Reishauer plans to exhibit the RZ 400 precision gear grinding machine at IMTS 2006. The machine incorporates new technology, including gearless planetary drives, acoustic sensing for alignment of dressing diamonds and low noise shifting (LNS), a feature that produces a random surface structure on the teeth to prevent excitation. According to the company’s press release, the machining area was designed to facilitate faster changeovers. Convenient location for the set-up of the dressing unit, ergonomic ease of wheel change and no restriction of the gear location on the shaft or arbor allow the RZ 400 to provide maximum machine uptime. The main column that carries the grinding spindle and slide rotates 90 degrees to facilitate wheel change and another 90 degrees to perform the wheel dressing operation. Gear profile modification can be realized without the need for special diamond discs due to the line dressing feature. Using the machine axis, the wheel is moved in a manner during the dressing cycle to produce root, flank and tip modifications that will be imparted to the gear during grinding. In addition, Reishauer will demonstrate the Felsomat Compact Cell FZ 250, which is designed for loading precision parts into high production machine tools. Parts are organized in stacks of steel or plastic baskets and processed using horizontal and vertical NC axes.