Comparison of Cyclo-Palloid and Cyclo-Cut Cutting Methods for Generation of Spiral Bevel Gears

The face-hobbing cutting method is widely applied for generation of spiral bevel and hypoid gears due to its high productivity. Among face-hobbing processes, Cyclo-Palloid™ system allows either line contact or localized bearing contact through application of a dual head-cutter where two separate rotating centers are considered. Another face-hobbing process known as Cyclo-Cut™ is based on the application of a single and tilted head cutter for localization of the bearing contact. Computerized generation models of spiral bevel gears through the Cyclo-Palloid and the Cyclo-Cut systems are compared here. Application of tooth contact and backlash analyses will bring to light the similarities and differences between both processes, and the possibility to substitute a Cyclo-Palloid gear by a Cyclo-Cut gear in a Cyclo-Palloid spiral bevel gear drive, and viceversa. Several numerical examples are presented.