Once a gear is created, deburring becomes a necessary step to ensure a gear’s accuracy. Traditionally, deburring has been done by hand, but that method can often take hours to complete.
But with CNC technology, deburring can be done faster and with much tighter tolerances than could ever be accomplished manually.
CNC machines are becoming a common fixture in both small job shops as well as large gear departments for major companies. Their speed and accuracy often can make the initial cost a worthy investment.
CNC upgrade
Helios Gear Products (formerly Koepfer America) has made great strides in the field of gear deburring by upgrading its Tecnomacchine model TM 200-R3.
Helios Gear Products, LLC specializes in the parallel axis gear industry and offers hobbing machines with optional automatic loading systems, worm and thread milling machines, gear-inspection equipment, deburring and chamfering machines, consumable tools (including hobs, gear grinding, and honing wheels), hob and shaper cutter sharpening machines, and expert services for hob sharpening and part inspection.
The TM 200-R3 CNC produces finished work pieces in under a minute. This productivity comes from the machine’s CNC workstations and flexible automatic loading and unloading system, and it offers gear manufacturers a long-term competitive deburring solution. The TM 200-R3 CNC provides an optimum balance between productivity and flexibility, which is perfect for job shops as well as gear manufacturing departments with a complex variety of parts.
Complete deburring, brushing stations
This recent design iteration of the TM 200-R3 offers complete CNC deburring and brushing stations with the ability to save all parameters within each part program. Each of the machine’s four stations use CNC for vertical, tangential, radial, and inclination positions.
Like previous TM 200 models, this automated solution alleviates human error and increases gear deburring productivity by removing the need for repeated setups. This machine is ideal for job shops and other gear manufacturing facilities for the machine’s ability to process diverse part types and sizes. The machine’s base configuration allows part diameters up to 200 mm (7.9 inches), but alternative configurations allow for parts up to 300 mm (11.8 inches) and larger diameters.
User-friendly programming
For the TM 200-R3’s processes, a TexComputer control panel is integrated directly into the machine enclosure and offers user-friendly dialog programming. Users can store programs on a memory stick or USB drive to be saved for later use. This helps reduce set-up time. The TM 200-R3 also is equipped with an RJ45 port for cost-effective remote assistance with Helios Gear Products or Tecnomacchine service personnel.
The TM 200-R3 CNC deburring machine has five workstations:
- Loading/unloading station.
- Deburring top station.
- Deburring bottom station.
- Brushing top station.
- Brushing bottom station.
These stations can be equipped with milling tools, cutoff wheels, and brushes depending on the operation, and all stations work simultaneously for highly productive deburring; moreover, each station can be individually turned off, allowing the option of having only one station running.
Workers involved with setup can easily adjust all tools for position, orientation, pressure, and speed up to 30,000 rpm. Each of these CNC settings is programmable and can be saved within the part program. The stations are programmed via the control panel and are equipped with electric high-frequency tools or a silicon-coated nylon brush for the brushing stations. The TM 200-R3 also includes CNC radial tool wear compensation and uses flexible workholding solutions to accommodate a variety of part sizes and types.
10 carriage towers
The loading table of the 2019 TM 200-R3 CNC has up to 10 total carriage towers that rotate past the loading/unloading station. The operator can load all but one of the carriage towers with raw parts to be deburred, and a pneumatic loader arm picks and places parts into the work area. The machine’s rotary table then transfers workpieces between stations allowing each part to be deburred and brushed before returning to the loading/unloading station. The placement and removal of the parts to and from the carriage towers occurs while the machine is brushing or deburring other parts. This process has the added benefit of saving even more operation time, which in turn, increases productivity.
The TM 200-R3 CNC machine’s SPC (statistical process control) station offers another advantage. This allows the operator to conduct quality control on a part without stopping the machine’s part-to-part cycling. The SPC station also allows operators to manually load/unload single workpieces safely and efficiently.
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