Aug 10, 2009
In its mission to be the industry’s Total Gear Solutions Provider, Gleason will introduce a host of advanced new machines, tooling, and global customer support services at Gear Expo ’09, covering a wide array of processes for the complete production and inspection of all types of bevel and cylindrical gears.
Visitors to Gleason Booth #715 will be introduced to a number of breakthrough new products and technologies. Exhibited at the show will be:
- The GP 300 ES Gear Shaping Machine: Faster, more flexible. Gleason will display its next-generation GP 300 ES CNC Shaping Machine featuring a new design that both improves cycle times and delivers long-sought flexibility for shaping spur and helical gears (internal and external) up to 300 mm in diameter. The GP 300 ES Shaper is one of Gleason’s new generation of GP series of machines. Its electronic helical guide uses powerful Siemens 840D CNC and proprietary software to superimpose the additional rotational motion on the cutter spindle necessary to generate any required helix angle. As a result, the high procurement costs, and delivery and changeover time, associated with mechanical helical guides generally used by conventional shaping machines can be eliminated.
The GP 300 ES Shaper helps eliminate costly non-productive time too, by using a very fast ring loader device to automate workpiece load/unload. The loader features open-close style tooling and servo actuation to assure a smoother, faster, more reliable operation, and easy integration with various conveyor types. - The 350GMM Analytical Gear Tester: Reliability and quality combined with maximum efficiency. Displayed at the show will be one of the complete family of GMM Series inspection systems (with models available for gears up to 3 meters in diameter). The 350GMM Analytical Gear Tester features Renishaw® 3D probe head to provide maximum accuracy and flexibility for the complete inspection of all kinds of gears and gear-cutting tools. All Gleason analytical gear testers are equipped with the new Windows® VB.NET-based Gleason GAMATM software with intuitive user interface, and allowing for simple input screens for programming of workpiece and cutting tool data.
- The industry’s most complete line of gear-cutting tools and workholding solutions, including our new OPTI-CUT™ Indexable-Insert cutting systems for gashing, hobbing and shaping. Gleason is the industry’s leading supplier of virtually every tool type for the production of cylindrical and bevel gears of all types and sizes. For the production of large cylindrical gears, Gleason offers the new OPTI-CUT family, which provides users with all the performance benefits of the latest replaceable, indexable, carbide insert technology. OPTI-CUT can reduce cost-per-part by as much as 50% as compared to conventional high speed steel cutters. The family is versatile too, including gear gashing, hobbing and shaping products in a variety of cutter body sizes and insert types and geometries to meet a wide range of roughing and finishing, internal and external gear production requirements.
- Advanced workholding solutions. In addition, Gleason designs and produces a complete series of quick-change workholding equipment for both bevel gear and cylindrical gear, and non-gear, production machines. These systems range from the Gleason X-Pandisk® fixture systems which automatically align workpieces weighing up to 2,000 kg to reduce changeover time by up to 70%, to Quick-Flex® and quick-change arbors that significantly reduced fixture change times for the production of both bevel and cylindrical gears with diameters of up to 200 mm. For inspection systems, Gleason offers the high-precision LeCount® expanding arbors line, renowned for accurate, easy, extremely rapid location of all types of bore parts.
- Introducing Gleason Global Services (GGS): a new support system created to maximize Gleason machine uptime, 24/7, anywhere in the world. Gleason customers can rely on 250 factory trained service professionals located in over 50 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia to work around the clock to support a full range of technical support requirements, including:
- Services: Scheduled maintenance and PM contracts; machine inspection / troubleshooting /repair; relocations and reinstallation, recertification.
- Service Parts: Global stocked OEM repair parts to reduce downtime.
- Training: On site, in class, courses.
- Application Support: Programs to improve processes and cycle times.
- Equipment Upgrades: Upgrades, rebuilds, recondition to ensure maximum machine production.
- Remote Diagnostics: Machine monitoring and troubleshooting from anywhere in the world via Internet.
While not exhibited at Gear Expo, several other significant new technologies and products will be introduced by Gleason, including:
- The Titan® 1500G Grinding Machine, capable of a 50% increase in productivity by combining threaded wheel and profile grinding on a single machine platform. In the Titan 1500G grinding machine, Gleason has combined exceptional productivity gains with the very high precision required by today’s manufacturers of larger cylindrical gears. Among the Titan 1500G’s most important capabilities is its ability to offer users, on a single platform, both the greatest possible flexibility for the production of single parts with an advanced profile grinding option, and much faster fully-automated large-scale production by combining profile grinding and threaded wheel grinding into a single operation.
- OPTI-GRIND™, delivering up to a 40% increase in productivity. Significant productivity benefits are possible on Gleason Profile Grinding Machines utilizing the OPTI-GRIND process. This breakthrough technology uses multiple grinding wheels (for roughing and finishing) simultaneously at significantly reduced production times. In addition to the productivity gains inherent in the use of OPTI-GRIND, users also benefit from improved part quality as a consequence of optimized contact conditions between the grinding wheel and the workpiece flank.
- The Phoenix® 280C Bevel Gear Cutting Machine: improving productivity by as much as 35%. The new Phoenix® 280C is the most productive machine in its class, cutting cycle times anywhere from 20% to 35% compared to existing solutions. It incorporates a number of design breakthroughs, including the integration of automatic parts loader, measurement device, and chamfering station right on the machine. In addition, new quick-change cutter and arbor designs now make it faster and easier for operators to changeover for new parts and tooling. And like previous Phoenix machines, it features a unique monolithic column design – but now cast from an advanced polymer composite material for the very high stability and damping required in today’s high volume, dry machining production environments.
- The Agilus® 180TH Combined Process Machine: Turning – drilling – hobbing – chamfering and deburring - in a single setup. The Agilus 180TH features a universal and highly productive multi-functional concept capable of machining shaft and disk-shaped workpieces in a single setup. The tool turret for locating fixed or driven tools allows turning, drilling and milling operations as well as hobbing and subsequent generating chamfering and deburring to be performed in the same setting. The CNC-controlled tailstock enables the machine to clamp a broad range of workpieces with support on both sides to guarantee optimum rigidity during machining. Gleason’s Quick-Flex® workholding concept is used to meet requirements for rapid, user-friendly tool-change. The Agilus 180TH can be operated fully automatic in conjunction with one or more turning cells.
As Total Gear Solutions Provider, Gleason Corporation 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, 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; Bangalore; India, Studen, Switzerland; 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.