Flexible Abrasive Gear Grinding Unit for Fine Surface Roughness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gear grinding methods require high-precision shaping and special equipment for maintaining fine surface roughness, leading to increased production time and decreased efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A gear grinding unit utilizing flexible abrasive sheets with abrasive layers only on curved parts, overlapping to form a threaded grinding part that bends to match the gear tooth profile, eliminating the need for high-precision shaping and special dressing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a threaded grindstone is used to grind the tooth flank of a gear, then fine surface roughness can be achieved, but the grindstone requires high-precision shaping and special dressing work
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies this principle by using flexible abrasive sheets instead of rigid threaded grindstone. The abrasive sheets can bend and conform to the gear tooth profile automatically, eliminating the need for high-precision shaping of the grinding tool itself while maintaining fine surface roughness on the gear teeth.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the continuous threaded grindstone into multiple discrete abrasive sheets. Each sheet can be independently positioned and replaced, simplifying the manufacturing process and eliminating the need for complex dressing operations while maintaining the threaded grinding function through proper arrangement of multiple sheets.
2Manufacturing precision
If a threaded grindstone is used for gear grinding, then fine surface roughness is achieved, but time for dressing work increases production time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable abrasive sheets that can be easily replaced when worn, eliminating the time-consuming dressing operations required for conventional threaded grindstones. This approach prioritizes quick replacement over maintenance, significantly reducing production time while maintaining fine surface roughness quality.
3Manufacturing precision
If a threaded grindstone is used, then gear tooth flank can be ground, but incidental equipment for dressing increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the dressing function from the grinding system entirely. By using replaceable abrasive sheets instead of a threaded grindstone that requires dressing, the system eliminates the need for specialized dressing equipment and operations, simplifying the overall device while maintaining fine surface roughness capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables easy production of gear grinding units that achieve fine surface roughness without specialized shaping, maintaining contact with the gear tooth through restoring force, reducing abrasive consumption and eliminating the need for dressing.
Implementation Method 1
the abrasive sheets bend according to the profile of the tooth
Implementation Method 2
the bending abrasive sheets exert their restoring force for returning to their respective original positions
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(b)
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
To provide an easy-to-make gear grinding unit capable of grinding a tooth flank of a gear to have fine surface roughness without requiring any special shaping work such as dressing. A gear grinding unit (4A) includes a threaded grinding part (8A) which is rotatable around a rotation axis (S1) and engages with a tooth (9) of a gear (6) to be ground. Through a rotational motion of the threaded grinding part (8A), a tooth flank (9a) of the gear (6) is ground. The threaded grinding part (8A) includes a plurality of flexible abrasive sheets (10A) each including a virtual circle (13) having a diameter that equals a root diameter (DA) of the threaded grinding part (8A) and a bulge part (10a) bulging radially outward from the virtual circle (13). With the bulge parts (10a) of the abrasive sheets (10A) mutually shifted around the rotation axis (S1), the abrasive sheets (10A) are overlapped along the rotation axis (S1) to form the threaded grinding part (8A).