Abstract: A gear cutting tool is provided with a chip breaking surface along its front face for breaking chip formations between a side and bottom of a tooth slot as the tool advances through the slot in a cutting operation.

Abstract: A mechanism for loading and unloading workpieces includes a transfer arm for aligning a number of workpieces into a stack which can then be moved to a loading arm for placement of the stack of workpieces on an arbor of a gear manufacturing machine.

Abstract: Controllable tooling is mounted in a carrier with parallel spring elements positioned at right angles to an intended path of adjustment for the tooling so that precisely controlled adjustments can be applied to the tooling while it is performing a cutting operation on a workpiece.

Abstract: A gear cutting tool is provided with angular planar surfaces along its front face for providing first and second side rake angles on the tool. The angular planar surfaces do not rquire resharpening when the tool is resharpened.

Abstract: A gear manufacturing machine which includes an endless chain for carrying a series of stock removing tools is provided with a versatile drive train system which can be adjusted for different methods of gear manufacture. The drive train system includes coupling components which can be engaged and disengaged for connecting or disconnecting certain portions of the drive train from parts of the machine. With this arrangement, a single machine can be utilized for carrying out roll generating or hobbing operations with one or more workpieces.

Abstract: A gear cutting machine is provided with an endless chain for carrying a plurality of tools into contact with one or more workpieces to thereby form gear tooth configurations on the workpieces. The endless chain is pressed into firm contact with a first series of rollers in the zone in which its tools make contact with a workpiece to thereby prevent unwanted deflections of the endless chain and its tools relative to the workpiece. A second series of rollers prevents side-to-side deflections of the endless chain in the work zone.

Abstract: A gear cutting machine is provided with an endless chain for carrying a plurality of tools into contact with one or more workpieces to thereby form gear tooth configurations on the workpieces. The endless chain is provided with tightening means for stiffening articulated links of the chain as it passs through a zone in which its tools make contact with a workpiece, thereby providing a rigid series of links in the work zone.

Abstract: An endless chain for carrying stock removal tools is provided with two sets of rollers for supporting and guiding the chain around a chain housing. One set of rollers functions to guide the chain through the work zone portion of its travel while the second set of rollers functions to guide the chain through non-work zone portions of its travel.

Abstract: An arbor is provided with a series of expandable collets for clamping a series of workpieces or other elements. The collets are designed with a variable force requirement for effecting expansion, and this assures sequential clamping of a series of workpieces or elements.

Abstract: A clamping means is provided between a movable housing and a fixed structure of an endless chain machine for reducing deflections between cutting tools carried by the movable housing and a workpiece carried by a separate housing of the machine.

Abstract: An improved apparatus for sharpening and resharpening cutting blades provides for very accurate positioning of a plurality of cutting blades relative to a single grinding plane for a grinding wheel. The apparatus includes means for positioning the cutting blades in precise relationships to a reference axis so that the reference axis can be used for establishing critical geometric surfaces on the cutting blades.

Abstract: Versatile face-mill cutting tool apparatus particularly useful in the manufacture of relatively large gears having diameters of 2 to 6 feet (0.6 to 2 meters). A single cutter body can be used in combination with one set of cutter blades to satisfy a wide variety of tool parameters: Blades and blade holders can be readily reversed as required for clockwise or counter-clockwise tool rotation. The angle of the cutting edge of each blade can be adjusted through a fairly wide range of settings as required by the design of the tooth slot being cut. Fine radial adjustments of cutting blades can be made for cutter truing and gear tooth development without shims. This latter feature is accomplished by moving the blade holders along respective straight line paths which, when extended, form an equilateral convex polygon about the center of rotation of the cutter body.

Abstract: The invention overcomes undesirable backlash effects in gear generators which cut gears by climb milling (i.e., with cutter blades rotating in the same direction as the work), these undesirable backlash effects being initiated by the intermittent cutting torques that tend to move the work momentarily ahead of the generating drive train as each blade is in the cut. Instead of a conventional spindle brake to oppose the cutting torques, an auxiliary motor in proximity to the work spindle end of the generating train applies torque to the train in the same direction as it is being driven by the main drive motor, and in the same direction as the cutting torques, thereby maintaining tightness in that portion of generating train which controls work spindle rotation by keeping the train gears with their "coasting" sides in contact rather than trying to keep their "driving" sides in contact.

Abstract: Large, coarse pitch gears are cut by a method utilizing incremental plunge-fed or incremental generation motions and a special circular face-mill type cutter having cutting blades spaced apart from each other at angular distances selected so that, when cutting a tooth slot, there can be intervals during the rotation of the cutting tool when no blade is engageable with the workpiece. It is only intermittently, during these short, no-cutting intervals, that required plunge feed or generating motions are made. At other times, i.e., when one or another of the cutting blades is engaged with the workpiece, the machine elements which are moved intermittently relative to each other to provide in-feed or generation, e.g., the oscillating cradle, rotating work-head, and sliding base, are all rigidly clamped to the machine base and to each other.

Abstract: A new gear design providing increased load-carrying ability while being particularly adaptable to manufacture by lower-cost forming methods with powder metal or plastic materials. The teeth of the gears are unconventional in appearance, having a generally elliptical face outline formed by oppositely curved root and topland lines so that the height of each tooth face is maximum at midpoint and reduces substantially to zero at the length extremeties. The teeth are substantially inclined .Iadd.depthwise .Iaddend.to the pitch .[.line.]. .Iadd.element .Iaddend.and each gear has a large and small end, the tooth slots being invisible when the finished gear is viewed along its axis from the large end. The disclosure includes constructions and calculations for designing conjugate pairs of such unconventionally-shaped gears having preferred running characteristics.