# US 2013/0152394 A1 · Inductive hardening of teeth of gearwheels

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- Number: US 2013/0152394 A1
- Document ID: US20130152394A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/713,670
- Filed: 2012-12-13
- Published: 2013-06-20
- Earliest claimed: 2011-12-14
- Assignees: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
- Inventors: Jens Hamann; Hans-Georg Köpken; Björn Rosenbaum; Andreas Ulrich
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130152394A1

## CPC

- B23F 17/006: {using different machines or machining operations}
- C21D 1/10: by electric induction
- C21D 1/42: Induction heating
- C21D 9/32: for gear wheels, worm wheels, or the like
- Y02P 10/25: Process efficiency
- Y10T 29/49476: Gear tooth cutting
- B23F: MAKING GEARS OR TOOTHED RACKS (by stamping B21D; by rolling B21H; by forging or pressing B21K; by casting B22; arrangements for copying or controlling B23Q; machines or devices for grinding or polishing, in general B24B)
- C21D: MODIFYING THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF FERROUS METALS; GENERAL DEVICES FOR HEAT TREATMENT OF FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS METALS OR ALLOYS; MAKING METAL MALLEABLE, e.g. BY DECARBURISATION OR TEMPERING (surface treatment of metallic material involving at least one process provided for in class C23 and at least one process covered by this subclass C23F17/00; unidirectional solidification of eutectic materials or unidirectional demixing of eutectoid materials C30B)
- Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
- Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION

## Abstract

In a method for manufacturing a gearwheel, a gearwheel blank is clamped in a workholder of a multi-axis machine tool. A milling head is clamped in a tool holder which is rotated by a spindle drive to enable the milling head to mill out tooth spaces of the gearwheel blank to thereby create a gearwheel having teeth. After replacing the milling head in the tool holder with an inductor, the inductor is inserted successively between two adjacent teeth of the gearwheel and supplied with alternating current from a current supply device of the spindle drive to inductively heat at least one of the two adjacent teeth. The inductor in the tool holder is then replaced with a machining tool to remachine the teeth of the gearwheel.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for manufacturing a gearwheel, comprising:
clamping a gearwheel blank in a workholder of a multi-axis machine tool;
clamping a milling head in a tool holder of the multi-axis machine tool;
rotating the tool holder by a spindle drive to enable the milling head to mill out tooth spaces of the gearwheel blank to thereby create a gearwheel having teeth;
replacing the milling head in the tool holder by an inductor;
inserting the inductor successively between two adjacent teeth of the gearwheel;
supplying the inductor with alternating current from a current supply device of the spindle drive to inductively heat at least one of the two adjacent teeth;
replacing the inductor in the tool holder by a machining tool; and
remachining the teeth of the gearwheel by the machining tool.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-axis machine tool is designed as an at least five-axis machine tool.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising actively cooling the at least one inductively heated tooth by a cooling medium after termination of inductive heating, and transferring the inductor during active cooling of the at least one inductively heated tooth for insertion between two other adjacent teeth of the gearwheel for inductively heating at least one of the two other adjacent teeth.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the alternating current has a frequency between 5 kHz and 40 kHz.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the alternating current has a frequency of at least 16 kHz.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the alternating current has a frequency of at least 32 kHz.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising predefining a frequency of the alternating current to the current supply device of the spindle drive by a control device of the multi-axis machine tool.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising transforming downward an alternating voltage by a transformer before being supplied to the inductor.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein a transformer ratio of the transformer is between 5:1 and 20:1.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising supplying the inductor with single-phase or three-phase alternating current.