Non-circular gears are making headway in many areas of application – in machines, engines, and pumps they ensure perfectly tuned irregular power transmission. This allows the replacement of expensive direct drives used to control the changes in power transmission electronically. The demanding production of non-circular components does present a challenge, however. Currently, the methods used, including EDM or gear shaping, are usually relatively expensive. The key question is, how can the components be produced more flexibly and more efficiently? The gear hobbing specialists at Koepfer have an innovative answer. Their new process makes it possible to machine mathematically definable non-circular contours on a standard hobbing machine for significant reductions in production costs.
Non-circular Gear Hobbing with Koepfer Technology
Truly extreme gear shapes can be produced on Koepfer gear hobbing machines. However, unlike the less extreme forms, these shapes cannot usually be defined in a mathematically simple way. Complex calculations and formulas are required. “In these cases, the software needs to be adapted for each application. Naturally we make our expertise available to our customers for this purpose,” said Manuel Hofmeier, a Koepfer development engineer. “Ultimately, our machines make standardized volume production of any convex contour feasible. It‘s a whole new dimension of gear hobbing.”
