Recent breakthroughs in profile grinding software are helping Anderson Precision Gears and others meet wind power’s insatiable appetite for faster production of large, high-quality gears.

Gleason Corporation has announced that agreement has been reached on all terms to acquire for approximately $36 million in cash the Hermann Pfauter Group, including, among other operations, Hermann Pfauter GmbH & Co., a privately held leading producer of gear equipment based in Ludwigsburg, Germany; its 76% interest in Pfauter-Maad Cutting Tools, a leading cutting tool manufacturer basked in Loves Park, IL; and Pfauter-Maag management's 24% ownership interest in that company. The acquisition includes all assets and liabilities, including the assumption of approximately $56 million in bank debt.

In 1877, Irish immigrant William Gleason, owner of a machine tool business in Rochester, NY, suffered a terrible blow. Gleason's son Tom died. The loss was not merely a personal one. Tom had been his father's assistant, and the senior Gleason had no one to fill the gap and help him carry on his business.

Rochester, NY - Gleason Corporation has acquired the assets of Hurth Maschinen and Werkzeuge GmbH, the designer and builder of cylindrical (parallel-axis) gear-making machinery and tooling based in Munich, Germany. The addition of Hurth gear shaving machines and tooling and gear honing machines will further broaden Gleason's expanding product line for manufacturers of cylindrical gears.

What follows is the first of a series of interviews Gear Technology is conducting with leaders in the gear industry. We will be asking them for their insights on where the industry is, where it's been and where they see it going in the future. Our first interview is with Jim Gleason, president and chairman of Gleason Corporation, Rochester, NY.

CNC technology offers new opportunities for the manufacture of bevel gears. While traditionally the purchase of a specific machine at the same time determined a particular production system, CNC technology permits the processing of bevel gears using a wide variety of methods. The ideological dispute between "tapered tooth or parallel depth tooth" and "single indexing or continuous indexing" no longer leads to an irreversible fundamental decision. The systems have instead become penetrable, and with existing CNC machines, it is possible to select this or that system according to factual considerations at a later date.

Question: Do machines exist that are capable of cutting bevel gear teeth on a gear of the following specifications: 14 teeth, 1" circular pitch, 14.5 degrees pressure angle, 4 degrees pitch cone angle, 27.5" cone distance, and an 2.5" face width?

There are different types of spiral bevel gears, based on the methods of generation of gear-tooth surfaces. A few notable ones are the Gleason's gearing, the Klingelnberg's Palloid System, and the Klingelnberg's and Oerlikon's Cyclo Palliod System. The design of each type of spiral bevel gear depends on the method of generation used. It is based on specified and detailed directions which have been worked out by the mentioned companies. However, there are some general aspects, such as the concepts of pitch cones, generating gear, and conditions of force transmissions that are common for all types of spiral bevel gears.

The most conclusive test of bevel and hypoid gears is their operation under normal running conditions in their final mountings. Testing not only maintains quality and uniformity during manufacture, but also determines if the gears will be satisfactory for their intended applications.

Industry News from October/November 1984 Gear Technology.