One way to implement the growing performance requirements for transmissions is by optimizing the surface finish of the gearing. In addition to increasing the flank load capacity and the transmittable torque, this also allows for improvements in efficiency. On Oerlikon bevel gear grinding machines from Klingelnberg, fine grinding can be implemented efficiently in bevel gear production - even in an industrial serial process.

As coating technology improves to handle harsher conditions, cutting tool manufacturers are faced with new challenges during the resharpening process.

Peter Kozma, executive vice president of Liebherr-America, Inc., talks with us about Liebherr and its partners in the Sigma Pool.

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.

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.