Abstract: A machine (10) disclosed incorporates spline rolling apparatus (12) having a pair of racks (30) of a construction that permits precise rolling of coarse pitch splines (45). Each rack (30) includes a toothed forming face (32) and a flat base surface (58) as well as a flat side support surface (60) that cooperatively provide accurate location of the rack during the spline rolling. Teeth (56) spaced along the toothed forming face have tapered ends such that a rotatably supported workpiece (14) which is moved axially between the racks (30) during reciprocal driving thereof is progressively formed with the coarse pitch splines (45) without excessively loading the teeth. Both straight and curved tapers are disclosed, preferably on both ends of each tooth, and the teeth are disclosed as being both perpendicular to the direction of the rack to roll straight splines as well as angularly with respect thereto to roll helical splines.

Abstract: A method and apparatus (12) for cold sizing a round workpiece (14) having round surfaces of cylindrical shapes that are coaxial about a central axis A of the workpiece and have different diameters. A support (54,55) rotatably mounts the workpiece (14) about its central axis A between a pair of die assemblies (24a, 24b) which are spaced from each other. Each die assembly (24a,24b) includes a plurality of dies (56,58,60,62) that are respectively aligned with the round surfaces (46,48,50,52) of the workpiece (14). Movement of the die assemblies in opposite directions as each other engages sizing surfaces (66,68,70,72) of the dies with the aligned round surfaces of the workpiece to pressure size the workpiece surfaces. In one embodiment of the sizing apparatus (12), the die assemblies (24a, 24b) have elongated shapes and are moved rectilinearly in a parallel relationship to each other to perform the sizing.

Abstract: A method for simultaneously forming splines and an annular groove in a metal piece having a central portion and ends on each side thereof, the method including the steps of forming a substantially U-shaped annular recess (56) along the central portion of the workpiece which has a flat base and spaced sidewalls which are spaced apart to a greater distance than the side walls of the groove (82) to be formed, deforming the recess (56) to initially form a groove (82) therein, progressively and simultaneously forming splines in the ends of the workpiece and forming the groove (82) in the recess of the workpiece, and moving metal outwardly and upwardly from the recess as the groove (82) is formed to fill the remainder of the recess (56) and form the sidewalls of the groove (82).

Abstract: Apparatus for flanging and splining a thin-walled blank to make a splined and flanged power transmission member (42). A toothed mandrel (40) is rotatably supported between a pair of toothed dies (26,30; 112,114; 138,140). The dies and mandrel have chamfered surfaces (68,70) for forming a flange (66) on the thin-walled member as the toothed surfaces of the dies and mandrel are relatively moved during a spline forming operation.

Abstract: A machine (10) for forming grooves and splines in workpiece (32) including a mounting assembly (26,28,34,36) defining a support axis for rotatably supporting the workpiece (32) for rotary movement about the axis, and dies (38,40;90,92) including opposed spline forming toothed work surfaces (46) spaced on opposite sides of the support axis for forming splines therein when the work surfaces (46) are moved relative to one another. Each of the dies (38,40;90,92) include a body portion (68) having an elongated straight slot formed therein transverse to the toothed work surfaces (46). A groove forming element (48) removably mounted in the slot simultaneously deforms the workpiece to form a groove as the toothed work surfaces (46) form spline in the workpieces. The groove forming element (48) has a constant width when viewed in transverse cross section and has a portion secured in the slot and a groove forming edge extending from the slot. The edge has leading portion and a trailing portion.

Abstract: A rotary forming machine assembly including a lower base (12) and a pair of spindle housings (14) including front (16) and rear (18) walls. The housings (14) are movably mounted on the base (12) for movement toward and away from one another. A tool spindle (20) is rotatably mounted between the front (16) and rear (18) walls of each of the housings (14) for rotation about spaced axes (B) to form a workpiece therebetween. The invention includes a deflection control bar (26) extending between and interconnecting the front walls (16) of the spindle housings (14). The control bar (26) limits the distance apart the (B) axes of the tool spindles (20) may move at the front walls (16) in response to the forming of a workpiece (22) between the tool spindles. The control bar is adjustably supported on the front walls (16) for selective movement in a direction parallel to a plane intersecting the axes (B).

Abstract: A rack (12,14) for burnishing toothed gears (16) in cooperation with another like rack so as to provide accentuated axial crowns on the burnished teeth is disclosed as having a unitary body (42) of an elongated shape with leading and trailing ends (44,46) and a toothed forming face (48) extending between the ends. The toothed forming face (48) includes a leading section a of teeth that extend parallel to a mounting surface (54) of the rack body and at least one section of inclined teeth (50) preferably embodied by an intermediate section b and a trailing section c. A fixture (60) for grinding the inclined tooth sections b and c on a pair of cooperable racks (12,14) includes a pair of inclined support surfaces (66,68) and a clamp (70) for clamping the rack bodies during the inclined tooth grinding.

Abstract: An improved die (20) and method for splining a thin-wall sleeve (22) of a power transmitting member by meshing die teeth (32) and teeth (28) of a toothed mandrel (26) on which the sleeve is mounted between the meshing teeth. The die (20) is preferably embodied by an elongated die rack and includes a toothed forming face (30) having a plurality of leading tooth groups (32a,32b) of a progressively changing height from one tooth to the next tooth of the same group. Each of the tooth groups has a length for splining an arcuate segment of the sleeve of no more than ninety degrees and has an average tooth height that is approximately equal to the average tooth height of each other leading tooth group. A stepped tooth group (32c) and a trailing tooth group (32d) of full teeth complete the thin-wall splining after the initial partial splining performed by the leading tooth groups.

Abstract: Thin-wall spline forming apparatus (20) disclosed includes toothed forming racks (24) having associated tooth pitch lines (48) and a toothed mandrel (22) having a tooth pitch circle (50) that is tangent to the forming rack pitch lines and of a diameter equal to the mean diameter of thin-wall splines (44) formed by meshing the rack and mandrel teeth with a thin-wall sleeve (38) of a power transmission member mounted on the mandrel between the meshing teeth. A mandrel drive gear (60) drives the mandrel in coordination with the forming racks (24) and is driven by a pair of drive racks (62) mounted for movement with the forming racks. Best results are achieved when the mandrel (22) has the same number of teeth (40) as the number of teeth (64) of the drive gear (60) and with the mandrel and drive gear teeth aligned with each other.

Abstract: Apparatus (22,22') for forming thin-wall sleeves (24) is disclosed as including a spring biaser (52) for tools (48) of the apparatus. A mandrel (36) and a tool housing (42) cooperate to mount the sleeve (24) for forming under the impetus of an actuator (54) that moves the tools (48) against the force of the spring biaser (52). Upon such tool movement, forming ends (50) of the tools form the sleeve (24) into circumferentially spaced recesses (40) of the mandrel to provide sleeve splines or teeth (56). The spring biaser (52) preferably includes a plurality of springs (92) mounted within associated spring openings (98) in the tool housing between tool slots (46) in which the tools (48) are supported for movement. In one embodiment, the forming is performed inwardly with the sleeve mounted about an internal mandrel. In another embodiment, the forming is performed outwardly with the sleeve mounted within an external mandrel.

Abstract: Thin-wall sleeve splining apparatus (10) is disclosed as including a loader (22) having a radially expandable mandrel (24) which is inserted within a dual ended thin-wall sleeve (14) to secure the sleeve in preparation for splining one of its ends (12,16). A rotatable loading spindle (26) supports the expandable mandrel (24) and is moved by an actuator (28) to position the sleeve over a toothed mandrel (20) whereupon a pair of toothed dies (18) are moved in opposite directions to mesh die and mandrel teeth with the sleeve therebetween to form the thin-wall splines. After the splining, the actuator (28) moves the loading spindle (26) away from the toothed mandrel (20) for unloading of the splined sleeve. In the preferred construction of the apparatus, the toothed forming dies are embodied by elongated die racks (18) that are slidably mounted by upper and lower bases (32,34) of a splining machine (30).

Abstract: A rack (12,14) for burnishing toothed gears (16) in cooperation with another like rack so as to provide accentuated axial crowns on the burnished teeth is disclosed as having a unitary body (42) of an elongated shape with leading and trailing ends (44,46) and a toothed forming face (48) extending between the ends. The toothed forming face (48) includes a leading section a of teeth that extend parallel to a mounting surface (54) of the rack body and at least one section of inclined teeth (50) preferably embodied by an intermediate section b and a trailing section c. A fixture (60) for grinding the inclined tooth sections b and c on a pair of cooperable racks (12,14) includes a pair of inclined support surfaces (66,68) and a clamp (70) for clamping the rack bodies during the inclined tooth grinding.

Abstract: A toothed rack (22) disclosed has a toothed forming face (24) of a novel construction for forming splines (42) in a thin-wall sleeve (36) of a power transmission member (28) by meshing of the rack and a toothed mandrel (26) with the sleeve therebetween to form the splines. The toothed forming face has leading, intermediate, and trailing tooth groups (40a, 40b, 40c) that perform the splining. The pitch line tooth thickness of the leading tooth group is at least equal to and preferably greater than the pitch line tooth thickness of the trailing tooth group which has an addendum of a greater height than the leading tooth group. The teeth of the intermediate tooth group have an addendum height that is shorter than the teeth of the trailing tooth group and preferably equal to the addendum height of the leading tooth group. The pitch line tooth thickness of the leading tooth group is equal to and preferably greater than the pitch line tooth thickness of the intermediate tooth group.

Abstract: A loader (10) for a forming machine (12) is disclosed as including a horizontally elongated transfer beam (46) supported by a linkage (52) and moved by a dual output cam unit (62). A first output (64) of the cam unit (62) is connected to an intermediate portion (50) of the beam (46) and a second output (66) thereof is connected to the linkage (52) to cooperatively move the beam (46) vertically and horizontally in a closed path such that workpieces (30) are moved into alignment with a work station (22) of the machine (12) for forming and out of alignment therewith after the forming is completed. The cam unit (62) has first and second cams (68,72) that move associated first and second followers (200,224) to move the first and second outputs (64,66) which respectively actuate horizontal and vertical movement of the transfer beam (46).

Abstract: A hydraulic control circuit (10) for operating a loader (12) of a machine for splining an annular thin-wall sleeve of a power transmission member is disclosed as including valving (116) for communicating supply and return conduits (102,116) with load and unload cylinders (14,16) to provide loading and unloading movements. Load and unload valves (118,120) of the valving have load cycle positions where the load cylinder drives both the loading and unloading members (26,28) which clamp a thin-wall member during such movement to provide loading thereof for splining. In an unload cycle position of the valves, both the load and unload cylinders are hydraulically driven in an unloading direction opposite to the loading movement. The loading and unloading members (26,28) are moved away from each other by their associated cylinders in an index cycle of the valves to permit indexing of a load table (30) under the operation of an index valve (162) of the circuit.

Abstract: A loader (12) for a spline rolling machine wherein die and mandrel teeth (26,42) mesh with the thinwall sleeve (44) of a power transmission member (30) located therebetween to form splines therein is disclosed as including a loading member (58) with a locator (68) on a rotatable clamp (66) thereof and as including an unloading member (60) having a depression (72) that receives the locator (68) so as to permit clamping of an end wall (46) of the power transmission member (30) in an accurately located relationship while still ensuring disengagement during unloading upon movement of the loading and unloading members (58,60) away from each other at an associated load table (36).

Abstract: Thin-wall spline forming apparatus (20) disclosed includes toothed forming racks (24) having associated tooth pitch lines (48) and a toothed mandrel (22) having a tooth pitch circle (50) that is tangent to the forming rack pitch lines and of a diameter equal to the mean diameter of thin-wall splines (44) formed by meshing the rack and mandrel teeth with a thin-wall sleeve (38) of a power transmission member mounted on the mandrel between the meshing teeth. A mandrel drive gear (60) drives the mandrel in coordination with the forming racks (24) and is driven by a pair of drive racks (62) mounted for movement with the forming racks. Best results are achieved when the mandrel (22) has the same number of teeth (40) as the number of teeth (64) of the drive gear (60) and with the mandrel and drive gear teeth aligned with each other.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for making rotary die racks having an elongated shape including a partially circular forming face of less than 180.degree. and a flat mounting surface that faces in the opposite direction as the forming face. Cast metal blanks of the die racks are secured to a rotatable spindle in a side-by-side relationship to turn the forming faces. Forming projections, i.e. teeth that extend parallel to the axis of the forming face, are then cut in the turned face. Heat treating of the die racks is then performed before mounting thereof on a fixture to perform a finish grinding of the teeth. The spindle preferably includes a spindle member and a central shaft on which the spindle member is mounted for rotation. The fixture includes a pair of spaced end plates and a bed that extends between the end plates and has a stop and an adjustable positioner for clamping the die racks.

Abstract: A forming machine (10) is disclosed as including a rotary drive mechanism (30) that provides accurate control of the degree to which forming is performed. The drive mechanism includes a pair of drive members (34) mounted for movement with a pair of elongated dies that are preferably embodied as die racks (22, 24) mounted on lower and upper bases (12, 14) of the machine. A toothed drive gear (32) is meshed with drive teeth (52) on each of the drive members and is rotatably driven by a drive spindle to thereby move the drive members and hence the dies in order to form a workpiece mounted between the dies. The drive mechanism has particular utility in a machine for forming a thin-walled annular sleeve of a workpiece mounted on a toothed mandrel (38) between the dies. An automatic loader is preferably utilized to mount the workpiece on the mandrel such that movement of the dies engages the die and mandrel teeth with the workpiece sleeve therebetween in order to provide the forming.

Abstract: A rotary forming machine and a rotary tool utilized therewith for performing a forming operation on a workpiece. A work spindle rotatably mounts the workpiece about a first axis and a pair of tool spindles which each support a plurality of the tools are rotatably mounted about spaced second axes on opposite sides of the first axis. Each tool has a partially circular forming face extending about the associated tool spindle axis for an angle less than 180 degrees with forming projections that engage the workpiece. Associated pairs of the tools on the two tool spindles cooperate with each other to simultaneously form the workpiece in an opposed relationship to each other. Each tool includes a metallic body with a leading end and a trailing end between which its forming face extends as do base and side wall surfaces. The rotary tools preferably have elongated shapes with maximum heights that are approximately 25 percent of their length.