To conquer the manufacturing challenge, ASI has invested in a new gear measuring machine tool system that will allow us and our customers to advance to the next level of product performance. In March of 2012 ASI acquired a new Computer Numerical Control (CNC) gear measuring system, the TTi-300E. This tool is Tokyo Technical Instruments' new system that incorporates every bit of modern engineering and precision. The TTi-300E is an automated, network-capable CNC gear measuring system that has proven its performance in the automobile industry.

The TTi-300E is capable of measuring profile, helix, and pitch of spur and helical gears, as well as the cutting tools (hobs) necessary to manufacture these gears. The TTi-300E has a measuring accuracy of 0.1µm, which is approximately 1/1000 the diameter of a human hair. The system has the capability of creating graphical and 3D topographical outputs to give us a more visual sense of any subject tooth profile. Analyzing numerical data alone does not allow us to get a full sense of the tooth characteristic, which is needed to address process improvement or root cause investigation efforts.

For example, any numerical profile or helix deviation, according to either the specified AGMA standard (or ISO or DIN, which the TTi-300E also manages), does not represent the exact type of cutting tool or process deviation. We can determine whether the specific process is introducing run-out, hob parameter deviations, or improper setup by examining the profile, helix, cumulative or tooth-to-tooth pitch, and subdivided topography. This information allows us to design more robust experiments to correlate noise profiles and reliability to various gear characteristics and processes.

We can also examine gear attributes that affect sound characteristics. Some customers not only value quiet gears, but also consistent sound, especially, when a specific system incorporates more than one drive. To an end-user, even having two perfectly good and quiet drives with a low decibel level may not satisfy an inherent human requirement for consistency. Each gear transmits motion, but also transmits a unique sound signature based the meshing surface of two mating gears. With additional TTi-300E tools that give us the ability to baseline and over impose plots, we can better understand and eliminate the type of variables inherent in manufacturing that affect sound signatures.

With this equipment we get more intimate knowledge of the product that we make to ensure that our processes are in control, to eliminate deviations and drift over time. When it comes to quality and when we say that we want to become the preeminent manufacturer in small gear drive systems, we mean to put that vision into action with every step we make in improving our human and systems resources.