Today’s gears need to be of higher quality, held to tighter tolerances and made more quickly and efficiently. These companies and products meet the challenge.
Those in the gear industry have plenty to look forward to at IMTS 2022. More than two dozen exhibitors at the Gear Generation pavilion are gathered at Level 3 of the North Building, displaying everything from broaching, hobbing, shaping, and grinding machinery to metrology equipment, design software, and much more. Here, in no particular order, are some of the companies to visit if you want to discuss gears and gear-making technology.
American Broach & Machine (ABM) of Ypsilanti, Mich., enjoys a history stretching back to its founding by Francis Lapointe in 1918. The company manufactures a complete line of manual or fully automatic broaching machines, broach tools, and offers a variety of services including broach tool sharpening, machine repair and rebuilding, and design. It also invented the first “CNC Automatic Broach Sharpening Machine” in 1986 for its own use. It then sold two to Chrysler shortly thereafter, and has since delivered more than 50 machines. The ABM website also offers extensive information on the science of broaching. You can find the company at Booth 237020.
Saline, Mich.-based Liebherr Gear and Automation Technologies has its own history to tell. Had there been an IMTS 2020, visitors would have heard the news of Liebherr’s 50th anniversary in the U.S., themed “United by Success.” Stop by Booth 236914 and wish them a belated anniversary, and while you’re there, check out the company’s extensive lineup of gear manufacturing and automation solutions. Its machine offering includes gear hobbing, shaping, skiving, chamfering, and grinding equipment, as well as gear metrology solutions. For gear producers pursuing an Industry 4.0 strategy, Liebherr experts are on hand to discuss the company’s advanced control options and various “LHWebPlatform” apps and interfaces for process logging, manufacturing analysis, and production optimization.
Anyone grinding shafts, splines, spools, and pretty much any other machined components should swing by Booth 236922. It’s there that you’ll find Supertec Machinery Inc. of Paramount, Calif., which will be showing off a wide variety of equipment under power, among them the PMG-60CNC Turret type ID/OD/OD grinder, G25A-50CNC Anglehead CNC cylindrical grinder, EDG-1000NC Double Disc grinder, Mini Genie-2020P Small floor space CNC cylindrical grinder, and more. Founded by Randy Chu in 1997, Supertec has continued on a successful growth curve and prides itself on providing its customers with the highest quality of products and service.
Helios Gear Products LLC represents several major OEMs and “builds on the 150-year reputation of Koepfer machine tools.” For example, the South Elgin, Ill., sales and support organization recently posted a blog on its website touting an automated gear deburring solution from Tecnomacchine of Italy—according to Vice President Dave Harroun, the machine empowers manufacturers to deburr gears more productively. “For many job shops, smaller lot sizes and a higher mix of part numbers make a fully automated solution difficult to justify. But with the right feature set, such as the TM 250-CNC, manufacturers can deburr gears more profitably than ever before.” Be sure to stop by Booth 236906 to discuss this and some of the other gear manufacturing equipment in Helios’ extensive offering.
Booth 237223 is home to Rotec Tools of Mahopac, N.Y., which has represented a wide-selection of “high-precision accessories” to the North American machine tool market since 1999. Highlighted products at this year’s IMTS include pL Lehmann rotary tables, Fisso articulated arms, Greber high-precision dead and live centers, and FN Niederhauser precision chucks. Be sure to ask about the Affolter AF110plus eight-axis CNC gear hobbing machine, now available with automated loading and unloading, customizable coolant options, and chip conveyors with filtration capabilities.
Nidec Machine Tool America of Wixom, Mich., has observed that supply chain issues are driving more companies to bring manufacturing back in-house. Parallel to this is the rise of electric vehicles, a development that could well be as disruptive as the internal combustion engine. Responding to these and other industry needs, the company will debut its GE15HS hobbing machine in Booth 237036. According to Vice President of Sales Scott Knoy, the new machine “provides process efficiency, eliminating the finishing process of shaving prior to heat treatment, improving productivity and reducing processing cost.” The Nidec booth will also feature the ZI20A-G Generating Internal Gear Grinder, whose “breakthrough process delivers fast and very cost-effective processing of internal ring gears for planetary gearsets.” IMTS 2022 attendees can also visit Nidec at the South Building, Level 3, Booth 338252 in the Metal Removal pavilion.
Pat Mooney Inc. will be there. Since 1949, this Addison, Ill.-based national importer and distributor of metal sawing machinery, accessories and saw blades has established partnerships with companies around the globe, and today represents the NISHIJIMAX, FMB, PMI, and Kanefusa brands. Pat Mooney’s staff of knowledgeable representatives will be available at Booth 237008 to discuss your shop’s sawing needs.
There are some good reasons for Gleason Corp. to call itself “The Total Gear Solutions Provider.” Its history dates back to 1865, when Irish immigrant William Gleason opened a machine shop in Rochester, N.Y., which remains the company’s headquarters. He invented the first bevel gear planer nine years later, one of many such innovations, and today, Gleason has numerous operations throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Its stated mission is “to lead in the development, manufacture and sale of gear production machinery and related equipment.” To learn more about this gear manufacturing innovator and its proud history, be sure to visit Booth 236909.
Founded in a small house in Remscheid, Germany, just two years before William Gleason went into business, the Klingelnberg Company has since become the Klingelnberg Group, an international leader in the gear industry with more than 200 patents to its name. According to its website, the company is focused on “the development and manufacture of machines for the production of bevel and cylindrical gears, measuring centers for axially symmetrical objects of all types, and the production of high-precision gear components made to customers’ orders,” and services customers in a range of industries, with automotive, aircraft, shipbuilding, and wind power among them. It is represented in the U.S. by Klingelnberg America in Saline, Mich., and can be found at Booth 236935 at this year’s IMTS.
The machine of your dreams. That’s what Basaran Grinder, Hauppauge, N.Y., promises to deliver. Located at Booth 236817, this small but growing supplier has built on the success of its flagship 400IR internal grinder and now boasts more than 32 different models, including centerless, creep-feed, cylindrical, and universal grinders, all based on a patented modular machine concept. Basaran also offers retrofits and reengineering services for legacy equipment from Studer, Blohm, Mägerle, and others. With features such as granite beds, polymer composite machine bases, linear motor drives, and FANUC controllers with Basaran’s iCAN Grind Universal Software, the company strives to deliver “the best possible product at the best possible price.”
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