Page 474 - Gear Technology Solutions

30.12 Design Change Flexibility with Existing Tools

The question is what optimizations and design changes are possible without
the requirement of a tool geometry change? A tool geometry change appears
to be in particular for the permanently coated CBN grinding wheels as shown
in Figure 46, an economical restriction which is why the flexibility of Uniflex
was analyzed in comparison to Coniflex/Coniface as well as to grinding with
dressable grinding wheels.

Figure 46: Permanently CBN coated Coniface Grinding wheel

The last section explained that G-AGE corrections for errors like tooth depth,
tooth thickness, spiral angle and pressure angle are possible without a change
of the tool geometry. Those corrections not only cover manufacturing toleranc-
es caused by the machines and the tools but also allow for certain additional
optimizations such as tooth contact position changes. Another question is
based on the case of small or even significant design changes of the tooth
form. In the case of straight bevel gears, the only restriction comes from the
tool point width and the edge radius. If the tool tip and the edge radius is cho-
sen rather small, then one grinding wheel can cover a large variety of different
jobs. Uniflex even allows changing the length crowning and the profile crown-
ing without a different grinding wheel being required. In summary, the following

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