Specializing in metric gearing, KHK USA has been producing its product line since 1935. Brian Dengel, gearing executive at KHK, showed us the metric gears for industrial automation applications at Automate 2024. There were rack and pinions in a range of lengths and pitch as well as spur, bevel and worm gears in an assortment of sizes and configurations on display.
The production process required for gear manufacturing covers a lot of ground, including cutting of materials with cutting machines, processing of materials with lathes, cutting of cylindrical gear teeth with hobbing machines, cutting of rack teeth with rack panels, cutting of internal gear teeth with gear shapers, deburring, blackening, and more. Other processes such as injection molding, sintering, rolling and casting are also used. The gears are finished with polishing, tempering, surface processing, teeth shape measurement and examination with 3D measurement devices.
The company also offers free software for gear calculation and gear drafting. With a few known parameters, these programs can help design the best gear geometry for each unique application.
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