Cutting-edge gear making machine could reduce energy use in multiple industries
Gears are vital to a huge range of industries. Current gear shaping machines, which generate teeth with different geometric profiles, are extremely energy-intensive and cause high levels of pollution. Companies are always seeking margins of improvement in cost and energy savings. The EU-funded E-Optimum project, coordinated by family-run manufacturing company Comur Srl in Italy, has created a cutting-edge technology for gear shaping machines. According to the team, E-Optimum technology not only maintains the highest quality of product but reduces waste through the efficient recovery of metal and oil. E-Optimum predicts that in the automotive sector, for example, clients can reduce energy consumption by 40 %, operation costs by 25 % and maintenance costs by 15 %.
Multiple innovations
E-Optimum has innovated in several key areas. Previously, changing the cutting mode was a manual process. With E-Optimum, this feature is completely automatic, and the operation allows the cutting mode to be changed during the same cutting cycle. This improves efficiency in the cutting process, while reducing human work hours and associated costs. Another key advancement is the installation of a two-ratio speed variator onto the motor. This allows for a 500 % increase in machine torque, and a constant optimisation of power. Compared to former designs, this leads to an eventual 40 % reduction in energy use in the main motor. A final feature is a unit that turns waste from the cutting process into easily disposable briquettes, reducing waste volume and making it easier to destroy. This recovers a considerable amount of coolant, avoiding the need to dispose of it as a huge amount of unprocessed sludge. “An ecological goal reached by the E-Optimum project!” notes Matteo Tonelli, commercial manager at Comur and E-Optimum project coordinator.
Competitive advantage
“The E-Optimum two-ratio speed variator feature has never been applied to the gear manufacturing field, only to other chip-making machine tools, such as machining centres. As far as we know, none of our competitors owns such a technology,” Tonelli explains. The team is particularly proud of the automatic cutting mode installation. This is something that competitors can do only with a large, expensive accessory to the machine known as a tilting column structure. Aside from the additional costs from purchasing this equipment, it also affects accuracy, which machine designers strive to achieve at a level of just a few microns on process parts; and maintenance, due to wear arising between elements in a relative motion. “We have no evidence that our competitors have focused on eco-design solutions such as our energy-saving technology, engineering of components and equipment, or the disposal of pollution waste like lubrication and cooling fluids,” Tonelli adds.
From prototype to market
Tonelli says the EU grant money will be useful for further development of this project and also for R&D improvement in the firm. “Our hope with the E-Optimum project is that it will have us achieve a stronger production capability, help us to grow further, create more job opportunities, and invest in state-of-the-art equipment and facilities,” Tonelli says.
Keywords
E-Optimum, gear, shaping, machines, efficiency, briquettes, coolant, savings
