Toolholder for indexable inserts

Abstract: The invention provides a toolholder (10) having a forward portion with a location for a cutting insert (11) having a central hole (14). A clamp (20) is arranged adjacent said insert location, said clamp being secured to the holder by means of a screw (22) that extends through said clamp. A coil spring (37) is surrounding said screw (22). The forward portion of the clamp is shaped as a first protrusion (23) intended to engage with the hole (14) of the insert whereas its other end is a second protrusion (26) intended to engage with an inclined contact surface (27) in the holder. The upper portion of the coil spring (37) is received in a bore (36) of said clamp that extends at an inclined angle (α) in relation to the central axis (C 1 ) of said screw (22).

Description: The present invention relates to a toolholder for centrally apertured indexable inserts intended for chipforming machining of metallic workpieces. Indexable inserts are usually provided with nose point angles below 60° and they are usually intended for copying machining. There exist a variety of toolholders for various types of indexable inserts with nose point angles of 55° such as rhombic, rhomboidic and triangular inserts with equal angles all around the insert. The material used for such inserts is normally cemented carbide material or ceramic material. A commonly used locking system for such indexable inserts includes a pin in the holder extending upwardly into the insert-receiving pocket to engage a hole in the insert located in said pocket, and means for forcing said pin to be subjected to a pivoting movement inwardly towards said holder, said forcing means being arranged to actuate the lower portion of said pin, thus urging both the pin and the insert inwards towards a wall formed in the insert receiving pocket. Such type of toolholder is disclosed in US-Patent 3,314,126. The drawback of such holder, however, is that the forward nose portion of the cutting insert has a tendency of coming apart from the supporting shim plate located which can lead to insert failure. In view thereof it is desirable to provide a toolholder with a press device which will ensure that the insert is pushed both downwardly and inwardly and clamp forces will keep the insert firmly and safely in place in its location without any tendency of coming apart from its underneath supporting surface. This has become possible by using a clamp actuated by a clamping bolt, said clamp being provided with a forward and a rear protrusion one of which is arranged to engage with a portion of the hole wall of the insert and the other being arranged to abut against a contact surface in the holder which is inclined in relation to the central axis of the clamp-actuating screw. WO 95/32829 A discloses such a toolholder which corresponds to the preamble of appended claim 1. It is an object of the present invention to provide a toolholder which will ensure that the insert is pushed inwardly upon tightening of the clamp. In accordance with the invention this object is achieved by a toolholder as defined in claim 1. The invention will now be described more in detail by reference to the enclosed drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention. Fig. 1 is a top view of a toolholder according to the invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view along the line II-II of the toolholder shown in Fig. 1. In Figs. 1-2 there is shown a cutting tool comprising a toolholder 10 the forward nose portion of which is provided with a pocket for the receipt of an indexable cutting insert 11. This insert has rhombic basic shape with nose point angles less than 60°. The insert has an upper flat surface 12 and a lower flat surface 13 parallel with said upper surface and perpendicularly extending side walls therebetween. The insert 11 has a central hole 14, the central axis of which is extending perpendicularly towards said upper and lower flat surfaces 12, 13. The insert receiving pocket comprises a bottom supporting surface 15 and two side support surfaces 16, 17 upstanding perpendicularly therefrom. The bottom supporting surface 15 could either be a partial surface portion of the holder 10 itself or be provided as a separate shim plate 18 in the insert-receiving pocket, said shimplate being secured to said holder by a screw 19 having a central axis S. There is a clamp 20 provided for the clamping of the insert into its pocket in the holder 10, said clamp being actuatable by means o f a clamp screw 22 that extends entirely through said clamp and threadably engages a bore 21 in the holder 10, the central axis C 1 of said screw extending parallel with the central axis of the hole 14 in the insert. The forward end of said clamp is in the shape of a downwards-inwards inclined first protrusion 23 having an axis of symmetry inclined at an angle α in relation to said axis S, and intended to engage with the inwardly towards said holder directed hole wall of said hole 14 at a contact point 24 at a distance downwardly into the hole of the insert. At the same time an underneath surface of said clamp 20 abuts against the upper insert surface 12 at a contact surface 25 adjacent to the central hole 14 of the insert. The opposite end of said clamp is in the shape of a second protrusion 26 that is received in a recess 27 in the holder 10, the end surface 28 of said protrusion 26 being in the form of a flat surface for surface abutment with a corresponding planar contact surface 29 in said recess 27 that is inclined at an angle β in relation to the central axis C 1 of the clamp screw 22. Alternatively said end surface 28 could be convex for contact with the planar contact surface 29. The size of said angle (α) should be essentially of same size or somewhat smaller than the acute angle β at which the rear contact surface 29 of the holder is oriented. The clamp screw 22 has an upper flange-formed head portion 30 integral with an adjacent cylindrical portion 31 with somewhat smaller diameter than said head portion which is integral with a cylindrically shaped waist portion 32 with a smaller diameter than said cylindrical portion 31. The waist portion 32 extends into a lower threaded portion 33 the diameter of which is larger than the diameter of the waist portion 32. Upon tightening, the top surface of the head 30 of the screw becomes essentially flush with the surrounding upper surface of said clamp 20 at the same time as said screw is received in a recess 34 in said clamp such that the underneath side of said screw head is located in abutment against a corresponding radially extending surface 35 in the clamp 20. In accordance with the invention the toolholder is provided with a coil spring 37 around the upper portion of the clamp screw 22, so that the clamp is pressed upwards upon loosening the screw 20. The spring 37 extends axially along the cylindrical waist portion 32 and is partially received in an inclined bore 36 in the clamp 20 and is partially received in a cylindrical recess 38 in the toolholder. More specifically, the central axis C 2 of said bore 36 extends at an acute angle γ in relation to the central axis C 1 of said screw 22 and the common axis of the screw-receiving bore 21 in the toolholder. In accordance with a suitable embodiment the size of the angle γ is about the same as the selected size of the angle α, preferably in the range of 2-15°. As appears from Fig. 2 both the upper cylindrical portion 31 of the screw adjacent said screw head 30 as well as the upper portion of said coil spring 37 are received in said inclined bore 36, the arrangement being such that there is a certain play between said cylindrical portion 31 and the hole wall of said inclined bore 36 whereas the upper portion of said coil spring 37 is brought into surface contact with the hole wall of said bore 36 thus ensuring that the clamp 20 and the insert 11, upon tightening said screw 22, are being urged inwards towards the toolholder, thus establishing a firm and efficient clamping of said insert into its pocket in the toolholder 10. Further, thanks to the arrangement of locating the head of said screw 22 in a recess of said clamp it becomes possible to eliminate or reduce the risk of chips coming into intimate contact with the clamp body and avoids excessive wear thereof. The coil spring 37 is also partially received in a countersunk cylindrical recess 38 of the toolholder, the central axis of which coincides with axis C 1 . The recess 38 extends into the threaded bore 21 in which the threaded portion 33 of the clamp screw 22 is received. The longitudinal extent of said recess 38 is substantially the same as the thickness of the insert 11. The rearmost located hole wall of the spring-receiving bore 36 in the clamp has a longer extent axially than compared with the diametrically opposite foremost hole wall of said bore 36. This ensures a more clear lateral guidance of said coil spring against the rear hole wall of said bore 36 so that a more efficient inwardly directed clamping of the insert is accomplished. Thanks to providing said inclined angle α the clamp is urged to move straight inwards towards the holder thereby urging the insert into its final position by arranging contact between the clamp 20 and the insert at the contact portion 24. The clamp thereby secures the insert 11 both vertically and horizontally. Thanks to providing a wedging action, as a result of the angle α, the horizontally acting force will be substantial. Although the invention is described above in connection with a polygonally shaped indexable insert with a nose point angle below 60° it is to be understood that the invention could be similarly used for clamping inserts of other configurations, such as round inserts.

Claims: A toolholder (10) with an insert pocket with an indexable insert (11) located therein, said insert having a center hole (14) and arranged to be secured by a clamp (20) with a rear protrusion (26) mounted on said toolholder for being actuated against said insert by means of a clamp screw (22) extending entirely through said clamp whilst threadably engaging said toolholder, said clamp having a forward protrusion (23) for engagement with the hole wall of said central hole (14) and said clamp screw also being surrounded by a coil spring (37) partially received in said clamp, the upper portion of said coil spring (37) being received in a bore (36) provided in the clamp (20) characterized in that the bore has a central axis (C 2 ) that is inclined at an acute angle (γ) in relation to the central axis (C 1 ) of said screw and the screw-receiving recess (21) of said toolholder (10), such that the coil spring (37), upon tightening of said clamp screw (22), urges said clamp (20) and said insert (11) inwards towards said toolholder (10). Toolholder as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the central axis (C 1 ) of the clamp screw (22) is oriented parallel with the central axis (S) of the center hole (14) of the insert. A toolholder as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the rear protrusion (26) of the clamp is received in a recess (27) of said toolholder, whereby an end surface (28) of said clamp (20) and a contact surface (29) of said toolholder (10) are oriented downwards-inwards towards the toolholder (10) at an acute angle (β) relative to the central axis (C 1 ) of the clamp screw (22) of said clamp. Toolholder as defined in any of the claims 1-3, characterized in that the forward underneath portion of the clamp (20) that is located between the bore (36) of the clamp screw (22) and said forward protrusion (23) is arranged to come into abutment with the insert at a contact surface (25) adjacent said hole (14) of the insert at the same time as said forward protrusion (23) engages with the inwardly towards said holder directed hole wall of said insert center hole (14) at a contact point (24) in said hole (14) at a distance downwardly from the upper surface (12) of said insert. Toolholder as defined in any of the claims 1-4, characterized in that the screw head (30), when tightened, has its underneath surface in contact with a radial shoulder (35) of said clamp whilst having its upper surface substantially flush with the upper surface of said clamp (20). Toolholder as defined in any of the claims 1-5, characterized in that the coil spring (37) is partially received in a cylindrical recess (38) in the toolholder that is located adjacent a threaded bore (21) in said screw receiving recess of said toolholder, the central axis of said cylindrical recess (38) coinciding with the central axis (C 1 ) of the threaded bore (21) into which said clamp screw (22) is threadably engaged in the toolholder. Toolholder according to claim 6, characterized in that the axial length of the cylindrical recess (38) is substantially the same as the thickness of the insert (11). Toolholder as defined in any of the claims 1-7, characterized in that the rearmost located hole wall of the spring-receiving bore (36) in the clamp (20) has a longer extent axially than compared with the diametrically opposed foremost hole wall portion of said bore (36). Toolholder as defined in any of the claims 3-8, characterized in that the forward protrusion (23) of the clamp is oriented downwards-inwards with an axis of symmetry that is inclined at an angle (α) relative to the central axis (S) of the insert center hole (14) that is substantially equal to or somewhat smaller than the size of the angle (β) under which the rear contact surface (29) of the toolholder is inclined. Toolholder as defined in any of claims 1-8, characterized in that the forward protrusion (23) of the clamp (20) is oriented downwards-inwards with an axis of symmetry that is inclined at an angle (α) that is substantially equal to the acute angle (γ) under which the spring-receiving bore (36) in the clamp is inclined in relation to the axis (C 1 ) of the clamp screw (22). Toolholder as defined in any of the claims 1-10, characterized in that the size of the angles (α) and (γ) amounts to 2-15°.

Inventors: TJERNSTROEM ERIC, TJERNSTROEM, ERIC, Tjernström, Eric
Applicants: SANDVIK AB, SANDVIK AKTIEBOLAG
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B23B27
IPC codes: B23B27