Gear Tooth Grinding with Adaptive Radial Infeed Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gear grinding methods result in a significant number of rejects due to uneven tooth flank grinding, as the current radial infeed settings do not account for variations in pre-machining errors, leading to insufficient material removal on some tooth flanks.
Innovation Solution
The method involves measuring the tooth flank positions at multiple axial positions to determine actual oversize and adjusting the radial infeed of the grinding tool within the specified tolerance band to ensure all tooth flanks are machined, either maintaining the target value or increasing it if necessary to ensure chip removal occurs on all flanks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the radial infeed of the grinding tool is set to the target value within the tolerance band, then the tooth width and spherical dimension meet the specification requirements, but some tooth flanks are not ground cleanly due to pre-machining errors resulting in rejects
Solution Approach 1:
The invention measures the actual oversize on tooth flanks before grinding and determines the required radial infeed in advance. By performing this preliminary measurement and calculation, the system identifies workpieces that would otherwise be rejected and adjusts the infeed accordingly, allowing these parts to be salvaged as good parts while maintaining tolerance compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention dynamically changes the radial infeed parameter based on the measured actual oversize of each workpiece. Instead of using a fixed target value for all workpieces, the system adjusts the infeed within the tolerance band according to the specific oversize conditions detected, enabling adaptive processing that maximizes the proportion of good parts.
2Reliability
If the radial infeed is increased beyond the target value to ensure all tooth flanks are ground, then chip removal occurs on all flanks, but the tooth width and spherical dimension may exceed the tolerance band
Solution Approach 1:
The invention adjusts the radial infeed parameter dynamically within the tolerance band based on measured oversize. By changing this parameter adaptively rather than using a fixed value, the system ensures complete chip removal on all tooth flanks while maintaining compliance with tooth width and spherical dimension specifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses measurement data from the actual oversize detection as feedback to determine the appropriate radial infeed. This closed-loop approach ensures that the infeed is optimized for each specific workpiece, guaranteeing complete chip removal while keeping the final dimensions within the specified tolerance band.
3Productivity
If a fixed radial infeed setting is used for all gear workpieces, then the manufacturing process is simple and fast, but it cannot accommodate variations in pre-machining errors leading to rejects
Solution Approach 1:
The invention performs a quick measurement of the actual oversize before grinding as a preliminary action. This additional measurement step enables the system to identify and adjust for pre-machining variations, significantly reducing rejects and improving consistent quality across all parts while maintaining manufacturing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a static, fixed infeed setting to a dynamic, adaptive infeed determination. By making the radial infeed variable based on measured oversize, the system can accommodate variations in pre-machining errors while maintaining both manufacturing efficiency and consistent quality.
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
This approach increases the proportion of good parts produced by ensuring all tooth flanks are properly ground, even in cases where pre-machining errors exceed the standard tolerance range, thereby reducing rejects and improving overall quality.
Implementation Method 1
a sensor 3, for example an inductive sensor, acquires measurement data from which the position of the tooth gap can be inferred
Implementation Method 2
grinding the toothing by radial infeed of the grinding tool relative to the toothing
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for grinding the toothing (1) of a gear (2), in which method a target value (TBM) together with a tolerance range (OTBG, UTBG) is defined for the tooth width of the toothing (1). In order to achieve a higher proportion of accepted parts with the highest quality possible, according to the invention the method has the following steps: a) measuring the location of the surface of the tooth flanks of the gear (2) that has yet to be ground at at least two axial positions (P1, P2) offset in the direction of the axis of rotation (a); b) determining the actually present oversize of the gear (2) that has yet to be ground on the basis of the measured values determined in step a); c) grinding the toothing (1) by means of the radial infeed of the grinding tool relative to the toothing (1), c1) wherein the radial infeed of the grinding tool relative to the toothing (1) corresponds to the target value (TBM) of the tooth width, if the determination under step b) has indicated that such an oversize is present on all tooth flanks that chips will be removed from all tooth flanks, or c2) wherein the radial infeed of the grinding tool relative to the toothing (1) takes place at a value higher than the target value (TBM) of the tooth width, the higher value still corresponding to the tolerance range (UTBG) for the tooth width, if the determination under step b) has indicated that such an oversize is present on all tooth flanks that chips will be removed from all tooth flanks only with increased radial infeed.