Cutting tool.

Abstract: A rotary cutting tool includes a tool body (10) and cartridge (12) carrying a cutting insert (13) that is adjustable in relation to the tool body (10). This is accomplished by providing serrations (26) at one side surface of said cartridge and a correspondingly curved recess (27) adjacent said serrations for the receipt of a key element (23) with matching serrations at its end portion (24) such that rotation of said key accomplishes adjustment of said cartridge (12) and said insert (13).

Description: The present invention relates to a cutting tool comprising a rotatable tool body having a recess therein and a cartridge carrying a cutting insert, received in said recess, said cartridge being releasably secured to said tool body. The invention provides new means to be provided to enable displacement of said cartridge in relation to said tool body. Rotary milling cutters with adjustment means are known, such as an eccentric element or a set screw to permit adjustment of the position of the insert prior to having such insert locked in its final position. Such means for permitting adjustment often suffer from disadvantages in that an eccentric element can yield at its pivoted mounting. Such adjustment element, however, can start to yield even when subject to axial loads. This can lead to difficulties where great accuracy of finish is required. Further, milling cutters with adjustment wedge members are known. The usage of such wedge members, however, if used for axial adjustment, requires additional space in the axial direction. It is therefore a demand for rotary cutters with improved adjustment means which require a minimum of space whilst not being susceptible to axial and radial loads. The present invention aims to provide a solution to the above related problems. The problems are solved with a cutting tool according to claim 1. The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein Figs. 1-4 and Fig. 9 are included only for explanation purposes and are not part of the invention as claimed. Fig. 1 shows a side view of a milling cutter and assembled cartridges provided with means for axial adjustment of said cartridges. Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view along the line II-II in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of an engagement between an adjustment key and the cartridge. Fig. 4 is a side view of a milling cutter and assembled cartridges having means for both axial and radial adjustment of said cartridges. Fig. 5 shows a side view of a disc-shaped milling cutter according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 6 shows an end view of the milling cutter in Fig. 5 Fig. 7 shows an enlarged view of engagement surfaces of a key element and a cartridge as in Fig. 5. Fig. 8 shows an enlarged view of the profile of the key element in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 shows a top view of a tool holder for a bar peeling tool equipped with a cartridge having means for adjustment of the insert carried by said cartridge. Figs. 1-4 show a rotary tool body 10 having around its periphery a multiplicity of generally axially extending recesses 11 for the receipt of cartridges 12 each equipped with a cutting insert 13 of wear resistant material, usually cemented carbide material or ceramics. Alternatively each cutting insert could be a body with one or several tips 13a with a cutting edge made of diamond or cubic boron nitride. The tool body 10 is arranged to rotate around its central axis CL in the direction R. The recesses 11 are evenly distributed around the periphery of the tool body 10. Each recess 11 is U-shaped and confined by guide wall surfaces 11a, 11b and 11c which are parallel to the axis CL and are substantially perpendicular to each other and which function to positively fix the respective cartridge 12 against movement in all directions. Each cartridge is seated against its guide walls and held thereagainst by two spaced securing bolts 14 and 15, said bolts being partially threaded and passing through corresponding holes 16 and 17 formed in said cartridge so as to be threadably engaged in threaded bores 18, 19 in the tool body 10. At an intermediate portion of the cartridge between the position of said bolts 14, 15 there is provided a serration 20 that extend radially on a radially inner portion of one side wall 21 of said cartridge more specifically at a portion of that side wall which comes into surface-to-surface contact with the guide wall 11a of the recess 11. It is important to provide a recessed area to give clearance for the cylindrical portion of a key element 23, the forward end portion of which has a gear-shaped surface for engagement with said serration 20. In other words, the cylindrical portion of said key element always has a somewhat larger diameter than the diameter of the circle which touches the outer peaks of said gear-shaped profile at the forward end of same key element. These serrations 20 extend in the radial direction perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of said cartridge. One example of the shape of these serrations 20 is shown more clearly in fig. 3. Adjacent the location of said serrations 20 there is provided a circular recess 22 in the tool body 10 such that said recess intersects with the guide wall 11a. The axial position of said recess 22 should be about the same as the axial position of said serrations 20 provided on the cartridge. The purpose of the location of said serrations and said recess is to enable receipt therein of said key element 23 having an end portion 24 with its periphery having a surface design that corresponds with the shape of said serrations 20. Figure 4 shows another embodiment of the invention, more specifically a face milling cutter equipped with cartridges 12 and associated wedge elements 25. More specifically, a wedge element 25 is provided as a radial spacer element between the cartridge 12 and its associated tool body 10. The cartridge 12 is provided with first serrations 20 that extend radially in the tool body 10 and there is an adjacent matching recess 22 in tool body 10 similar to the embodiment in Fig. 1, but additionally there is also provided second serrations 26 which are provided radially in one side surface of the wedge element 25. Adjacent said serrations 26 there is a circular recess 27 in the tool body so that insertion and engagement of a key element 23 such as a TORX (trademark of Textron Inc.) key will cause longitudinal displacement, upwards or downwards when turning said key around. This will enable radial adjustment of the cartridge and the position of the cutting insert 13. Additional adjustment means shaped as serrations 28 are provided in an insert carrying element 29 which is secured in a seat of said cartridge 12 by means of a bolt 30 that extends through said element 29 whilst being threadably engaged with said cartridge. By inserting a key element with a gear-shaped circumferential surface matching said serrations 28 into a recess on said element 29 it will be possible to reach a minor adjustment of the insert 13. This will enable a customer not only to set the cutting edge in axial and radial direction but also reach adjustment of the secondary cutting edge of the insert in relation to the angle that is needed around a given center line. In Figs. 5-7 is shown an embodiment of the invention shaped as a slotting cutter. The tool comprises a disc-shaped tool body 10 which is arranged for rotation around its central axis in direction R and is provided with a number of spaced recess 11 around its periphery, each said recess being confined by a forward wall 31, a rear wall 32 and a bottom wall 33. A partially wedge-shaped cartridge 12' is located in each said recess 11'. The width of each cartridge 11' is clearly less than the width of the disc-shaped tool body. Each cartridge is carrying an insert 13 of cemented carbide or similar wear resistant material. Every second insert extends laterally a portion beyond one side surface of the tool body and every insert therebetween extends laterally a similar portion beyond the opposite side surface of the tool body 10, it being appreciated that the inserts are of sufficient width so as to overlap the central plane of tool body 10. The clamping means for the cartridge 12' is a clamping wedge 34 arranged radially inside the insert 13 on said cartridge 12'. The wedge is tightened towards the radially inner portion of the cartridge by a clamp screw 35 that extends through the wedge and is threadably engaged in a corresponding bore in the tool body. The rear wall 32 of said recess 11 is along a portion thereof provided with axially straight serrations 32' and 32" intended to engage with corresponding serrations in the rear wall of said cartridge 12'. The wedge acts between the wall of the recess remote from the partially serrated wall 32, and the radially inner portion of the cartridge. The cartridge 12' is at one of its radially innermost corners, more specifically the corner that is located adjacent the transition zone between the bottom wall 33 and rear wall 32, provided with a serrated surface 36 intended to be engaged by the inner end portion 37 of a locking key element 38 that is received in a corresponding cylindrical bore 39 oriented at an inclined angle in relation to the direction of the rear wall 32 of said recess 11'. The rotation of said key element 38 will after its engagement with serrated surface 36, cause axial displacement of said cartridge 12' thereby imparting axial adjustment of the insert 13 in relation to said tool body 10. This design with inclined bore 39 for key element 38 makes it possible to maintain full supporting serration behind the cartridge without the need of having an insertion bore for said key element that could weaken the stiffness and strength of the rear supporting wall behind said cartridge. As appears more clearly from Fig. 8, showing the end portion of said key element 38, it is defined in part by a first series of six spaced apart, semicylindrical surfaces 40. A second series of six semicylindrical surfaces 41 alternate with the surfaces 40 and merge smoothly and tangentially therewith. The radius of curvature of the second series of surfaces 41 is considerably greater than, preferably somewhat more than twice as great as, the radius of curvature of the surfaces 40. Further, as appears from Fig. 8, the maximum distance (major diameter) 42 across the surfaces of the first series is much greater than the minimum diameter 43 across the intermediate surfaces 41. The distance 44 represents the depth of the flutes between the lobes formed by the surfaces 40, and this distance constitutes the difference between the maximum radial dimension of the surfaces 40 and the minimum radial dimension of the surfaces 41. This difference is preferably 20-30 % of the maximum radial dimension. More preferably, said distance should be approximately 50 % greater than the radius 40 of said first series of surfaces. Although the configuration of the profile of the key element 23, 38 above is described as a specifically preferred embodiment as shown more in detail in Fig. 8 it is to be understood that other profiles of the engagement end portion of said key element could be selected, as well as the profile of the matching profile of the side surface of said cartridge, 12, 12'. With the embodiment shown in Fig. 9 there is a tool holder comprising a cartridge 12 and a wedge element 25 secured to a tool head that is intended to rotate about an axis L which coincides with the longitudinal axis of a cylindrical workpiece A with which the tool is intended to engage. Such a rotary tool head is shown in US Patent 5,353,668. A circularly shaped heavy duty insert 45 is provided on said cartridge at a certain distance axially in front of a finishing insert 46 of basically triangular design. The circular insert 45 will perform roughing operations to a certain cutting depth in the workpiece A whereas the finishing insert 46 creates the final surface in workpiece A at a cutting depth h 2 . The total cutting depth performed by inserts 45, 46 is indicated as h 1 . The radial adjustment of the position of said inserts is possible by the provision of a circular recess 47 in the cartridge such that said recess intersects with one inclined side wall of said cartridge. Adjacent the location of said recess 47 there are serrations 48 provided in the adjacent contact surface of the wedge element 25. The purpose of the location of said serrations and said recess is to enable receipt therein of same type of key element 23 with an end portion which on its periphery has a surface design that fully corresponds with the shape of said serrations 48, i.e. with a surface design arrangements such as shown in Fig. 3. By turning such key element 23, whilst engaged in its recess 47 and said serrations 48, radial adjustment of the cutting insert will occur as a result of the longitudinal displacement of said wedge element 25 when actuated by said key.

Claims: A cutting tool for chip machining of metal workpieces comprising a tool body (10) with a longitudinal axis (CL), rotatable in a rotary direction (R), said body having a number of spaced recesses (11) that extend axially in said tool body, a cartridge (12) carrying an insert (13), said cartridge being releasably secured in said recess by clamping means, said recess being defined by guide wall surfaces (11a, 11b, 11c) extending longitudinally in said tool body, said tool being capable of adjustment of the position of said cartridge, whereby one side surface of said cartridge being provided with first serrations (36) and said tool body (10) having a correspondingly curved recess (27) in positions adjacent said first serrations (36) for the receipt of a key element (23, 38), the forward end portion (37) of which having a circumferential surface with second serrations matching the first serrations of said cartridge so that rotary movement of said key element after insertion and engagement with said first serrations (20) and recess (22) causes displacement and thereby adjustment of said cartridge in relation to said tool body, and locking means (16, 17) for locking said cartridge in position after adjustment, characterized in that the tool body is a slotting cutter wherein adjacent cutting inserts (13) are arranged to project from opposite sides of the body (10), and the first serrations (36) being provided on a radially inner comer region of the insert-carrying cartridge (12) and an adjacent cylindrical bore (39) being arranged to terminate adjacent said first serrations such that said key element (23, 38) with a matching serrated peripheral surface becomes engageable with said first serrations (36), said key element-receiving bore (39) extending in a direction inclined from the direction in which the rear wall (32) of said recess (11) extends. Cutting tool as defined in claim 1, characterized in that each cartridge has a seat in which there is provided with an insert carrying element (29) which is releasably secured by a bolt (30) which extends through said element and is threadably engageable with said cartridge (12), further serrations (28) being provided in a peripheral surface portion of said element (29) so that insertion and rotation of a correspondingly serrated key element therein will cause a minor adjustment of said insert carrying element (29). Cutting tool as defined in any of the claims 1-2, characterized in that the circumferential surface of the end portion (37) of the key element (23, 38) comprises a first series of an even number, preferably six, spaced apart semicylindrical surfaces (40) and a second series of semicylindrical surfaces (41) that alternate with said first surfaces (40) and merge smoothly and tangentially therewith, and that a portion of a side surface of each said cartridge (12, 12') is provided with serrations (20, 26, 36) having a corresponding matching design. Cutting tool as defined in claim 3, characterized in that the radius of curvature of said second series of surfaces (41) is more than twice as great as that of said first series of surfaces (40). Cutting tool as defined in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the difference between the maximum radial dimension of said first series of surfaces (40) and the minimum radial dimension of said second series o f surfaces (41) is approximately 50 % greater than the radius of said first series of surfaces. Cutting tool as defined in any of the claims 3-5, characterized in that the difference (44) between the maximum radial dimension of said first series of surfaces (40) and the minimum radial dimension of said second series of surfaces (41) is 20-30 % of said maximum radial dimension. Cutting tool as defined in any of the claims 1-6, characterized in, that the cartridge (12) is provided with a recessed area next to its serrated area, the diameter of said recessed area being somewhat larger than the diameter of the circle which touches the outer peaks of the gear-shaped forward portion of said key element (23, 38).

Inventors: WERMEISTER GUENTER, WERMEISTER, GUENTER, Wermeister, Günter
Applicants: SANDVIK AB, SANDVIK AKTIEBOLAG
Application year: 1998
Main classification: B23C5
IPC codes: B23C5