A Review of New Strategies for Gear Production

The traditional gear machining methods such as hobbing and shaping pose limitations on manufacturer's ability to efficiently manufacture gears in small and medium batches. In recent years, two new gear machining methods (InvoMillingR1 and five axis machining using gearMILL) have been developed that allow use of standard multi tasking machines and standard tools to provide a solution to these limitations. This paper describes the two techniques and compares their quality and production times with those of traditional gear manufacturing techniques. The paper discusses additional benefits of the two new methods in enabling new gear design strategies and efficient machining of special gear forms. In conclusion, it was found that the new methods are capable of providing better quality gears than the traditional methods in pre heat operations. While there is no single method which gives the best cycle time for all gears, multi tasking machines provide the flexibility to use the method that best satisfies customer needs.