METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING A BAR BLADE CHUCKING AND/OR A BLADE SLOT OF A BAR BLADE CUTTER HEAD FOR BEVEL GEAR PRODUCTION

Abstract

Method for monitoring a bar blade chucking and/or a blade slot of a bar blade cutter head for bevel gear production, having the following method steps: providing a main body (26) of a bar blade cutter head (4), wherein the main body (26) comprises blade slots (30) for accommodating bar blades (10), and wherein a component (10), such as a bar blade (10), a test specimen, or the like, is chucked in a detachable and replaceable manner in at least one blade slot (30) of the main body (26) of the bar blade cutter head (4); exciting oscillations of the component (10); measuring the displacement and/or velocity and/or acceleration of the component (10); analyzing the measurement.

Claims

1. A method comprising: detachably and replaceably chucking a component in a main body of a bar blade cutter head, wherein the main body comprises a plurality of blade slots configured to receive bar blades and said chucking includes chucking the component in at least one of the plurality of blade slots; exciting oscillations of the component; measuring one or more of displacement, velocity, or acceleration of the component during said oscillations and thereby obtaining at least one measurement thereof; and analyzing the at least one measurement.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the component defines a bar blade or a test specimen.

3. The method according to claim 1, further including laying the main body of the bar blade cutter head on a horizontally-oriented planar plane.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the exciting step comprises: pre-clamping the component in the main body using a force element supported between the component and a stop; and exciting said oscillations of the component using an oscillation exciter.

5. The method according claim 1, wherein one or more of the main body defines a cutter head central bore defining a longitudinal axis thereof, and the exciting step includes exciting oscillations of the component in a radial direction relative to the longitudinal axis; or the main body defines an annulus defined by the plurality of blade slots, and the exciting step includes exciting oscillations in a tangential direction relative to said annulus.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said measuring step includes optically measuring the one or more of displacement, velocity, or acceleration.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the analyzing step comprises determining dynamic resilience of the component as a frequency response thereof using an input signal including a force signal generated by the oscillations and generating an output signal representing movement of the component.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the analyzing step comprises one or more of: comparing the at least one measurement to a reference value; or computing a parameter using the at least one measurement and comparing the parameter to a reference parameter.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising one or more of: measuring a test specimen or a test bar blade in a reference cavity of a reference bar blade cutter head that is structurally equivalent to the bar blade cutter head and thereby obtaining at least one reference measurement thereof suitable for determining one or more of the reference value or the reference parameter; or measuring at least one reference bar blade of at least one reference bar blade cutter head that is structurally equivalent to the bar blade cutter head and thereby obtaining at least one reference measurement thereof suitable for determining one or more of the reference value or the reference parameter.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the analyzing step includes comparing the at least one measurement to reference data or reference parameters to at least one reference measurement stored in a cloud-based database.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the chucking step includes chucking a component defining a bar blade in each of the plurality of blade slots and the method includes executing the exciting, measuring and analyzing steps for each chucked bar blade.

12. An apparatus comprising: a main body of a bar blade cutter head including a plurality of blade slots configured to receive a component therein; a receptacle configured to position the main body; an oscillation exciter configured to generate oscillation excitation of the component; and a measuring device configured to measure one or more of displacement, velocity, or acceleration of the component during said oscillation excitation; wherein the apparatus is configured for (a) performing detachable and replaceable chucking of the component in at least one of the plurality of blade slots; (b) activating the oscillation exciter and thereby exciting oscillations of the component; (c) measuring said one or more of displacement, velocity, or acceleration with said measuring device and thereby obtaining at least one measurement thereof; and (d) analyzing said at least one measurement.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the oscillation exciter includes a stop, a force element, an exciter, a force sensor, and a contact element configured to contact the component, wherein the force element, the exciter, and the force sensor are arrayed between the stop and the contact element.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the force element, the exciter, and the force sensor are arranged coaxially.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the main body defines a cutter head central bore and the stop is located in the cutter head central bore.

16. The apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a controller/analyzer configured to fully automatically perform steps (a)-(d).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] FIG. 1A shows a cross section of an apparatus for monitoring blade bar chucking;

[0057] FIG. 1B shows a top view of the apparatus of FIG. 1A;

[0058] FIG. 2A shows a cross section of another apparatus for monitoring blade bar chucking;

[0059] FIG. 2B shows a top view of the apparatus of FIG. 2A;

[0060] FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a method for monitoring blade bar chucking.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] FIG. 1A shows an apparatus 2 for monitoring a bar blade chucking of a bar blade cutter head 4. The apparatus 2 has a receptacle 6 for arranging a main body 26 of the bar blade cutter head 4. The receptacle 6 is formed in the present case as a horizontal planar plane 6.

[0062] The apparatus 2 has a unit 8 for oscillation excitation of a component 10, which is formed here in the form of a bar blade 10. The apparatus 2 has a measuring device 12 for measuring the displacement and/or velocity and/or acceleration of the bar blade 10.

[0063] The unit 8 for oscillation excitation has a stop 14, a force element 16, an oscillation exciter 18, a force sensor 20, and a contact element 22. The contact element 22 abuts the bar blade 10 in the present case and is adapted to the cutting edge profile of the bar blade 10.

[0064] The force element 16, the oscillation exciter 18, and the force sensor 20 are arranged arrayed coaxially between the stop 14 and the contact element 22 in the finished installed state shown in FIG. 1A. The bar blade cutter head 4 has blade slots 30, in which the bar blades 10 are clamped in a detachable and replaceable manner on the main body 26.

[0065] The figures described in the present case are to be understood as schematic outlines. It can be provided that the bar blades 10 and the blade slots 30 are arranged spatially inclined or pivoted in a known manner, notwithstanding the schematic outline. In this case, the contact element is adapted for contact on the bar blade to be studied.

[0066] The stop 14 is accommodated in a cutter head central bore 24 of a main body 26 of the bar blade cutter head 4. The apparatus 2 furthermore has a control and analysis unit 28, which is configured for the fully automatic performance and analysis of the method described hereafter.

[0067] The control and analysis unit 28 is wirelessly connected in the present case to the measuring device 12, the force element 16, the oscillation exciter 18, and the force sensor 20. According to alternative exemplary embodiments, it can be provided that the control and analysis unit 28 is connected in a wired manner to one or more of the above-mentioned elements.

[0068] A method according to at least some embodiments is described in greater detail by way of example hereafter on the basis of FIGS. 1A and 1B.

[0069] In a method step A, firstly a bar blade cutter head 4 is provided and laid with its main body 26 on the horizontal planar plane 6. The bar blade cutter head 4 is configured for the chip-removing workpiece machining for producing a bevel gear, wherein the bar blades 10 are designed for producing the tooth gaps of a bevel gear to be manufactured. The bar blades 10 are mounted in a detachable and replaceable manner on the main body 26.

[0070] In a method step B, an oscillation excitation of the bar blade 10 is performed with the aid of the unit 8 for oscillation excitation.

[0071] During this, in a method step C, the displacement and/or the velocity and/or the acceleration of the bar blade 10 is acquired with the aid of the measuring device 12.

[0072] By means of the analysis unit 28, the analysis of the measurement is subsequently performed in a method step D to evaluate the quality of the bar blade chucking of the bar blade 10 to be tested.

[0073] The oscillation excitation of the bar blade 10 in method step B comprises the following method steps: pre-clamping the bar blade 10 with the aid of the force element 16, which is supported between the bar blade 10 and the stop 14; exciting oscillation of the bar blade 10 with the aid of the oscillation exciter 18.

[0074] The oscillation excitation of the bar blade 10 takes place in the radial direction viewed in relation to a longitudinal axis of the cutter head central bore 24 oriented along the z axis and thus in parallel to the y axis.

[0075] According to alternative embodiments, it can be provided that the oscillation excitation of the bar blade 10 takes place in the tangential direction viewed in relation to a hole circle spanned by the cavities 28 of the main body 26, i.e., engaging on the bar blade 10 in parallel to the x axis.

[0076] In the present case, the measurement of the displacement and/or the velocity and/or the acceleration of the bar blade 10 is performed optically with the aid of a laser 12.

[0077] The analysis of the measurement in method step D comprises the following step: determining the dynamic resilience of the bar blade 10 in the form of a frequency response, with a force signal of the oscillation excitation measured with the aid of the force sensor 20 as an input variable and the cutter movement acquired with the aid of the laser 12 as an output variable.

[0078] In the present case, it is checked, for example, whether the maximum deflection of the bar blade parallel to the y direction exceeds a predetermined limiting value, wherein in the case of exceeding the limiting value, the bar blade seat has to be checked, and in the case of falling below the limiting value, the bar blade seat or the chucking of the bar blade 10 in the main body 26 is classified as good.

[0079] The bar blade cutter head 4 is equipped in the present case in each of the cavities 28 with one bar blade 10, wherein the oscillation excitation, measurement, and analysis are carried out one after another in succession according to method steps B, C, and D for each bar blade 10.

[0080] To accelerate the method, a variant of the apparatus of at least some embodiments is shown according to FIGS. 2A and 2B, in which the diametrically opposing bar blades 10 can each be coupled to a separate test setup and can be checked simultaneously with respect to the chucking thereof on the main body 6.

[0081] While the above describes certain embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the foregoing description is not intended to limit the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. It should also be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make any variations and modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. All such variations and modifications, including those discussed above, are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.