Oct 16, 2009
With introduction of Gleason’s new PHOENIX® 280C Bevel Gear Cutting Machine, users now can reduce cycle times by as much as 35% on the production of bevel gears and pinions up to 280 mm in diameter.
Among the 280C’s many new standard features is a high-speed automatic loader that cuts workpiece changeover to just five seconds for gears, seven seconds for pinions. It’s an ideal solution for both automotive manufacturers seeking reduced workpiece costs on the highest volumes, and jobbers requiring greater flexibility to change rapidly from one part type to another.
Non-productive cycle times are further reduced through the use of an on-machine inspection device, which eliminates much of the time required to remove and inspect parts in a quality lab after a cutter change or when preparing to produce a completely new part or family of parts.
The time required to chamfer/deburr gears has been greatly reduced too, with an auxiliary chamfering spindle that chamfer/deburrs a gear in parallel to the one being cut, rather than as an operation typically performed in sequence after cutting.
The 280C also is designed to operate with greater reliability in production environments where dry machining is required. Its machine column, for example, is cast from an advanced polymer composite material delivering very high thermal stability and damping, making it ideal for high volume, dry cutting conditions. Chip containment is excellent too, ensuring that hot dry chips collect more efficiently away from the cutting zone. Overall, the 280C is easier to service and maintain, with simplified guarding to improve access to service areas, and new features like a servo door system, with robust rails, to provide improved reliability as compared to conventional pneumatic door systems.
A host of additional features make the 280C particularly easy for operators to perform more efficiently and productively day-to-day. A new tool-less hydraulic cutter spindle clamping design eliminates much of the time and effort generally required for the operator to change a bevel gear cutter system. Arbor changeover is faster and easier for the operator too, with a new quick-change workholding that is removed from the front of the machine rather than from the back, and with no special tools or fasteners.
New, advanced software, used in conjunction with either Fanuc 30i or Siemens 840D CNC, also empowers even less experienced operators with all of the information they need to optimize the set up, programming and operation of the 280C. Diagnostics screens also help operators ‘debug’ problems when they occur. Like all the latest generation Gleason machines, the 280C is network-ready, allowing Gleason to assist in problem-solving with remote diagnostics for installations anywhere in the world.
As The Total Gear Solutions Provider, Gleason Corporation is a world leader in the development, manufacture and sale of gear production machinery and related equipment. Gleason Corporation’s mission is to be The Total Gear Solutions Provider to its global customer base. Gleason is a world leader in the development, manufacture and sale of gear production machinery and related equipment. The Company’s products are used by customers in automotive, truck, aircraft, agriculture, mining, windpower, construction, power tool and marine industries and by a diverse set of customers serving various industrial equipment markets. Gleason has manufacturing operations in Rochester, New York; Rockford, Illinois; Dayton, Ohio; Plymouth, England; Munich and Ludwigsburg, Germany; Studen, Switzerland; Bangalore; India, and Suzhou, China and has sales and service offices throughout the North and South America, Europe and in the Asia-Pacific region.
More information about Gleason Corporation is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.gleason.com.