ABSTRACT
Two rotation vectors—one of which is associated with the work gear and the other with the gear cutting tool—uniquely determine the vector of instant rotation of the gear cutting tool relative the work gear. The chapter then classifies the various types of gear machining meshes possible. It discusses the principal elements of kinematics of bevel gear generation. Spiral bevel gears, when manufactured in a metal-cutting process, can either be produced in single indexing or continuous indexing operations which govern the form of the tooth trace. For the generation of a bevel gear, an intersecting-axes gear machining mesh is used. To design a cutting tool for machining a given bevel gear, a comprehensive analysis of the geometry of the tooth flank of the work gear should be carried out. The approximate generating surface of the gear cutting tool is required to be reproduced by the cutting edges of the cutting tool when machining straight bevel gears.
