The subject invention is directed to metal cutting system and, in particular, to a metal cutting system adapted to permit effective coolant delivery to an interface between a metal cutting tool and a workpiece.
Metal cutting tools for performing metal working operations generally comprise a cutting insert having a surface terminating at a cutting edge and a tool holder formed with a seat adapted to receive the insert. The cutting insert engages a workpiece and removes a chip therefrom. Obviously, it is desirable to lengthen the life of a cutting insert in metal cutting operations. Longer insert life leads to lower operating costs and better machine efficiency. One factor in the life of a cutting insert is the temperature of the insert during cutting operations. A higher insert temperature will result in a shorter useful life of an insert.
Many systems have been designed to lower the insert temperature during cutting. For example, coolants may be generally applied through nozzles directed at the cutting edge of the insert. The coolant serves not only to lower the temperature of the insert but also to remove the chip from the cutting area. The nozzles are often a distance of 1-12 inches away from the cutting edge. This is too far of a distance for effective cooling. The farther the coolant must be sprayed the more the coolant will mix with air and the less likely it will be to actually contact the tool-chip interface. Some have improved cooling by directing high pressure and high volume coolant at the cutting edge as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,300 issued to Antoun. Others have designed grooves between the insert and a top plate that secures the insert in the holder to reduce the distance the coolant must be sprayed. This is shown in U.S. patent application serial number 2003/00820118 to Kraemer. Some have delivered liquid nitrogen as the coolant relatively near the cutting edge of an insert as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,623 issued to Hong. Each variation has shown limited effectiveness. Many still are positioned to far from the tool-workpiece interface. Those with grooves between the top plate and the insert get fluid closer to the tool-workpiece interface but are not close enough. The design in Kraemer is also limited in that the direction of fluid flow is almost completely limited to one plane. The liquid nitrogen system like that in Hong has shown some benefit but is cost prohibitive for most applications. It is clear there remains a need for a simple and effective assembly for insert cooling during metal cutting operations.
The inventor(s) have recognized the problems associated with conventional cooling apparatus and have developed an insert assembly that works with a conventional coolant system to deliver coolant to a cutting insert that addresses the problems of the prior art.
In one embodiment of the invention, the assembly comprises a tool holder having a recess to accept a cutting insert and a passage for coolant delivery; a shim having a cooling channel capable of delivering coolant to a flank face or cutting edge of an insert; a cutting insert having a frusto-conical depression in the center of the insert and an orifice aligned with the coolant passage of the tool holder; a top piece with a depression in a top surface and a frusto-conical bottom aligned with the frusto-conical depression of the cutting insert to form a fluid tight seal between the insert and top piece except for a rake face cooling channel spanning from the insert orifice to a discharge slot that is in close proximity to the cutting edge or corner of the insert; and a clamp capable of sealing the cooling channels and seating the cutting insert and top pieces. The oblique relationship between the top piece-insert interface and the plane of the rake face of the insert enables coolant to be delivered from an angle below the plane of the rake face. In this way the coolant impinges the underside of a chip. Delivery of coolant to the flank of the insert combined with the rake face cooling described herein has shown to be an efficient means of cooling the insert and removing the chip. As a consequence insert life is significantly improved by using this invention.
Further features of the present invention, as well as the advantages derived therefrom, will become clear from the following detailed description made with reference to the drawings in which:
Referring to
The insert 10 has an insert orifice 11 that aligns with the coolant passage 2 of the tool holder 1 to receive coolant. The insert orifice 11 opens to both the rake face 13 and the bottom face 14. A top piece 18 is adjacent to insert 10. The top piece 18 has a clamp side 20 and insert side 19. Insert side 19 of top piece 18 has a shape corresponding to the insert depression 15 such that positioning the two together forms a seal. The top piece also has a reservoir 34 (shown in
As shown in
In another embodiment shown in
In the embodiment as shown, the insert 10 has flank faces 12 and flank edges 32 that taper inward at a shallow angle from the rake face 13 to the bottom face 14. In this manner the width of shim 3 will be less than the width of the insert bottom face 14 and less than the width of the rake face 13. Attention is drawn to the fact that this taper is meant to expose the flank faces 12 and flank edge 16 to coolant. The tapering of the insert 10 allows a portion of the flank face cooling channel 9 to be exposed creating secondary discharge hole 28, thus enabling expulsion of coolant along the flank faces of the insert 10.
A third embodiment shown in
An alternate embodiment of the invention is shown in
The insert 10 has tapered flank faces 12 and flank edges 32 to allow for adequate coolant wash from the secondary discharge hole 28. An insert orifice 11 aligns with the shim orifice 4. The insert bottom face 14 seats against the shim 3 to create a fluid tight seal. The insert depression 15 is frusto-conical and mates to the insert side 19 of the top piece 18 to create a fluid tight seal. The insert side 19 of the top piece 18 is also frusto-conical. The reservoir is located in the central portion of the insert side 19 and is in alignment with the insert orifice 11. The alignment of the reservoir 11, insert orifice 11, shim orifice 4 and coolant passage 2 creates a chamber from which coolant can freely flow to the high volume flank coolant channel 35, rake face cooling channel 21 and jets 33. In a preferred embodiment, the rake face cooling channel 21 runs from the reservoir 34 to within about 0.100 inches of the cutting edge 16 or cutting corner 17. At the end of the rake face cooling channel 21 opposite the reservoir 34 there is a nib 42 on the insert side 19 of the top piece 18. The nib 42 is a bump protruding from the insert side that interferes with the stream of coolant as it exits the primary discharge slot 27. A view of the nib 42 is most clearly shown in
In the preferred embodiment, the total flow of all coolant passages should not be less than 80% of the possible flow from an unrestricted flood nozzle. It will be appreciated that some handling benefits have been seen when the top piece 18 is fixed to the clamp 23. This arrangement reduces the chance that an operator will inadvertently drop the top piece when removing or installing the assembly. The most effective means of fixing the top piece 18 to the clamp 23 is with a slotted spring pin 39. The slotted spring pin 39 is inserted into a clamp bore 40 and a top piece bore 41 which are aligned as seen in
A centering stud 43 can be included between the top piece 18 and insert 10. The centering stud 43 seats into the reservoir 34 and extends into the insert orifice 11. The shape of the centering stud conforms to the boundaries of the reservoir 34 and the insert orifice 11 and in this way the centering stud 43 acts as an alignment device. The centering stud has an open interior so that coolant flow is not restricted.
The documents, patents and patent applications referred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference.
While the invention has been specifically described in connection with certain specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not of limitation, and the scope of the appended claims should be construed as broadly as the prior art will permit.
This patent application is a divisional patent application of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/654,918 filed Jan. 18, 2007 for a METAL CUTTING SYSTEM FOR EFFECTIVE COOLANT DELIVERY by Paul D. Prichard, Linn R. Andras and Ted Robert Massa. Applicants hereby claim the benefit of the priority filing date of said above-referenced parent patent application (i.e., U.S. Ser. No. 11/654,918 filed Jan. 18, 2007). Further, applicants hereby incorporate by reference herein the entirety of said parent patent application (i.e., U.S. Ser. No. 11/654,918 filed Jan. 18, 2007).
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