Abstract
Improving gear accuracy in advanced machinery and equipment, such as automobiles and airplanes, has become increasingly important in recent years. To realize a compact and energy-efficient transmission, gear pairs with high gear ratios are required. Although the worm gear has the lowest number of teeth, a pinion gear is a more efficient reduction gear for power transmission. Moreover, the pinion gear with fewer teeth allows for a larger reduction ratio. Employing a pinion gear when designing the electric actuator of vehicles has several advantages. The high power-transfer efficiency of the pinion gear enables the vehicle to achieve the same power with a reduced motor and actuator size. In addition, the use of smaller motors improves the power efficiency and thereby reduces the amount of power required to operate the actuator. In high-precision gear manufacturing, small-number gear-cutting end milling is gaining attention as an essential machining method. Particularly, for precisely machining small number of teeth, the 4-axis-controlled Robodrill is more widely used than the 5-axis-controlled Robodrill, although they are more expensive.
