A method wherein a cutting or grinding chamfering tool (25) is guided along the face width of a gear (12, 23, 52) through one tooth slot (8) (e.g. from heel to toe) while it contacts the topland corners (10, 1 1) of the respective concave and convex tooth flanks of adjacent teeth (2, 4). The tool moves to an index position, the gear is indexed to the next tooth slot position and the tool moves through the tooth slot (e.g. from the toe to the heel). The cycle is repeated until all topland corners are chamfered.

A method for cutting teeth into working gears using a tool, the tool main part of which has a plurality of cutting teeth which are arranged about a rotational axis and which protrude radially from the tool main part, the cutting teeth forming an end face, two tooth flanks which point away from each other, and cutting edges. The cutting edges are formed from the tooth flank edges adjoining the end face. In a first method step, tooth gaps which form tooth flanks are produced in the working gear by means of the cutting edges using a machining process in a first position of the tool relative to the working gear, and in a second method step, the working gear tooth flanks produced by the cutting edges are fine-machined by an abrasive tool surface.

An exemplary modified tooth proportion gear cutter includes a gear cutter that has a plurality of cutting teeth, and each one of the cutting teeth has a pair of cutting edges configured to cut a gear in a blank orientation so as to provide the gear in a final orientation. The gear in its final orientation has an involute tooth profile including a plurality of cut teeth and a plurality of valleys therebetween. The cutting edges are configured to cut the gear in the blank orientation, such that the gear in the final orientation includes the involute tooth profile with an active profile section and an operating pitch diameter that is spaced apart from the active profile section.

A method for producing a milling tool with cutting teeth includes the steps: defining a tooth profile to be machined with the milling tool from a workpiece to be processed to produce a gear tooth; determining a cutting tooth geometry, including the cutting edges of the cutting tooth geometry, with which the defined tooth profile to be machined in the workpiece to be processed can be machined using a milling process; subdividing the cutting tooth geometry into at least two different partial cutting tooth geometries, wherein the different partial cutting tooth geometries are configured such that at least one of the partial cutting tooth geometries has portions which recess behind the outer contour of the cutting tooth geometry and that the superposition of the different partial cutting tooth geometries reproduces the cutting tooth geometry; providing a milling tool blank; and machining of cutting teeth from the milling tool blank.

A gear machining apparatus includes a machining tool having a plurality of protruding tool edges on an outer periphery of the machining tool, and driving apparatuses that form a tooth on a work piece by rotating the machining tool around a central axis thereof, rotating the work piece W around a central axis thereof, and moving the machining tool relative to the work piece. Radial outer faces of the protruding tool edges form multiple steps that are parallel to the central axis of the machining tool such that the diameter of the machining tool increases in a stepwise manner from a tool leading end toward a tool base end of the machining tool.

The present invention achieves a machining apparatus which can easily be composed and a machining method which can perform gear machining or splined shaft machining easily by using an existing lathe. More specifically, the invention achieves a machining apparatus 1 comprising: a cutter 11 which includes a blade part 20 formed in the shape of a ring around a peripheral surface thereof and which is driven to rotate about an axis thereof; a workpiece holder 13 which holds a workpiece W rotatably; and a cutter driver 12 which moves the cutter 11 and the workpiece W relative to each other along an axial direction, wherein a gear or a splined shaft is formed on the peripheral surface of the workpiece W by synchronizing the rotation of the workpiece W with the relative movement of the cutter 11 and the workpiece W and by rotating the cutter 11, and wherein a plurality of the blade parts 20 are disposed side by side along the axis, the cutter driver 12 drives the cutter 11 to rotate in one direction around the axis and to reciprocate relative to the workpiece W along the axis, the workpiece holder 13 rotates the workpiece W in a forward/reverse direction in accordance with reciprocation of the cutter 11, and cutting is performed on the workpiece W so as to form thereon an external shape of a gear or a splined shaft by placing each of the blade parts 20 of the cutter 11 in contact with the peripheral surface of the workpiece W.

By combining shaping and milling actions, or smilling, the cutting tool can move through the entire usable portion of the spline and machine a tool relief into the face of the adjacent feature such as a shoulder before retracting, reversing direction, and repeating the cycle. The smilling apparatus and manufacturing method eliminates the need for an annular spline relief and the full length of spline engagement can be utilized for strength. The effective width of the spline connection apparatus manufactured by the smilling process conserves space and increases the load carrying capability of the spline connection.

The present invention achieves a machining apparatus which can easily be composed and a machining method which can perform gear machining or splined shaft machining easily by using an existing lathe. More specifically, the invention achieves a machining apparatus 1 comprising: a cutter 11 which includes a blade part 20 formed in the shape of a ring around a peripheral surface thereof and which is driven to rotate about an axis thereof; a workpiece holder 13 which holds a workpiece W rotatably; and a cutter driver 12 which moves the cutter 11 and the workpiece W relative to each other along an axial direction, wherein a gear or a splined shaft is formed on the peripheral surface of the workpiece W by synchronizing the rotation of the workpiece W with the relative movement of the cutter 11 and the workpiece W and by rotating the cutter 11, and wherein a plurality of the blade parts 20 are disposed side by side along the axis, the cutter driver 12 drives the cutter 11 to rotate in one direction around the axis and to reciprocate relative to the workpiece W along the axis, the workpiece holder 13 rotates the workpiece W in a forward/reverse direction in accordance with reciprocation of the cutter 11, and cutting is performed on the workpiece W so as to form thereon an external shape of a gear or a splined shaft by placing each of the blade parts 20 of the cutter 11 in contact with the peripheral surface of the workpiece W.

The present disclosure relates to a gear cutting machine for gear cutting a workpiece, in particular a toothed wheel, by form milling having at least one cutter head for mounting at least one end mill, wherein the cutter head or the end mill and/or the workpiece mount are adjustable and the end mill axis can be aligned approximately parallel to the machined tooth flank of the clamped workpiece, and wherein the cutter axis can be applied to the flank contour and the end mill has an outer contour corresponding to the flank contour.

The inventive device includes a work supporting portion for supporting a work rotatably about a first axis, a cutter supporting portion for supporting a cutter rotatably about a second axis different from the first axis and a moving portion for moving the cutter along a reference line extending through the first axis. The second axis is slanted relative to a reference plane oriented perpendicular to the first axis and a blade edge of the cutter is caused to come into contact with the work at an offset position offset from the reference line. The work and the cutter are driven in synchronism and the cutter is moved along the reference line.