Holroyd Precision launches new gear grinding centre

Precision grinding of a large face width pinion gear

Rochdale-based Holroyd Precision has launched a new gear grinding centre to improve production of specialised gears.

Called the GT350, this latest machine from the Precision Technologies Group (PTG) company has been developed for one-off and batch grinding of gears and screws up to 350 mm in diameter. It can also be used to precision grind compressor rotors.

Replacing Holroyd’s well-established GTG2 model, the GT350 features the high power required for deep grinding operations.

A specially developed extended machine bed allows screws and worm shafts of up to one metre in length to be accommodated.

Holroyd Regional Sales Director, Steven Benn said: “RFID scanning is a further option that will assist GT350 users in achieving new levels of performance. Particularly suitable for machines destined for production cells, the feature will all but eliminate human error by helping ensure that chuck, collet, cutter and tailstock, in fact virtually any component or tooling item that needs to be switched between manufacturing cycles, is correctly changed for each gear grinding operation.”

Customers have the choice of either Siemens’ 840D controller or Holroyd’s in-house CNC and HMI system. On-board features include automatic coordinate adjustment, in-cycle wheel dressing, integrated profile management and coordinate measurement.

Grinding cycles are included for a range of gears, splines and worms.

The GT350 also features Holroyd’s Profile Management System (HPMS) for highly accurate profile grinding, while an advanced touch-screen interface allows the operator to enter design drawing coordinates directly into the machine. Additionally, all gear, worm and spline profiles can be verified using the integrated Renishaw probing system, enabling automatic on-machine corrections to be made if necessary.

Holroyd’s design engineers have ensured that the GT350 automatically corrects the problem of helical twist – a condition that occurs when helical gears are ‘lead crowned’ to improve meshing and to reduce noise and wear. This is achieved through the use of specially written, dedicated software that both calculates and controls additional motions of the grinding wheel during the grinding operation.