New process for thin-walled gear wheels pioneered by Schuler

Conventional manufacturing of such parts involves 16 separate production steps. With the new Schuler Cartec concept, the same part can be manufactured in seven different steps. Starter wheels have an outer gear rim with a comparatively thin bottom area. This design previously necessitated a complex production process. Firstly, a circular blank is stamped, formed and punched to produce the inner part of the final gear wheel. The gear rim is machined separately, also in a number of individual steps, and the two components are not joined until the very end. Schuler Cartec's experts are currently developing a progressive die that includes the following process steps: firstly, a circular blank is formed, then a cup is deep drawn and subsequently punched in a third step. Following inductive heating in the fourth step, the next stage is the hot rimming process, which also forms the outer rim. Finally, the part is sized and pierced in the sixth and seventh stages, with the aim being a finished gear wheel following that. Suitable for parts with diameters of 40 to 400 mm and wall thicknesses of 1 to 10 mm, the process will not be fully developed for mass manufacturing until 2012.