Patents by Inventor Gerd R. Sommer

Gerd R. Sommer has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4955163
    Abstract: A method is disclosed in which only one working point or machining point on a machining tool, which in general can comprise a grinding wheel or disc, is in machining contact with a workpiece such as a gear blank during a machining operation. The position of this single working or machining point can be selectively chosen within a machining region of the grinding wheel or disk and can be prescribed to lie in a zone of fixed or variable radius of the grinding wheel or disk. This is achieved through at least one feed motion, in general a feed motion of the grinding wheel or disc, effected in addition to feed motions known per se in machining processes performed essentially according to the indexing generating method. This means that the machining contact point between the grinding wheel or disk and the gear blank does not wander on the grinding wheel or disk in correspondence with the generating feed motions but can be confined to a predeterminate region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1988
    Date of Patent: September 11, 1990
    Assignee: Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon-Buhrle AG
    Inventor: Gerd R. Sommer
  • Patent number: 4815239
    Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed in which only one working point or machining point on a machining tool, which in general can comprise a grinding wheel or disc, is in machining contact with a workpiece such as a gear blank during a machining operation. The position of this single working or machining point can be selectively chosen within a machining region of the grinding wheel or disk and can be prescribed to lie in a zone of fixed or variable radius of the grinding wheel or disk. This is achieved through at least one feed motion, in general a feed motion of the grinding wheel or disc, effected in addition to feed motions known per se in machining processes performed essentially according to the indexing generating method. This means that the machining contact point between the grinding wheel or disk and the gear blank does not wander on the grinding wheel or disk in correspondence with the generating feed motions but can be confined to a predeterminate region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 1987
    Date of Patent: March 28, 1989
    Assignee: Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon-Buhrle AG
    Inventor: Gerd R. Sommer
  • Patent number: 4811528
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed in which only one working point or machining point on a machining tool, which machining contact with a workpiece such as a gear blank during a machining operation. The position of this single working or machining point can be selectively chosen within a machining region of the grinding wheel or disk and can be prescribed to lie in a zone of fixed or variable radius of the grinding wheel or disk. This is achieved through at least one feed motion, in general a feed motion of the grinding wheel or disc, effected in addition to feed motions known per se in machining processes performed essentially according to the indexing generating method. This means that the machining contact point between the grinding wheel or disk and the gear blank does not wander on the grinding wheel or disk in correspondence with the generating feed motions but can be confined to a predeterminate region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 1985
    Date of Patent: March 14, 1989
    Assignee: Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon-Buhrle AG
    Inventor: Gerd R. Sommer
  • Patent number: 4297788
    Abstract: A gear testing machine tests toothing characteristics such as tooth profile, tooth pitch or tooth helix angle and records deviations between desired and actual values on a test piece (10) which may be a gear, a worm etc. A radial carriage (16) is mounted on radial guideways (14) and is displaceable by means of a radial drive comprising a servomotor (16a), a tachogenerator (16b) and a position transducer (16d). In addition, a tangential carriage (26) and an axial carriage (30) are controllably displaceable by respective drives analogous to the radial carriage drive. The various drives are further connected to position regulators. The desired/actual deviations can be determined from a signal of a sensor (34) and correction values of the corresponding position regulators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 1980
    Date of Patent: November 3, 1981
    Assignee: Maag- Zahnrader & Maschinen AG
    Inventors: Armin Sterki, Gerd R. Sommer
  • Patent number: 4285133
    Abstract: A gear tooth flank testing apparatus and method wherein there is provided a housing erectable upon a bed or the like of a gear cutting machine. A measuring feeler is moveably arranged at the housing by means of two cross-wire arranged carriages having associated drive and displacement path measuring devices. The measuring feeler is moveable along two coordinated axes intersecting the axis of the workpiece to be tested. A control and evaluation circuit moves the measuring feeler along a tooth flank of the workpiece and compares the actual settings of the measuring feeler with predetermined reference settings. In particular, at the housing there is arranged a feeler bolt which can be pressed in spaced relationship from the measuring feeler against two neighboring tooth flanks of the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 1980
    Date of Patent: August 25, 1981
    Assignee: Maag Gear-Wheel & Machine Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Armin Sterki, Gerd R. Sommer
  • Patent number: 4276699
    Abstract: A method and test apparatus for testing the tooth flank profiles of large diameter gears, contemplates the provision of two contact elements and a measuring feeler, which is movable along a X-axis parallel to the connection line of both contact elements and a Y-axis extending transversely thereto. The contact elements are inserted into a respective tooth gap or space of a gear which is to be measured and the test apparatus is brought into a position where both of the axes are located in a plane normal to the gear axis. Then, there is determined the origin of a X-Y-coordinate system formed by both axis, the measuring feeler thereafter is moved along at least one tooth flank and the thus measured coordinates are compared with reference values. Importantly, the invention contemplates measuring the spacing between both of the contact elements and determining therefrom the spacing of the coordinate origin from the gear axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 1980
    Date of Patent: July 7, 1981
    Assignee: Maag Gear Wheel & Machine Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Armin Sterki, Gerd R. Sommer, Walter Naegeli