Kenneth J Kaufman

US Patent:

51407817, Aug 25, 1992

Filed:

Jan 13, 1992

Appl. No.:

7/819899

Inventors:

William L. Marsh - San Jose CA
Kenneth L. Kaufman - Saratoga CA

Assignee:

Westinghouse Electric Corp. - Pittsburgh PA

International Classification:

B24B 2902

US Classification:

51281R

Abstract:

Reduction of index undulation errors associated with helical gear teeth caused by the grinding process during the manufacture of the gears without degrading other gear accuracies (e. g. profile, tooth spacing) below levels required for precision (AGMA16 or DIN1) gears. A mold of the space between several gear teeth is obtained, with the mold having a length equal to or greater than the wavelength of the undulation error to be reduced. A microfinishing film is affixed to the mold and the mold is placed relative to a gear tooth so that the microfinishing film rests against a tooth surface having the undulation error. The grit size of the microfinishing film is such as to remove approximately 2 to 3 millionths of gear material with each pass through the teeth by the mold. Multiple passes are made by hand until the undulation error is reduced to an acceptable value. During the process the microfinishing film is replaced after approximately 3 or 4 passes and the process is repeated for each tooth of the gear.