Precision Gear Products

May 01, 2015

EXSYS Tool Inc. has long supplied the North American market with high-precision, German-made EPPINGER live and fixed toolholders for CNC turning centers and modular adapter systems for quick lathe tooling changeovers. Today, EXSYS has expanded its offerings to include a new line of high-quality EPPINGER gearboxes and custom gear-making services for a wide variety of industries.

EPPINGER offers BT (bevel torque) and BM (bevel maximum torque) compact spiral bevel gears that bring high torque and maximum efficiency to gear applications that require a high degree of reliability and variability.

Each of these bevel gearbox types offers minimized tooth clearance and optimal transmission properties via precision axes and bearing seats combined with GLEASON bevel gears that can withstand high loads.

The single-component steel housings for these bevel gearboxes feature mounting threads on all sides to ensure stable attachment in a variety of installation positions. The heavy-duty bevel gears inside these housings offer high-transmission precision and reduced stress on the bearings. A friction-locked, zero backlash connection of the crown gears on the drive shaft reduces the mass of the gearing component.

Both BT and BM gearboxes come in solid or hollow shafts in standard and custom designs. BT-type models are available in seven sizes with a transmission ratio of i = 1:1 to 5:1, while BM-type models are available in five sizes with a ratio of i = 1:1.

EPPINGER offers PE (planetary eco) and PP (planetary precision) planetary gearboxes for applications that require low backlash, high efficiency, shock resistance and a high-torque-to-weight ratio. With a modular design that combines ground gears and precision gear components, these gearboxes ensure performance efficiency and maximum uptime. They are also energy efficient and easily mount to a variety of motors.

The present range of planetary gearboxes comprises five sizes, with each size offered as a single, dual, or triple stage design. Each gearbox variant is also available as a precision design with reduced backlash. The wide range of sizes and designs allows users to achieve overall transmission ratios from i = 3:1 to i = 512:1 in a variety of applications.

EPPINGER's BP (bevel planetary) planetary bevel gearboxes combine features of the company's BT (bevel torque) series bevel gearboxes with the pre-stages of its PE (planetary eco) planetary gearboxes, creating an innovative solution for various applications. The stable housing design and hardened, super-finished gear components of these gearboxes help ensure smooth running and constant backlash control.

These planetary bevel gearboxes are efficient and achieve high-output torque and extremely high-transmission ratios up to i = 320. Currently offered in eight sizes, the planetary bevel gearboxes easily mount to a wide range of motors.

EPPINGER's HT-type hypoid gearboxes feature a compact, robust design suitable for both specific and highly dynamic applications. With a specially developed aluminum mono-bloc housing with high-precision bearing seats and an integrated input shank, each hypoid gearbox provides unmatched stability, accuracy and efficiency.

These hypoid gearboxes easily connect to a variety of servo motors. With solid steel alloy and hollow shafts for shrink disc connection, users can install these gearboxes in various positions with a choice of the output side. Currently, the gearboxes are available in four sizes in the ratio range from i = 5:1 to i = 15:1.

To round out its product portfolio, EPPINGER develops and manufactures cycloidal gearboxes. These compact, high-transmission gearboxes are an excellence choice for tool machinery, automation and robotics. With integrated support bearings and a high-overload capacity, they excel in applications that require the utmost stiffness, performance and efficiency.

The cycloidal gearboxes are available in six sizes with ratio ranges from i = 57:1 to i = 175:1, and in solid and hollow shaft designs. They can also be adapted to meet specific customer requirements. In terms of custom gear-making services, EPPINGER, with more than 20 years of experience, can develop and manufacture virtually any type of gear. The crown gear diameters can range from 0.4mm to 330mm, depending on the transmission ratio. Examples include professional-quality, high-performance bevel gearboxes as well as ring and pinion gear sets. The company has made gear solutions for Mercedes, Bugatti and Airbus.

The company uses modern GLEASON milling and grinding centers to machine its gears from a wide variety of workpiece materials. GLEASON and ZEISS measuring machines along with GLEASON test equipment ensure each gear complies with the quality requirements of DIN 3965 and American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) at all times.

Related Glossary Terms

  • backlash

    backlash

    Reaction in dynamic motion systems where potential energy that was created while the object was in motion is released when the object stops. Release of this potential energy or inertia causes the device to quickly snap backward relative to the last direction of motion. Backlash can cause a system’s final resting position to be different from what was intended and from where the control system intended to stop the device.

  • centers

    centers

    Cone-shaped pins that support a workpiece by one or two ends during machining. The centers fit into holes drilled in the workpiece ends. Centers that turn with the workpiece are called “live” centers; those that do not are called “dead” centers.

  • clearance

    clearance

    Space provided behind a tool’s land or relief to prevent rubbing and subsequent premature deterioration of the tool. See land; relief.

  • computer numerical control ( CNC)

    computer numerical control ( CNC)

    Microprocessor-based controller dedicated to a machine tool that permits the creation or modification of parts. Programmed numerical control activates the machine’s servos and spindle drives and controls the various machining operations. See DNC, direct numerical control; NC, numerical control.

  • gang cutting ( milling)

    gang cutting ( milling)

    Machining with several cutters mounted on a single arbor, generally for simultaneous cutting.

  • grinding

    grinding

    Machining operation in which material is removed from the workpiece by a powered abrasive wheel, stone, belt, paste, sheet, compound, slurry, etc. Takes various forms: surface grinding (creates flat and/or squared surfaces); cylindrical grinding (for external cylindrical and tapered shapes, fillets, undercuts, etc.); centerless grinding; chamfering; thread and form grinding; tool and cutter grinding; offhand grinding; lapping and polishing (grinding with extremely fine grits to create ultrasmooth surfaces); honing; and disc grinding.

  • lathe

    lathe

    Turning machine capable of sawing, milling, grinding, gear-cutting, drilling, reaming, boring, threading, facing, chamfering, grooving, knurling, spinning, parting, necking, taper-cutting, and cam- and eccentric-cutting, as well as step- and straight-turning. Comes in a variety of forms, ranging from manual to semiautomatic to fully automatic, with major types being engine lathes, turning and contouring lathes, turret lathes and numerical-control lathes. The engine lathe consists of a headstock and spindle, tailstock, bed, carriage (complete with apron) and cross slides. Features include gear- (speed) and feed-selector levers, toolpost, compound rest, lead screw and reversing lead screw, threading dial and rapid-traverse lever. Special lathe types include through-the-spindle, camshaft and crankshaft, brake drum and rotor, spinning and gun-barrel machines. Toolroom and bench lathes are used for precision work; the former for tool-and-die work and similar tasks, the latter for small workpieces (instruments, watches), normally without a power feed. Models are typically designated according to their “swing,” or the largest-diameter workpiece that can be rotated; bed length, or the distance between centers; and horsepower generated. See turning machine.

  • milling

    milling

    Machining operation in which metal or other material is removed by applying power to a rotating cutter. In vertical milling, the cutting tool is mounted vertically on the spindle. In horizontal milling, the cutting tool is mounted horizontally, either directly on the spindle or on an arbor. Horizontal milling is further broken down into conventional milling, where the cutter rotates opposite the direction of feed, or “up” into the workpiece; and climb milling, where the cutter rotates in the direction of feed, or “down” into the workpiece. Milling operations include plane or surface milling, endmilling, facemilling, angle milling, form milling and profiling.

  • modular design ( modular construction)

    modular design ( modular construction)

    Manufacturing of a product in subassemblies that permits fast and simple replacement of defective assemblies and tailoring of the product for different purposes. See interchangeable parts.

  • robotics

    robotics

    Discipline involving self-actuating and self-operating devices. Robots frequently imitate human capabilities, including the ability to manipulate physical objects while evaluating and reacting appropriately to various stimuli. See industrial robot; robot.

  • shank

    shank

    Main body of a tool; the portion of a drill or similar end-held tool that fits into a collet, chuck or similar mounting device.

  • stiffness

    stiffness

    1. Ability of a material or part to resist elastic deflection. 2. The rate of stress with respect to strain; the greater the stress required to produce a given strain, the stiffer the material is said to be. See dynamic stiffness; static stiffness.

  • turning

    turning

    Workpiece is held in a chuck, mounted on a face plate or secured between centers and rotated while a cutting tool, normally a single-point tool, is fed into it along its periphery or across its end or face. Takes the form of straight turning (cutting along the periphery of the workpiece); taper turning (creating a taper); step turning (turning different-size diameters on the same work); chamfering (beveling an edge or shoulder); facing (cutting on an end); turning threads (usually external but can be internal); roughing (high-volume metal removal); and finishing (final light cuts). Performed on lathes, turning centers, chucking machines, automatic screw machines and similar machines.