Methods and systems for producing high strength and adjustable stiffness components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11353101-B2
Application number	US-201916441816-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 14, 2019
Priority date	Jun 14, 2019
Publication date	Jun 7, 2022
Grant date	Jun 7, 2022

Abstract

A method for producing and reinforcing a composite gear includes providing a base material comprising a polymer and forming a composite gear from the base material, the composite gear having a gear body and at least one gear tooth extending from the gear body, the at least one gear tooth having a tooth face, a tooth flank, a tooth fillet, a tooth root, and a tooth tip. The method includes depositing a first metallic material to a first area of the at least one gear tooth of the composite gear, the first area including the tooth root of the at least one gear tooth and depositing a second metallic material to a second area of the at least one gear tooth of the composite gear. The first metallic material is applied in a first thickness and the second metallic material is applied in a second thickness.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A composite gear, comprising:
a base material forming a gear body and at least one gear tooth extending from the gear body, the gear tooth having a tooth face, a tooth flank, a tooth fillet, a tooth root, and a tooth tip;
a first material covering a first area of the gear tooth, the first area including the tooth root; and
a second material covering a second area of the gear tooth, the second area including the tooth root;
wherein at least a portion of the second material does not overlap with the first material;
wherein the first material defines a first shape having a substantially straight edge on the gear tooth and the second material defines a second shape having a wavy edge on the gear tooth; and
wherein the first material is applied in a first thickness, the second material is applied in a second thickness, the first area has a first height measured from the tooth root and the second area has a second height measured from the tooth root, and the first height is different from the second height.

2. The composite gear of claim 1 , wherein each of the first material and the second material is a metallic material.

3. The composite gear of claim 1 , wherein the first area of the gear tooth is determined from a desired fatigue bending strength of the gear tooth.

4. The composite gear of claim 1 , wherein the second area of the gear tooth is determined from a desired stiffness of the gear tooth.

5. The composite gear of claim 1 , wherein the first material and the second material are the same material.

6. A method for producing and reinforcing a composite gear, comprising:
providing a base material comprising a polymer;
forming a composite gear from the base material, the composite gear having a gear body and at least one gear tooth extending from the gear body, the at least one gear tooth having a tooth face, a tooth flank, a tooth fillet, a tooth root, and a tooth tip;
depositing a first metallic material to a first area of the at least one gear tooth of the composite gear, the first area including the tooth root of the at least one gear tooth; and
depositing a second metallic material to a second area of the at least one gear tooth of the composite gear such that at least a portion of the second metallic material does not overlap with the first metallic material;
wherein the first metallic material defines a first shape having a substantially straight edge on the gear tooth and the second metallic material defines a second shape having a wavy edge on the gear tooth; and
wherein the first metallic material is applied in a first thickness and the second metallic material is applied in a second thickness.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first area and the second area at least partially overlap.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first metallic material is applied to the tooth root of the at least one gear tooth and the second metallic material is applied to the tooth fillet of the at least one gear tooth.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first area has a first height measured from the tooth root and the second area has a second height measured from the tooth root, and the first height is different from the second height.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first area is determined from a desired fatigue bending strength of the at least one gear tooth and the second area is determined from a desired stiffness of the at least one gear tooth.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first metallic material is a different from the second metallic material.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Li Huaxin

Classifications

• B22F7/08

  with one or more parts not made from powder {(B22F7/062 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• F16H55/06 Primary

  Use of materials; Use of treatments of toothed members or worms to affect their intrinsic material properties · CPC title

• B33Y80/00

  Products made by additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B29L2015/003

  Gears · CPC title

• F16H55/17

  Toothed wheels (worm wheels F16H55/22; chain wheels F16H55/30) · CPC title