An automation cell for performing a plurality of secondary operations on manufactured parts is for use with a manufacturing machine operable to perform primary manufacturing of the parts. The automation cell includes a cell housing, a robot with a gripper mechanism capable of loading and unloading a part between the manufacturing machine and the automation cell, a gauging station being a secondary operation device and operable to gauge a parameter of a manufactured part, a marking device for marking the manufactured part, and a vision system for verifying the marking of the manufactured part.

The present disclosure provides a method of detecting and preventing grind burn from developing on a gear. The method includes performing acoustic emission testing while the gear is being ground during a grinding operation. The grinding wheel is evaluated during an eddy current test to detect material buildup on the grinding wheel which could cause grind burn. In addition, the method includes collecting swarf from the gear during the grinding operation and inspecting the swarf for an indication of grind burn.

A method for operating a gear cutting machine comprising the following steps: machining a first workpiece (1) in the machine, wherein the first workpiece (1) heats up due to the machining, determining at least one characteristic workpiece variable in the first workpiece (1) in the heated state, wherein a measuring device of the machine is used for the determination, determining a compensation on the basis of the at least one characteristic workpiece variable of the first workpiece (1) and at least one characteristic workpiece variable of a reference workpiece, wherein the characteristic workpiece variable of the reference workpiece is determined in the machine after a steady-state temperature has been reached, at least one compensation value is determined in the course of determining the compensation, adjusting of the machine setting by taking into account the at least one compensation value, and machining a further workpiece (2) in the machine.

An automation cell incorporating elements for performing secondary operations on a machined part is adapted to be disposed adjacent to a machining center for performing the primary operations on the part. The cell incorporates a robotic arm capable of being moved into position with respect to the machining center so as to load machined parts into the machining center and unload primarily machined parts for the performance of secondary operations in the cell. In a preferred embodiment the automation cell performs roll check operations on the primarily machined gear by bringing it into meshed engagement with a master gear and rotating the meshed gears and employing a sensor to monitor the roll-out of the machined gear.

A machine tool (20) for machining a gearwheel workpiece (1), having: a tool spindle (21) for fastening a tool (2), a workpiece spindle (22) for fastening the gearwheel workpiece (1), a CNC controller (50) and multiple axes for the CNC-controlled machining of the gearwheel workpiece (1) using the tool (2), an optical detector (40) to acquire image information (BI) of the gearwheel workpiece (1), and a module (51), which is designed to ascertain characteristic actual parameters of the gearwheel workpiece (1) based on the image information (BI) of the gearwheel workpiece (1).

A method for hard fine machining of teeth or a profile of a workpiece by a hard fine machining tool in a hard fine machining machine. The workpiece is clamped on a spindle and is machined by the hard fine machining tool. During or after the machining of the workpiece, at least one signal is captured by at least one sensor or a machine controller and is stored in the machine controller. In the machine controller, the measured signal or at least one variable derived therefrom is compared with stored reference data so as to check whether the measured signal or the at least one variable derived therefrom lies within a predefined tolerance. If the measured signal or the at least one variable derived therefrom lies at least partly outside the predefined tolerance, the workpiece is measured by an additional measuring device after the machining of the workpiece.

A manufacturing environment having a machine tool, a measuring device, a storage medium, and having a computer programmed to control: a) chip producing machining of a first workpiece in a machine tool, b) acquiring at least two machine parameters of the machine tool during the chip producing machining of the first workpiece, c) storing the machine parameters in the storage medium, wherein the storing is performed with assignment to the first workpiece, and d) repeating steps a) to c) for a number of n workpieces; and, after one of steps a) to d), or later, triggering a testing method including: (i) selecting at least one of the workpieces, (ii) performing an automated test of the at least one selected workpiece using the measuring device, or (iii) performing a processor-controlled evaluation of the automated test to classify the at least one selected workpiece as a good part, or a reject part.

A method for machining the tooth flanks of a bevel gear workpiece includes carrying out correction machining of a concave tooth flank and a convex tooth flank of at least one tooth gap by, after machining using a first machine setting, cutting free of the concave tooth flank by the bevel gear workpiece executing a workpiece rotation in a first rotational direction having a predefined first absolute value in relation to a gear-cutting tool and/or cutting free the convex flank by the bevel gear workpiece executing a workpiece rotation in another rotational direction having a predefined second absolute value in relation to the gear-cutting tool, and finish machining the concave tooth flank using a second machine setting, which differs from the first machine setting, and finish machining the convex tooth flank using a third machine setting, which differs from the second machine setting.

A combined gear cutting apparatus includes a workpiece drive portion, a first processing portion holding and moving a first tool to a processing position for a workpiece, a second processing portion holding and moving a second tool to a processing position for the workpiece, and a control portion which includes a storage portion storing workpiece information indicating a configuration of the workpiece before first processing is performed, first tool information, second tool information and relative position information. The control portion includes a tooth groove configuration calculation portion calculating tooth groove configuration information of the workpiece based on the first tool information, the workpiece information and the relative position information obtained when the first processing is completed. The second tool is configured to move to a start position of second processing for the workpiece based on the tooth groove configuration information, the second tool information and the relative position information.

A method including the following steps of: providing a component, wherein the component has a gearing, wherein tooth flanks of the gearing have machining marks, determining at least one geometric feature of the machining marks, such as the height difference of the peaks and valleys, the flank-specific positions of the peaks and valleys, the offset or the like; carrying out an optical measurement of the gearing of the component, wherein a course of a measuring path for the optical measurement and/or wherein positions of measuring points for the optical measurement are defined taking into account the geometric feature of the machining marks and/or wherein an evaluation of measured values of the optical measurement is carried out taking into account the geometric feature of the machining marks.