Forming Carrier Pins in a Transmission Planetary Carrier Gear
Posted on 05/29/2019 | by The Orbitform Blog Team
Vehicle Safety
When backing out of your driveway and speeding down the road on your way to work, you probably don’t give much thought to the effort it takes to run your vehicle. We have come to expect the highest quality out of our vehicles to provide transportation, while keeping us safe. Vehicle manufacturers perform stringent tests to ensure the highest quality, giving you a smooth, worry-free ride.
Self-Contained System
Orbitform upholds the same quality standards with fastening, forming, riveting and assembly, so it is no surprise that we were approached to find a self-contained solution to form carrier pins in a transmission planetary carrier gear. In a completed assembly, components were held in place by either four or six carrier pins. A machine solution was required to form both sizes of gears and to form the carrier pins equally on each side to meet the high-quality standards.
Tolerancing Challenge
Upon review of the assembly, the largest challenge was with the tolerancing of the carrier pins. Prior to forming, the pins were slip fit, held in place by grease. While forming the first pin, the other pins could fall out due to the slip fit. Orbitform partnered with the manufacturer to design a fixture that would allow for robotic loading and unloading and hold all pins in place during the forming process. The fixture could also shuttle to hit the next pin, thus creating a self-contained solution.
Orbital Forming
The next challenge addressed was the forming of the pins. During testing in Orbitform’s Solutions Lab, our lab technicians found that orbitally forming the pins .070” on each side created the desired form to withstand the pushout forces the carrier would be seeing. However, the pins required a back-up upon forming.
A Dual Opposed Solution
To combat these challenges and meet the required cycle time, Orbitform introduced the idea of a dual-opposed system that was programmable to run either the four pin or six pin carrier. An orbital powerhead would act as a hard stop on one side of the carrier pin while the other side was being orbitally formed. Next the two powerheads would switch jobs and form the opposite side. After this cycle was complete, the fixture would then shuttle to the next pin and begin again.
High Quality
In developing this dual opposed, self-contained system, Orbitform was able to provide a solution that exceeded expectations and achieved the required cycle time. In addition, through partnering with our customer on this project, Orbitform was able to ensure the carrier pins overperformed in safety tests to provide the highest quality vehicle components possible.
Overperformance
Orbitform is committed to providing high quality, robust and unique solutions to overperform in meeting the functional requirements in a joint. Afterall, on your drive home from work tonight, your thoughts should be on your family, not questioning the safety of your vehicle.
Orbitform stands ready to partner with you on your next fastening, forming, riveting or assembly project. Contact us today to find your unique solution.