Method for removing burrs and pits from small gears using a gear-shaped tool composed of glass-fiber-reinforced plastic

Gear characteristics are strongly dependent on the quality of the tooth edge of the gears. Therefore, methods for removing defects such as burrs and pits of gears are very important. Burrs and pits are particularly difficult to remove from small gears due to the small dimensions of the tooth grooves. In addition, the equipment for the removal process should be simple and low in cost. In the present study, a method using a gear-shaped tool made from glass-fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) is developed for removing burrs and pits from small gears. A manufacturing method for the GFRP gear-shaped tool is proposed and it was confirmed that a conventional hobbing machine and a carbide hob can easily manufacture such a tool without defects. The ability of the proposed tool to remove burrs and pits is evaluated experimentally and the results demonstrate that the burrs and pits of a work gear can be effectively removed by using the proposed tool with simple equipment based on a lathe. This tool was then applied to the mass production of gears, and it was confirmed that this tool has the durability to remove the burrs of 16,797 work gears. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.