Product category:
Manufacturing industry news
News Release from: Holroyd
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 07 January 2005
Queen's Award given to Holroyd for
innovation
Holroyd has been awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise 2004 recognising technological achievement in a revolutionary gear grinding centre and thread grinders.
Holroyd has been awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise 2004 recognising technological achievement in a revolutionary gear grinding centre and thread grinders Holroyd has been awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise 2004, in the Innovation category, recognising the company's technological achievement in designing and manufacturing the revolutionary GTG2 gear grinding centre and the TG series of thread grinders
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 14 Aug 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Large compressor screws posed no fears
The winning of a major contract to manufacture three of the biggest sets of screw compressor rotors ever made by Holroyd is testing even this company's knowledge and experience to the limit.
Maximising wormgear torque and ensure lubrication
Holroyd's unrivalled expertise in the manufacture of wormgear sets has been enhanced with the development of the Wormgear Contact Analysis Program.
The 2004 award is Holroyd's third, following similar successes in 1967 and 1993, both of which were also for innovation.
"We are delighted that the awards committee has recognised the ingenuity of our designers, their hard work and effort and the levels of investment that have gone in to produce grinding technology that literally leads the world," said Paul Hannah, Holroyd Sales Director for Machine Tools and Rotors.
"This award is a real fillip not only for Holroyd, but also for the UK machine tool sector, as it shows that we still possess the design and engineering skills to produce winners in the increasingly competitive global market for machine tools." The GTG2 is an extremely versatile machine, developed for one-off or batch production of high precision helical, spur and worm gears in sizes up to 350mm diameter.
Further reading
Holroyd produces largest rotors yet
Holroyd, has used one of its own unique milling centres to complete work on a pair of giant helical rotors destined for an environmentally friendly application in the USA.
How to remove backlash from worm gear systems
Backlash is the enemy of precision in high accuracy worm gearing systems, but there is a solution, says Steve Whitehead, director of precision gear sales for Holroyd.
Full turnkey systems are based on super abrasives
The growing acceptance of super abrasive machining technology has resulted in Holroyd setting up a project team to provide full turnkey manufacturing systems.
It effectively revolutionises the production of precision gears with its ability to achieve DIN 2 levels of accuracy in general operation, and even qualified DIN 1 under 'best ground' conditions.
The GTG2's market-leading performance is the result of a 'smart' design, which was conceived and developed by Holroyd's Engineering Department at Rochdale and benefited with input from the world renowned Gear Technology Centre at Newcastle University.
A GTG2 form grinder has undergone trials at Newcastle, prompting Dieter Hoffman, Director of the Centre, to comment that: "He was absolutely delighted with the performance of the machine.
Holroyd's engineering team, led by Dr Tony Bannan, have done an absolutely outstanding job on this machine, and I congratulate them," he said.
"They have produced a machine offering an outstanding cost/performance ratio that provides compatible or better performance than the best form grinders on the market." The key factors that combine to produce this performance are twofold.
First, the GTG2's patented machining method, which reduces an error in the manufacture of precision helical gearing known as 'Helical Twist'.
Second, Holroyd's ability to distil operator experience - in the shape of automatic co-ordinate adjustment, in-cycle wheel dressing and CMM - into the operating systems of its GT and TG ranges of machines.
Overcoming Helical Twist in high precision gear grinding applications is important as it adversely affects the performance of the gear wheel by concentrating loads on particular areas of the gear teeth during meshing.
The 8-axis CNC GTG2 machine corrects this problem by calculating additional motions of the grinding wheel and workpiece and by controlling them during the grinding operation, in accordance with a bespoke software program written and developed by Holroyd engineers.
The overall result of this process is better contact of the gear teeth during meshing and commensurate improvements in torque transfer efficiency.
The second key factor contributing to Holroyd's innovation award; the ability to distil high levels of operator knowledge and experience into the GTG2 and TG ranges of machines, is recognised because of the advantage it provides in reducing the premium on operator skill in grinding operations, the latter something that takes years to perfect and always a variable in complex machining processes.
With the GTG2 and TG range of machines, Holroyd has essentially de-skilled the manual adjustment process, replacing it with an automatic system that includes onboard co-ordinate measuring, a 2-axis, in-cycle wheel dressing system and a CMM.
As a result, using data from on-board measurement, the machines are able to predict the minute alterations to the profile of the grinding wheel required to achieve any desired profile/finish, and to then make these alterations 'on the fly'.
The versatility and flexibility provided by this technology means that the GTG2 and TG ranges of machines can offer companies the crucial ability to pursue flexible manufacturing strategies.
Prototypes for new product types or variations can be produced in a matter of hours, fostering innovation and improved competitiveness in global markets.
• Holroyd: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
