Robot removes burrs from complex gears

Robot removes burrs from complex gears

Robot removes burrs from complex gears

Manually deburring complex gears could be an operation of the past thanks to a successful experiment conducted by the gear-research company Infac of Chicago. The company used a six-axis robot with deburring head and off-the-shelf software to remove the manufacturing debris from complex aircraft gears. Removing burrs is usually a costly and tedious manual operation. There is also a safety factor ­ manual deburring is a repetitive hand operation frequently contributing to cases of carpal-tunnel syndrome as well as the potential for burns, splinters, and dust inhalation. What's more, it usually occurs late in production where a large value-added cost has already been incurred. In the case of aerospace gears of AGMA Class 12 or higher, deburring and chamfering can represent as much as 20 per cent of the production labour hours and up to 10 per cent of the labour cost.

The Infac autodeburring system was developed with input from several disciplines within Sikorsky Aircraft Co. The test involved helical bull gears, pinions, spur gears, and several spiral-bevel gears and pinions. The units range from 3 to 30 inch diameter. The robot produced more uniform quality than manual or semiautomatic methods.