Robotic Deburring of Precision Gears

Abstract Machining processes such as milling, drilling, turning, hobbing or gear teeth cutting create burrs on the edges of metal parts when the cutting tool pushes material over an edge, instead of cutting cleanly through the material. The size, shape and characteristics of the resulting burrs depend upon a number of process factors such as: tool material and its hardness, tool sharpness, tool geometry, cutting forces, ductility of the material being machined, speed and feed of the cutting tool, and depth of the cut. Except for the turning operation, a subsequent deburring operation is often required to remove the “loose” burrs and also to produce a chamfer to “break” or smooth the edges of the machined part. Gears, in general are deburred manually or by simple mechanical equipment such as Redin™ Deburring Machine. Because of the complexity and/or specific chamfering requirements of aerospace gears, most of these gears have to be deburred manually. In general, manual deburring is a very labor intensive process. Poor quality resulting from inconsistent manual operation, health, safety and environmental related issues, and high turnover of operators incur indirect cost as well. The “Redin Deburring Machines”, however, lack the dexterity and the programmability, which are essential to meet the specific chamfering needs of usually complex shaped aerospace gears. Automating the deburring process can therefore result in significant cost reduction, improved productivity, and improved quality of deburred edges. Mainly because of these reasons, there has been industry wide demand to replace manual deburring by more efficient, reliable and safer automated deburring system.