The driveline division of Ricardo has commissioned a £500,000 (US$668,000) Gleason GP300ES Gear Shaping Machine as part of its multi-year investment program to maintain its position as a prime design and manufacturing partner for high-performance transmissions.
The new manufacturing center uses a new shaping head that features a backlash-free direct drive for the cutter spindle. With the appropriate software, additional cutter rotational motion required for helical gears can be superimposed electronically on the spindle rotation, making it suited to the manufacture of motorsport and supercar transmissions.
Commenting on the acquisition of the new gear shaping system and the wider strategic manufacturing investment program, Ricardo Performance Products MD Mark Barge said, “The commissioning of our new state-of-the-art gear-shaping machine is the latest milestone in our strategic development of our performance manufacturing business.
“Ricardo is one of the few premium transmission manufacturers to be able to offer a fully integrated manufacturing and engineering capability, from concept design to in-house manufacture and heat treatment.”