Patent GB-807109-A (GB)
Title: Quality control apparatus for gear forming and finishing machines
IPC: B23Q7/12
Filed: 1956-07-18
Abstract: 807,109. Gear-cutting; gear-finishing. MICHIGAN TOOL CO. July 18, 1956 [Aug. 10, 1955], No. 22307/56. Class 83 (3). [Also in Group XIX] A gear-cutting-machine comprises a movable master-gear 96, Fig. 4, means to rotate a workpiece in mesh with the master - gear, and electrical means 120, 128 responsive to movements of the master-gear. The chuck 12, Fig. 2, of a hobbying-machine is driven by a motor 26 through gear-boxes 22,18 and a shaft 16. The hobspindle 30 is angularly adjustable on a slide 34 which can be fed by a fluid-operated unit 58 transversely across a head 31, angularly - adjustable on the box 22. The box 22 is mounted on a compound-slide 38, 40 to permit transverse adjustment and in-feed of the hob. Gearblanks are fed to working position by a loader 42, Fig. 1, are clamped for machining by fluidoperated means 5,6,-_and are removed along a passage 46 to a gear-classifier 44. Each machined gear passes through a passage 130, Fig. 4, and is checked by a pivoted finger 134. An arbor 90, Fig. 3, is advanced by hydraulic means 78 and expanded by means 88 to grip the gear which is then moved laterally by means 81 into engagement with the mastergear,96 while being rotated by a motor 94. The master-gear 96 yields angularly and laterally according to the helix-angle, size and shape of the gear-teeth to operate the switches 120, 128 through arms 102, 110. The switches actuate gates 144, 152, 154 which direct the gear along one of the passages 142, 146, 148, 150 into receptacles 48, 50 or shoots 52. The passages are respectively for incorrect helix-angle-gears, correctly-dimensioned gears, undersize gears and oversize gears. As an undersize gear passes along the shoot 148 it actuates a switch. This switch, and switches associated with the operation of the gates, actuate lights and counting- devices to give the operator a visual-indication of the machine's output of each type of gear. Two other machine-controlling counting-devices count, respectively, the number of gears produced and the corresponding permissible number of rejects, and if the latter " counts-out " before the other, the machine is stopped and a warning-light is illuminated. A third counter is set to stop the machine when a given number of rejects occurs consecutively, the counter being re-set whenever a correctly-dimensioned gear,is produced. The hob can be fed inwardly by a motor 164 driving a feed-screw through wormgearing and a manually-operated clutch, which is normally locked in operative-position. When two consecutive wrongly-sized gears are produced, the motor 164 is energized to feed the hob, in for oversize gears or out for undersize gears. In the latter case, the adjustment is made by an outfeed followed by a smaller infeed. Gears having incorrect-helix-angles do not actuate the feed-mechanism. Correcting- means actuated by the detection of incorrecthelix-angles may, however, be provided. In a modification, the helix-angle-check is eliminated. Each gear passes between a rotated and a freely-mounted master-gear. The latter is mounted on an arm which is moved according to the size of the gear to actuate switches and reject as over-, or under-, size, or accept it. Rejected gears cause in-, or out-, feed of the hob. In a further modification, the work-gear 262, Fig. 11, is carried by a conveyer 260 between master-gears 264, 268 which move to actuate gates 274, 276 to direct the gear into a shoot 278 or a shoot 280, or to allow it to remain on the conveyer, according to its dimensions. The gauging means may be used in a gear-finishing- machine and for compensating for tool-wear and temperature-fluctuations.