Raise quality and reduce transmission part costs

Power honing system hones hardened gears of between 20 and 160mm diameter and uses the in-process feedback of measured values to maintain tolerances and records the results.
The VSC 400 PH Manufacturing System - PH stands for Power Honing - hones hardened gears of between 20 and 160mm diameter, uses the in-process feedback of measured values to maintain tolerances and records the results. The EMAG pick-up system - tried and tested on more than 5,000 machines in the field - loads and unloads the components. The result: shorter throughput times, and a reduction in unit production costs.

As the design is based on that of the well-established VSC series, the VSC 400 PH is also a vertical machine that loads and unloads itself with the help of its pick-up system.

This allows for the integration of the VSC 400 PH into production lines and its optimal combination with upstream processes.

The advantages of the new machine: * Tighter manufacturing tolerances on gear profiles.

* Less rejects.

* Up to 40% smaller footprint.

* Lower labour costs through integrated automation.

* A reduction in the cost of spare-part stockholdings and service calls.

EMAG is the only supplier of manufacturing systems for the whole range of metal-cutting processes employed in the production of gears - from raw-part to honed, ready-to-install component.

The VSC 250/400 DUO WF (see Press Release 3/2005) turns and gear hobs the raw-parts.

The VSC 250/400 DS hard turns the hardened gears and grinds the bore (and cone).

The VSC 400 PH subsequently hard precision-machines the tooth profile.

* Trends in automotive transmission technology - all modern transmissions have one thing in common.

The power transfer capacity they offer is greater than ever before, while the spatial limits it is subjected to remain the same or have become even tighter.

They transfer higher torques and work on an improved efficiency level.

It is the reason why much greater demands are made on the pairing.

A precondition for this is tighter manufacturing tolerances than hitherto customary.

How gearwheels have been hard precision-machined up to now - up to now, it has been standard procedure to spread the precisionmachining process of hardened gearwheels over a number of machines.

This made it inevitable that the frequent re-chucking should lead to deviations in contour, dimension and position of the workpiece and also result in comparatively long throughput times.

In addition, solutions involving machines from different manufacturers mean considerably larger floor space requirements, as well as multiple spare part stockholdings and, consequently, correspondingly higher costs for the services that are being provided by the various suppliers.

* Process stream with the VSC 400 PH Manufacturing System - as a honing center the VSC 400 PH delivers finish-machined, ready-to-install gears with a first-rate surface finish.

The dimensional accuracy of the workpieces is ascertained through in-process gauging.

This is yet another advantage the new system has over the widely used post-process gauging technique or the manual check.

Adaptive measuring strategies, i e, measured value feedback - the processing and feedback of measured values to the machine control - ensure lower reject rates.

As the VSC 400 PH is based on the VSC series of machines - of which more than 5,000 are well-established in the field - and its individual elements are therefore similar to, for instance, those of the VSC 250/400 DUO WF Gear Hobbing Center - the headstocks for turning, gear hobbing, internal grinding and power honing are of the same construction, as they are part of the same modular design - maintenance costs are much reduced.

The worldwide service network of the EMAG Group offers a high degree of machine availability.