The Kapp KX300P gear grinding center—with its full range of flexibility, including the ability to dress wide ranges of gears without changing dressing disks and (optional) ring-loader automation—will be displayed at Gear Expo in Detroit October 16-19, 2007.
The KX300P offers both discontinuous form grinding and continuous generating grinding processes with either dressable or electroplated CBN tools for either process. Additionally, the machine offers optional on-board gear inspection, which significantly reduces setup time when producing prototypes, but can also be used for quality audits required for “batch” control when grinding with dressable wheels during production runs. The KX300P is a solution that can even be offered for complex compound gears with in-process measurement assisting with the alignment of separate gear elements. It is the first of its kind to be offered.
“As usual, customer demand has driven us to create solutions beyond our original expectations,” says Bill Miller, newly appointed vice president of sales at Kapp Technologies. “Hats off to Kapp’s designers and software developers, who consistently meet the demanding challenges of our industry.”
The KX300P has quickly become a best seller, due in part to its flexibility and productivity. It has a vertical workpiece orientation, which makes it well suited for the integration of an automatic loading system. As an integral part of the design concept, Kapp offers a custom-designed automatic loading system, further increasing the machine’s efficiency. The KX300P concept is also offered on a Niles platform, increasing the range of application for generating grinding up to 1000mm diameter gears. “These types of solutions yield a very high value to our customers,” Miller says. To date, Kapp has sold over 100 KX300P gear centers worldwide.
Kapp’s specialty form grinding machines—such as the VAS/VUS, RX/RNS, and VIG/VUG—are also important components of the product portfolio. Many of these highly successful machines, with heritage from the 1980’s, undergo systematic technology and design revisions and are produced today with modern controls, higher spindle speeds, and increased power to maintain their industry leading positions. For more than 10 years Niles has completed the manufacturing program of the Kapp Group, a family enterprise with a multilingual global presence.
The Kapp Group offers innovative technologies and systems for high precision hard-finishing of gears and profiles. Products trademarked as Kapp are primarily geared toward the automobile, aerospace, manufacturing, and compressor industries. The Niles products find their applications mainly in the wind energy, rail, marine, and mining industries. The Kapp Group encompasses six locations worldwide, with more than 750 employees. Through continuous research and development, advanced design, and manufacturing, as well as superior support, the Kapp Group offers specific solutions for its customers’ complex applications.
The KX300P machine will be on display at the Kapp-Niles booth #244 at Gear Expo 2007. For more information visit the company’s Web site at [www.kapp-usa.com].
