Gear Machining Slide with Pivoting Operating Head
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gear manufacturing machines are limited in machining large pieces due to restricted tool carrier length, leading to insufficient 'total working stroke' and potential 'heeling' issues when machining gears with large diameters, such as those required for wind power generators.
Innovation Solution
The machine design includes two working stations with a slide mounted on a pivoting element, allowing the operating head to move in a direction parallel to the piece-holder tables, enabling extended 'total working stroke' and preventing 'heeling' by allowing the operating head to move beyond the machining station for tool change and piece servicing during 'masked time'.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the tool carrier length is increased to machine larger gears, then the total working stroke is extended and heeling is prevented, but the device complexity and machine size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The machine is divided into multiple working stations (first working station, second working station, tool changing station) arranged in sequence. The operating head moves between these stations along a guiding device, with each station performing specific functions. This segmentation allows the total working stroke to be extended without requiring a single excessively long tool carrier, thereby reducing device complexity while achieving the needed stroke length.
2Productivity
If multiple tools are mounted on a single tool-carrier to perform different machining processes, then productivity increases, but the number of tools is limited by the stroke length of the operating head
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of mounting all tools on a single tool-carrier along the stroke direction, the invention arranges multiple working stations in sequence along the guiding device. Each station can be equipped with appropriate tools for specific machining operations. This spatial arrangement in another dimension (along the guiding device rather than on a single carrier) allows multiple tools to be utilized without being constrained by the stroke length of the operating head.
3Productivity
If a single working station is used for gear machining, then the machine structure is simpler, but production capacity is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The machine operates with multiple working stations arranged in sequence along the guiding device. While the operating head performs machining operations at one station, other stations can simultaneously perform tool changing or prepare for the next operation. This continuous arrangement eliminates idle time and ensures that useful action continues throughout the machining cycle, thereby increasing production capacity without excessive complexity.
4Volume of moving object
If the operating head stroke is extended to accommodate larger tools, then larger gears can be machined, but the risk of tool overlap and heeling increases
Solution Approach 1:
The machining process for large gears is segmented across multiple working stations rather than attempting to complete all operations in a single station with an excessively long stroke. This segmentation allows better control over tool positions and movements at each station, reducing the risk of tool overlap and heeling while still enabling the machining of large-diameter gears.
Data Source
AI summary
A machine for making gears.The machine comprises a piece-holder unit and an operating unit equipped with an operating head provided with at least one tool for machining a piece. Moreover, one piece-holder unit and the operating unit are provided with relative motion with respect to each another in a direction. The machine is characterized in that the operating unit is suitable to move, in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction, and in that the tool is mounted on a slide provided with a tangential motion defined by a direction.