Bevel Gear-Grinding Machine Offers Thermal Stability

Gleason’s Phoenix 280G bevel gear-grinding machine accommodates gears ranging to 280 mm in diameter. Featuring a rigid Phoenix Monolithic column cast from advanced polymer composite material, the machine is said to achieve high thermal stability and provide damping characteristics. High-speed, direct-drive spindles combine with a quick-change wheel, arbor and coolant header designs, and automatic stock dividing simultaneous with wheel dressing to deliver faster floor-to-floor times. The automatic stock divider is mounted close to the spindle to ensure consistent gear quality. The unit automatically determines the tooth slot position of the pre-finished gear to provide accurate and reliable stock division, reducing operator errors.

The grinding machine’s work chamber lacks rails, wires and pipes that can collect swarf, keeping it clean for low preventative maintenance, the company says. The wheel dresser, for example, telescopes out of the work chamber to reduce the wiring and piping typically found there. Setups can be completed without tools, including the workholding, coolant header and grinding wheel. The coolant header also features small blocks that can be swapped out by hand and a laser guidance device that enables more efficient, repeatable part-to-part pipe alignment, while the grinding wheel can be released hydraulically.

The machine can be equipped with either a FANUC 30i or Siemens 740D CNC and features user-friendly Gleason software designed to simplify installation, maintenance and integration with robots and gantry-type automation.