HYBRID MACHINES - GEAR TESTERS OF THE FUTURE?

HYBRID MACHINES - GEAR TESTERS OF THE FUTURE?

There is an emerging class of machine that is neither a true coordinate measuring machine nor a true CNC generative gear tester. These machines are attempts to combine the best features and abilities of both machine types in a single, integrated system that offers true, three-dimensional volumetric capabilities.

Next Dimension. Still undergoing beta tests, the Next Dimension 430 from Process Equipment Company is a dedicated gear tester that mixes CMM and generative tester technology to produce a very flexible gear metrology tool. According to Dick Considine, the software engineer on the ND 430 project, "The ND 430 is a volumetrically mapped coordinate measuring machine that is designed to do gear inspection." The difference is that this machine can measure features on a gear that traditional CNC generative testers cannot in ways that other gear testers cannot. "CNC generative testers can give you relative measurements," said Considine. "We can give you absolute and relative measurements."

The software driving the machine is a Windows 98-based package that is entirely configurable to the customer's needs. "With gear systems, one of the things in the industry is that most software packages out there havn't been designed. They have evolved. They've been around for a long time and they've been added to until there are now hodge-podges of stuff out there. Our system is brand new, the software totally rewritten and it's fully compliant with all three standards-ISO, AGMA and DIN."

Because it is so early in the machine's existence, the engineers at Process are still figuring out all the applications that the ND 430 will be able to perform. "In addition to gear measurement," said Considine, "it will be able to do a lot of other things such as measuring cams relative to gears, keyways relative to gears and gears relative to gears on the same assembly. Normal gear machines can't do that."

Radiance 1006. The Radiance Radial Measuring System is designed primarily for rotary tasks. While this naturally includes gears, the Radiance is not restricted to them. Rather, the machine is capable of scanning a variety of cylindrical and rotary parts as well as hobs, shafts, cams and other pieces. According to Jack Epstein, TSK product manager and the developer of the Radiance concept, the Radiance was developed to solve the problem of dual machine use. "Companies often use generative gear testers as well as CMMs to check their gears," said Epstein. "That's extra expense, extra training and extra floor space. The Radiance solves all that."

For gear makers, the Radiance offers a lot. The machine can measure all the features of a gear including teeth, faces, shafts, bolt hole circles and more. In fact, it has been designed to inspect any feature on a gear that needs verification. Users only have to learn to use a single software package, and the unit is as comfortable on the shop floor as it is in the lab. Added to this, the great flexibility the machine gets from its CMM ancestry makes it a very powerful tool to have in the shop. "The machine is best suited for rotary or cylindrical parts," said Epstein. "it can handle anything up to a meter diameter-gears, shafts, hobs-without fixtures. The machine senses part orientation and measures normal to any feature with the probe traveling 360?around the stationary part."

These two machines are both precise instruments capable of micron-level resolution and both are programmed to give gear people the information they need to qualify a part or to adjust machine tool settings. While all of this is promising, they are also both very new.

 

 

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