The Difference Between Horizontal and Vertical Gear Hobbing Machines

The hobbing machines are categorized into vertical and horizontal types based on their layout. Large and medium-sized hobbing machines are predominantly vertical, while small hobbing machines and those used for processing long shaft gears are horizontal.

Horizontal Gear Shaping Machine

One of the machine tools that processes gear tooth surfaces using the rolling form method. The layout feature of this machine is that the workpiece rotating axis is in a horizontal position, i.e., horizontal. Such a structure layout of hobbing machines is typically small-scale, used for processing long shaft gears and spline shafts.

Vertical Gear Shaper

The rotating axis of the workpiece shaft is perpendicular to the horizontal plane on the hobbing machine. Currently, most large and medium-sized hobbing machines are vertical. Vertical hobbing machines are divided into two types: worktable movement and pillar movement. During hobbing, the hob shaft is driven by the main motor to rotate, and the tool holder can move vertically along the pillar guide rail and can be adjusted for an angle around the horizontal axis. The workpiece is mounted on the worktable and rotated by the indexing worm gear pair. As the hob rotates once, the workpiece rotates by z0/z rotations. When hobbing helical gears, the differential mechanism causes the workpiece to make the corresponding additional rotation.