## Step 7: Create an Alignment

Prior to measuring your gear, you need to create an alignment.

To create an alignment:

1. Select the Measure | Alignment Creation menu option...

... or the Align toolbar icon...

... to open the Align Gear dialog box. The available values will vary depending on the type of gear that you are defining.

2. Make the needed changes to the values in the dialog box according to your gear type:

- Cylinder Gear: See "Aligning a Cylinder Gear - CMM" for a CMM or "Aligning a Cylinder Gear - Vision Machine" for a vision system.

- Bevel Gear: See "Aligning a Bevel Gear".

3. Click Apply to save any changes or Close to close the dialog box without saving.

4. Click OK to begin the Alignment Wizard. You are prompted whether of not you are ready to start measurement.

PC-DMIS Gear Are you ready to align the gear?

5. Click Yes to continue measurement, using the Alignment Wizard. PC-DMIS launches in the background to execute each of the measurements. The steps provided by the Alignment Wizard will vary depending on the gear type and the parameters specified.

Example from the Alignment Wizard

6. Skip to step 7 if you have NOT selected the Face or Root Cone Measurement option from the Align Gear dialog box for bevel gears (see "Aligning a Bevel Gear"). Otherwise, with this option selected, PC-DMIS Gear will also perform an accuracy alignment along with the basic gear alignment. Some blueprints require a more accurate alignment that is created using a face or root cone measurement.

Wizard showing an example of an accuracy alignment

Follow these steps in the Wizard to complete the accuracy alignment:

1. Select the Active Tip that will be used to measure the two points.

2. Measure two points on the face or root of one tooth. You will always need to take 2 hits on the face/root cone of the bevel gear.

3. Click Delete to delete the points that were just taken, if you are not satisfied with the result.

4. Click Done to measure the face/root cone. The PC-DMIS part program for face/root cone will be built automatically.

Important: The alignment can not be undone after you click the Done button.

7. Follow the instructions given in the Wizard and measure the specified features to establish the alignment.

8. For each feature, select the Active Tip that will be used to measure the feature.

9. When each feature has been measured, click Next. You will be directed to measure the next feature.

10. If you are not satisfied with the step that you just completed you can click Back to go to the last step. Also, before you go to the next step the Back button will display as Delete; click it to delete the feature you just measured.

Note: During measurement, if the hit you have taken is not good enough for a needed feature, the software will prompt you to measure it again. You can click OK and continue.

11. If you are not satisfied with a hit, click Del Hit to remove the last hit. The step can always be undone.

12. After you have measured all alignment features this Execution box will appear. Click Cancel to cancel the auto measure or click OK to proceed with the measurement.

Execution Please move the probe to a safe position, the program will execute automatically!

14. When automatic alignment process has completed the following message box will appear.

Message Alignment build successfully!

15. The gear alignment is now complete.

For more information on Alignment Parameters see the following topics:

Cylinder Gear Alignment - See "Aligning a Cylinder Gear - CMM" for a CMM or "Aligning a Cylinder Gear - Vision Machine" for a vision system.

Bevel Gear Alignment - See "Aligning a Bevel Gear".

Step 8: Measure the Master Flank...