The Hera 90 Gear Hobbing Machine Features Conversational Programming

Helios Gear Products (formerly Koepfer America) offers the Hera 90, a gear hobbing machine equipped with a FANUC 0i-MF control and servo motors, direct-drive hob and work spindles, and a Heidenhain linear scale on the X axis for repeatable size control.

The Hera 90 features an 8.5 diametric pitch rating, a 6,000-rpm maximum hob speed and as many as eight CNC axes. When equipped with the gantry loading and unloading system, the machine can hobb variety of gear types. Workpieces up to 12.600" (320 mm) in length can be manually loaded or automatically loaded if under 7.874" (200 mm) in length. The centerline distance between cutter and work spindles moves between 0.394" and 3.937" (10 and 100 mm), providing the capacity for many gear sizes.

Conversational programming simplifies program creation for various operations: single and multiple gears on one workpiece; multiple-cut cycles; combinations of radial, axial, climb, or conventional hobbing; crowning (lead modification); automatic shifting over a broken hob section; CNC hob shifting; and burr-free hobbing using two equal hobs. Straight bevel gears can also be cut via index milling or generating cutting by the Conikron method.

The machine is equipped with direct-drive torque motors as well as a cast iron machine base that provides stability and damping of cutting forces. Its slant-bed design helps to remove chips during the cutting process. Additionally, the automatic X axis (radial hob head position) retracts during power failure, ensuring the safety of tooling during electrical loss.