Precision in gearwheel production |
Coated hobs for precision in gearwheel production -
Lots of bite due to the high-performance coating
CemeCon expands capacities and optimizes processes
We catch a fleeting glimpse of the teeth before they bite into their victim ... What sounds like a scene from a horror film happens every day in production shops throughout the world: when hobs produce items such as starter ring gears for use in cars or gearwheels in high-performance transmissions. With the coating materials of the coating experts CemeCon from Würselen, these hobs keep their bite for a long time.
Every year, up to two billion gearwheels are manufactured and installed in transmissions worldwide. Unit figures like this can only be achieved with corresponding production organization and outstanding tools, namely hobs. At torques in luxury automobiles in excess of 700 Nm, there is often a need for complex geometries that must be produced with maximum precision. Shifting precision and smooth operation are essential as the users will not tolerate even the slightest error. Reduced production times are also essential when machining these high-tech transmissions. To this end, the feed rate and cutting speed are increased in production, which places huge demands on the tools and coatings. High-performance coating materials like HYPERLOX® from CemeCon provide an extra edge where standard coated tools have long suffered from "tooth" loss.
Sputtering for smooth surfaces
HYPERLOX® and HYPERLOX® BLUE are characterized by high levels of hardness and toughness combined with excellent adhesion. HYPERLOX® enables dry or wet processing with just one coating. HYPERLOX® BLUE also offers simple wear detection with its blue coloring. The particular feature of these high-
performance coating materials is that the CemeCon sputter technology provides homogeneous coating distribution on the tooth foot, head and flanks. This makes post-machining of the gearwheels such as grinding or honing largely unnecessary. This is how extremely precise tools with very tight tolerances for the best machining results are produced. For years, CemeCon has been optimizing the machining of gearwheels through this coating system, which is adapted to hobbing and also comprises pretreatment adapted to tooth cutting.
Huge demand for coating service
During 2004, the supply of hobs for the CemeCon coating service increased significantly. It became necessary to expand capacities and optimize existing processes even further. Whereas ten manual operations were previously needed for each hob, a new concept reduced the number of operations to three. The concept is combined with the selection of a suitable crane as well as the construction of different hoists. As well as having to coat around 500 tools per week and reduce throughput times, CemeCon had to carry out a host of other tasks. For instance, higher blasting, cleaning and stripping capacities had to be created in order to optimize the pretreatment and coating of hobs.
The result is a fully integrated production line that performs all work operations involving hobs in the immediate vicinity of the stripping area. The blasting systems as well as an additional cleaning system are arranged in star formation around a new crane. The coating area, where two new CC800®/9XL machines enhance the coating service for hobs, is directly connected.
Coating competence
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