Patent GB-1345346-A (GB)
Title: Machine for running pairs of gears together having an automatic server
IPC: B23F23/12
Filed: 1971-12-06
Abstract: 1345346 Lapping gears GLEASON WORKS 6 Dec 1971 [16 Dec 1970] 56432/71 Heading B3D [Also in Divisions G1 and B8] A machine for running a pair of gears together for lapping or testing comprises an automatic server having a first conveyer means 14, Figs. 1 and 2, for receiving and forwarding workpieces to be installed at a work station W, a second conveyer means 24 for accepting and tending gears in pairs as they have been removed from the work station, transfer means 18 for moving the workpieces through the work station between the first and second conveyers and for installing and removing a pair of workpieces in and from respective workholders 30, 32 at the work station, and means for sensing, subsequent to operation of the installing means, at least one of the following conditions; (a) improper seating and gripping of one of the workpieces by the work-holders, or (b) improper axial position of one of the two workpieces when the workpieces are in tight meshing engagement at the workstation, or (c) improper vibration occurring when the workpieces are in rolling engagement. In the operation of the machine, gear sets each consisting of a gear G and pinion P, are placed on a magazine 14 and are moved step-by-step to a load rest 16 from which they are moved by the transfer mechanism 18 to the working station at the same time as a gear pair is moved therefrom to a turntable 20. If one of the conditions referred to earlier was present at the workstation, the gear set on the turntable is moved to a reject shoot 26 and the conditions indicated on a display panel 426, Fig. 21. If the gear set on the turntable had been acceptable and consequently lapped, the set is moved to an unload mechanism 22 and outgoing magazine 24. The transfer mechanism 18, Fig. 3, consists of a bracket 21 slidable to-and-fro along a guide rail 34 by a piston-and-cylinder device 31. A carriage 27 is guided by rods 33 engaging sleeves in the bracket 21 for vertical movement effected by a piston-and-cylinder device 29. The back of the carriage has two sets of jaw means for gripping two gear and pinion sets G, P and for conveying them from the load rest 16 to the work station and from the station to the turntable, respectively. Each of the jaw means is hydraulically operated to cause jaws to grip and release the gears and pinions. The incoming magazine 14 is of the "walking beam" type and is secured by a bracket 102, Figs. 7 and 8, to the machine frame. A bracket 104 is vertically movable along guide rods 108 on bracket 102, and a further bracket 106 is horizontally movable on rods 118 on the bracket 104, both brackets 104, 106 being movable by respective piston-and-cylinder devices 110, 114. The gears of the gear sets are received in slots in the bracket 106 for advance thereby, and the pinions, which are maintained in predetermined relation with the gears, are received between projections 132 of bar 130 for advance with the gears. A pair of rails 142 provided with slots 141 are provided at the top of the fixed bracket 102 for receiving the gears. The gears are advanced slot by slot as the result of the vertical and horizontal movements of the brackets. Likewise, the pinions are advanced by the projections 132 which lift the pinions from rails 145 during advance movements of the bracket 106 and move to a position clear of the pinions during the return movement of the bracket. Pins (143, 147, Fig. 10, not shown) in the slots 141 and on rail 145 engage the teeth of the gears and pinions to maintain their angular position for correct engagement at the work station. The loading rest 16 for receiving the gear sets from the magazine 14 consists of a gear carrier 202, Fig. 12 slidable along rails 218, and a pinion carrier 204 movable along rails 220, 221 by a chain drive 219 from a motor 232. A lost motion connection between the carriages permits the spacing therebetween to vary at one end of their travel to that necessary to receive a gear and pinion from the magazine 14, and at the other end of their travel to space the gear and pinion so as to be gripped by the jaw sets of the transfer mechanism 18. The turntable 20 has a table 300, Figs. 13 and 17, rotatable about a shaft 302 by a piston-andcylinder device 306 from a position where the pinion P can be inserted in an opening 301 and a gear G is placed between guides 364 by the transfer mechanism 18 to a position, if the pinion and gear are to be rejected, in which they can be ejected on to a reject shoot 312 by pawls 324, 326 on arms 320, 322 attached to a member 318 movable by a piston-and-cylinder device 340. If the gear and pinion were accepted and consequently lapped at the work station, the pinion is pushed by arm 368 (Fig. 3) along guides 360 into a fork 359 which is movable about a shaft 352 by a piston-and-cylinder device 356 to deposit the pinion in the unload rest 22 and magazine 24 at the same time as the gear is moved along guides 364. The magazine 24 is similar to the ingoing magazine 14. Lapping is effected in a chamber 400, Fig. 18, which has three interlocking members 402, 408, 410. During lapping, the members are moved to enclose the chamber by a double-acting device 412, the chamber having an inclined surface 404 leading to an opening 406 for collecting the used lapping compound. After lapping, members 408, 410 telescope into member 402 so that no part of the chamber is above the area of the work station and the lapping compound cannot drip into the work-holders. The sensing of improper seating and gripping of the gear and pinion at the work station is effected by supplying air under pressure along channel 430, Fig. 21, to the back face of the pinion and similarly to the back face of the gear. If seating is incorrect, the drop in pressure is detected by a switch 432 and indicated on a panel 426. A similar channel 436 and switch 438 detects an undersized pinion shaft. If the gear and pinion are correctly seated, the gear head 32 is advanced and if meshing is incorrect, a position switch 440 is actuated to operate the indicator panel. If the gears mesh correctly but a burr or the like causes vibration, a transducer 444 actuates the indicator panel. The faults relating to each set of gears rejected is indicated on the panel.