radially or axially away from the cutting tool. Such an opening-up facilitates the removal of chips from between the cutting blades as the cutting tool rotates during cutting.

Abstract: A method and tool arrangement for producing straight bevel gears and the like on a multi-axis computer controlled machine wherein a single tool is utilized in the machining process.

Abstract: A method and tool arrangement for producing straight bevel gears and the like on a multi-axis computer controlled machine wherein a single tool is utilized in the machining process.

Abstract: A method for providing a surface structure wherein conventional grinding micro scratches are broken up to provide a diffuse structure of micro scratches and micro flats resulting from grinding wheel motion comprising an eccentric revolving of the grinding wheel and/or grinding wheel pulsing.

Abstract: A machine for manufacturing bevel and hypoid gears comprising a machine column including a first side and a second side. A first spindle is movably secured to the first side with the first spindle being rotatable about a first axis. A second spindle is movably secured to the second side with the second spindle being rotatable about a second axis. The first and second spindles are movable linearly with respect to one another in up to three linear directions with at least one of the first and second spindles being angularly movable with respect to its respective side. The angular movement of at least one of the first and second spindles being about a respective pivot axis extending generally parallel with its respective side.

Abstract: A machine for manufacturing bevel and hypoid gears including a column, a first spindle, and a second spindle is provided. The column has a first side and a second side. The first spindle is movably secured to the first side and rotatable about a first axis. The second spindle is movably secured to the second side and rotatable about a second axis. The first and second spindles are movable linearly with respect to one another in three directions. At least one of the first and second spindles is angularly movable relative to its respective side about a vertical pivot axis.

Abstract: A machine for manufacturing bevel and hypoid gears including a column, a first spindle, and a second spindle is provided. The column has a first side and a second side. The first spindle is movably secured to the first side and rotatable about a first axis. The second spindle is movably secured to the second side and rotatable about a second axis. The first and second spindles are movable linearly with respect to one another in three directions. At least one of the first and second spindles is angularly movable relative to its respective side about a vertical pivot axis.

Abstract: A machine for manufacturing bevel and hypoid gears comprising a machine column including a first side and a second side. A first spindle is movably secured to the first side with the first spindle being rotatable about a first axis. A second spindle is movably secured to the second side with the second spindle being rotatable about a second axis. The first and second spindles are movable linearly with respect to one another in up to three linear directions with at least one of the first and second spindles being angularly movable with respect to its respective side. The angular movement of at least one of the first and second spindles being about a respective pivot axis extending generally parallel with its respective side.

Abstract: A method of machining at least one tooth flank of a gear with a finishing tool. The method comprises rotating the finishing tool, such as a grinding tool, and bringing the tool and the tooth flank into contact. Relative movement between the tool and the gear is provided to traverse the tool across the tooth flank along a path whereby the path produces a tooth flank geometry of a form which, when brought into mesh with a mating tooth flank to form a tooth pair under no load or light load, provides a motion graph curve that intersects, at least two times, a motion graph curve of at least one of an immediately preceding tooth pair and an immediately following tooth pair. The motion graph curve of the tooth pair describes contact between respective tooth flanks of said tooth pair from an initial entrance into mesh to a final exit from mesh as being over a gear rotation amount of greater than 1.0 pitch and preferably, about 1.5 pitch to about 3.0 pitch.

Abstract: Cutting blade and system that allows all the freedoms of the three-side-ground cutting blade while using a two-side-ground cutting blade. A new cutting edge can be defined on the two-side-ground cutting blade that will duplicate the tooth surface cut by the three-side-ground cutting blade with different hook and side rake angles. The new cutting edge of the two-side-ground cutting blade is determined by a plurality of points, each point corresponding to a point on the three-side-ground cutting blade, such that when cutting, each point along the cutting edge of a two-side ground cutting blade will lie on the same epicycloid generated by the corresponding points on a three-side-ground cutting blade with different hook and side rake angles.

Abstract: A machine (20) for lapping or testing gears comprising a single machine column (22) having a first side (24) oriented perpendicular to a second side (26) with the first side having a first workpiece spindle (28) rotatable about a first axis and the second side having a second workpiece spindle (38) rotatable about a second axis. The first workpiece spindle is movably secured to the first side and the second workpiece spindle is movably secured to the second side. The first and second workpiece spindles are movable with respect to one another along one or more of mutually perpendicular directions G, H and V. At least one, and preferably both, of the spindles are direct drive spindles. At any relative position of the spindles and their associated gear members (36, 48) along the G, H and V directions, the crossing points of their respective axes remains the same.

Abstract: A method of dressing a threaded grinding wheel such that twisting of workpiece tooth flanks does not occur during grinding. The grinding wheel is preferably dressed with a circular arc hollow-crowned generating front with the generating front being described by a radius, Rb, and dressed into an axial plane of the grinding wheel. The workpiece is then relatively shifted across the grinding wheel along a feed shift vector which is oriented perpendicular to the axis of the workpiece. With this method, the effects of flank twist can be eliminated, or, a controlled amount of flank twist can be introduced not only in helical gears, but also in spur gears. The grinding wheel may also be dressed with a circular arc barrel-shaped generating front. The principles of the present invention may also be applied to hobbing tools.

Abstract: A cutting tool comprising a cutter body member having a generally circular shape, a front surface, a back surface and an axis of rotation, the cutter body member includes an outer portion comprising a plurality of individual projections arranged spaced from one another about the cutter body with the space between successive projections defining receiving slots for cutting blades. The individual projections each further comprise an outer surface with at least one of the outer surfaces including a protrusion. Each of the blade receiving slots comprises opposing first and second side surfaces and an inner end portion with the inner end portion having a pair of angled mounting surfaces, one of the mounting surfaces extends from the first side surface and the other mounting surface extends from the second side surface with the angled mounting surfaces extending toward one another. Each of the angled mounting surfaces is oriented at an angle of less than 90 degrees with respect to its respective side surface.