Grinding face-hobbed hypoid gears through full exploitation of 6-axis hypoid generators

Methods for accurate grinding of face-hobbed bevel gears have not been developed to date, the main obstacles being their epicycloidal lengthwise tooth curve and slot width taper. Grinding them while preserving their geometry would be desirable, as the epicycloidal tooth curve makes face-hobbed gears less sensitive to misalignments and deflections. To this end, we propose a method based on a flared-cup grinding wheel, whereby generated members are ground by a two-parameter enveloping process, while non-generated ones are finished by a one-parameter enveloping motion. Machine motions are synthesized exploiting the capabilities of 6-axis hypoid generators. Interference between parts is avoided.