Abstract:
The present disclosure may be primarily concerned with a tool having at least one insert removably mounted on a support plate with the combination removably secured to an at least one seat formed on the tool.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority from Provisional Patent Application No. 61/234,292 filed Aug. 16, 2009 by the named inventor herein entitled Cutting Insert. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure may generally relate to a substrate or support plate for an indexable, and/or optionally reversible (also may be known as invertible, or double-sided) inserts, possibly cutting inserts. The present disclosure may further relate to a combination of such insert, tool, and support plate, and to a method of assembling and employing the combination. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    A corresponding support plate, a corresponding cutting insert and also a corresponding tool are known, as an illustrative example only, from DE 196 53 921. 
         [0004]    Attention is presently drawn to  FIG. 1 , titled “Prior Art”, depicting a detail from  FIG. 8  in DE 196 53 921. A support plate known from DE 196 53 921 substantially corresponds in its outline shape to an outline of a central plateau (surrounding a fixing bore) of a contact face of an insert; in particular upper edges of the support plate are at a relatively large internal spacing relative to insert edges, which are most closely adjacent thereto, on a side of the insert, that is towards the support plate. The peripheral contour of the insert projects substantially beyond the peripheral contour of the associated support plate. 
         [0005]    In comparison with the known state of the art, the object of the present disclosure is to provide a support plate and correspondingly a combinations of support plates and inserts, as well as corresponding tools which may employ such support plates and inserts, and a method employing the same. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    The present disclosure may generally relate to a tool having at least one location, or seat (which may also be known in the art as a nest, or a pocket), for removably mounting a substrate or support plate for at least one, optionally indexable, and/or optionally reversible (also may be known as invertible, or double-sided) insert, optionally, but not limited to, a cutting insert, which is to be removably located in a tool to be provided with the at least one insert. The support plate may be of any known or discovered configuration, and may provide a bottom contact face which can be placed on a face of the seat, and a top support face which may correspond to, and may carry, a lower surface of the insert. The present disclosure may further relate to a combination of such insert, tool, and support plate, and to a method of assembling and employing the combination. 
         [0007]    Possibly, the at least one insert may comprise a plateau which is disposed within the insert edges and at a spacing therefrom and which is defined by one or more contact faces and the insert edges of the insert are at a varying spacing from a notional central plane which separates the two sides of the double-sided insert from each other. 
         [0008]    Furthermore, the present disclosure may also concern a corresponding tool which is provided with at least one seat for removably receiving a support plate as well as a combination of a support plate and a cutting insert of the aforementioned kind. In that respect, in an exemplary, illustrative-only embodiment of the disclosure, a support plate for an insert may be provided, which may be removably fixed on a tool, possibly on a seat (which may be also commonly known in the art as a nest, or a pocket, to name a few common phrases), the tool may comprise at least one seat for at least one insert and at least one support plate, the support plate may be provided with a lower support face designed to be removably mounted on the seat, and an upper support face which may removably carry the insert, the insert being provided with at least one working end and the support plate being provided with a generally corresponding at least one active end, wherein a support plateau is distanced from an insert lower plateau, and an at least one support rest abuts a generally corresponding insert lower abutment. 
         [0009]    Potentially, the insert may be provided with a transitional support face which, when the insert may be removably installed on the support plate may be distanced from an insert lower transition. 
         [0010]    Additionally, the present disclosure may be concerned with a combination of a support plate and an insert, the support plate may be designed to be removably mounted on a seat of a tool and the insert may be designed to be removably mounted on the support plate, the insert may be provided with a plurality of generally similar therebetween working ends and the support plate may be provided with a plurality of generally similar therebetween active ends, each of the plurality of the working ends is similar and corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of the active ends, wherein a support plateau is distanced from an insert lower plateau, and each of a plurality of support rests abuts each of a plurality of a generally corresponding insert lower abutments. 
         [0011]    Furthermore, the combination may be concerned with each of a plurality of transitional support faces may be distanced from a corresponding one of a plurality of insert lower transitions. 
         [0012]    Potentially, the present disclosure may also be concerned with a method for removably mounting at least one insert to a corresponding at least one seat on a tool, the method comprises steps of providing at least one corresponding support plate and the at least one insert, the at least one support plate may be removably mounted to the at least one seat on the tool; providing a plurality of generally similar therebetween working ends on the at least one insert and a corresponding plurality of generally similar therebetween active ends on the support plate; providing a support plateau on the at least one support plate and an insert lower plateau on the at least one insert; providing a plurality of generally similar therebetween support rests on the at least one support plate and a plurality of generally similar therebetween insert lower abutments each corresponding to one of the plurality of the support rests; and removably mounting the at least one support plate to the at least one seat on the tool, and removably mounting the at least one insert to the removably mounted at least one support plate, so that each of the plurality of insert lower abutments abuts a corresponding one of the plurality of support rests, and so that the support plateau is distanced from the insert lower support. 
         [0013]    Possibly, the method may comprise an additional step of providing a plurality of generally similar therebetween transitional support faces on an upper support face of the at least one support plate; providing a plurality of corresponding generally similar therebetween insert lower transitions of the at least one insert, and removably mounting the at least one insert to the at least one support plate, so that each of the plurality of insert lower transitions is distanced from a corresponding support transition faces. 
         [0014]    In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further possible aspects and/or embodiments will become apparent by reference to the figures and by study of the following detailed descriptions. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in referenced figures and drawings . It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. It is emphasized that, according to common practice, the various features of the drawing may not be to scale, but rather dimensions of various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. 
           [0016]    Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0017]      FIG. 1 , titled “Prior Art”, illustrates a detail taken from  FIG. 8  in DE 196 53 921 showing a combination of a prior-art tool, a prior-art support plate, and a prior-art insert; 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  schematically illustrates an exemplary, partial bottom perspective view of an exemplary, illustrative, working end of an exemplary insert of the present disclosure; 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  schematically illustrates an exemplary, partial top perspective view of an exemplary, illustrative, active end of an exemplary, illustrative, support plate of the present disclosure; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  schematically illustrates a partial plan view of the active end of the support plate schematically illustrated on  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  schematically illustrates a partial elevation view of the active end of the support plate schematically illustrated on FIG. 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  schematically illustrates a partial exploded perspective view of a combination of the exemplary insert and the exemplary support plate; and 
           [0023]      FIG. 7  schematically illustrates a sectional view taken along a  7 - 7  line shown on  FIG. 6 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0024]    Attention is drawn to  FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  4  and  5 .  FIG. 2  schematically illustrates an insert working end  110  of an exemplary insert  120  according to the present disclosure.  FIGS. 3 ,  4  and  5  schematically illustrate an active end  130  of a support plate  140  which may be fitted on a seat (not shown) which may be formed in and/or on a tool (not shown), and which can be removably fixed in the seat by a fastener (not shown). The insert  120  may comprise a plurality of working ends  110 . Similarly, the support plate  140  may comprise a plurality of generally similar, if not absolutely identical, active ends  130 , which potentially may match in number the plurality of working ends  110  of the insert  120 . The support plate, as well as the insert, may be of any known or discovered basic shape, and of any known or discovered material, to suit the required effect which the tool is designed to achieve. Possibly, the support plate and the insert may conform. 
         [0025]    The tool may be of any known or discovered configuration and/or material, and may comprise, among other features, a tool tail (not shown) and a tool head (not shown). The tool tail may be of any known and/or discovered configuration, and may be adapted to a permanent and/or removable attachment to a machine (not shown). The tool head may comprise at least one seat which may accommodate at least one support plate  140  and at least one insert  120 . 
         [0026]    When removably located in the seat of the tool, a lower support face  160  of the support plate  140  may abut at least a portion of a seat floor (not shown) of a tool (not shown). An upper support face  170  of the support plate  140  may be disposed opposite the lower support face  160 , with a peripheral support side  180  extending generally transversely between, and merging with, the upper support face  170  and the lower support face  160 . The upper support face  170  may comprise a central support plateau  190  and an adjoining transitional support face  200  which extends between the central plateau  190  and a support rest  205 . The support rest  205  may extend from the transitional support face  200  towards an upper rest edge  210  which may be formed a the merge of the peripheral support side  180  and the support rest  205 . 
         [0027]    A through-bore  165  may extend between, and merge with, the upper and lower faces  170 ,  160 , to facilitate releasable and/or removable clamping on the seat of the tool. The fastener may be of any known or discovered type, including, but not limited to, a bolt or screw, a clamp, and/or a wedge. The support rest  205  may be disposed away from the through-bore  165 , towards an outermost region of the upper support face  170 . 
         [0028]    The insert  120  may be of a symmetrical configuration relative to a central plane P extending generally horizontally and parallel to generally similar, and/or interchangeable, opposing, insert upper face  220  and insert lower face  230 . The insert  120  may be formed with an insert through-hole  240  extending between, and merging with, the insert upper and lower faces  220 ,  230 , to facilitate removable clamping in the seat of the tool. The insert  120  may be rotatable about an axis I extending through the through-hole  240  and/or invertible about the central plane P to present a fresh tip, as is well known in the art. The insert  120  may comprise insert peripheral flank  250  extending between, and generally transversely to, the insert upper and lower faces  220 ,  230  to define insert upper and lower edges  260 ,  270  at the meeting of the insert upper and lower faces  220 ,  230  and the insert peripheral flank  250 . 
         [0029]    The insert  120  features the insert working end  110  adjacent the upper and lower insert edges  260 ,  270  with insert upper and lower transitions  280 ,  290  extending towards the insert through-hole  240  and away from insert upper and lower plateaus  300 ,  310  which surrounds the insert through-hole  240 . The insert upper and lower transitions  280 ,  290  may extend from the insert upper and lower plateaus  300 ,  310  in a direction away from the insert through-hole  240 , towards the upper and lower insert edges  260 ,  270  to merge with insert upper and lower abutments  320 ,  330  extending away from the insert upper and lower transitions  280 ,  290  to the upper and lower edges  260 ,  270 . 
         [0030]      FIGS. 6 and 7  schematically illustrate an assembly drawing showing an exploded view illustrating a partial exemplary insert  120  and a partial exemplary support plate  140  ( FIG. 6 ) and a cross-section taken through the assembly ( FIG. 7 ). As may be seen in  FIG. 6 , the lower support face  160  may be directed towards the seat (not shown) of the tool (not shown). The upper support face  170  may be directed towards the insert lower face  230  of the removably mounted insert  120 , so that the working end  110  of the insert  120  and the active end  130  of the support plate  140  may generally match and substantially co-align.  FIG. 7  schematically illustrates that when the insert  120  is removably mounted on the support plate  140 , the support plateau  190  may be distanced from the insert lower plateau  310  and the transitional support surface  200  may be distanced from the insert lower transition  290 , with the insert lower abutment  330  may be abutting the support rest  205 . When there are generally similar therebetween plurality of working ends  110  and the corresponding generally similar therebetween plurality of active ends  130 , there may be a generally similar therebetween plurality of insert lower transitions  290  may be distanced from a corresponding plurality of generally similar therebetween transitional support faces  200 , while a plurality of generally similar therebetween insert lower abutments  330  may be abutting a plurality of generally similar therebetween support rests  205 . 
         [0031]    Since when the working end  110  of the insert  120  may be held against another material (not shown) during various kinds and/or modes of operations, supporting the insert  120  directly adjacent to the working end of the insert may increase rigidity and strength of the assembly and therefore of the tool, in general. Additionally, keeping the insert and the support plate separated on the support plateau and the insert lower plateau, and between the plurality of transitional support faces and the plurality of insert lower transitions, while limiting contact to between the plurality of the support rests and the corresponding plurality of insert lower abutments, may assist bending resistance of the insert, as is may be well known in the art. 
         [0032]    For the purposes of the original disclosure it is pointed out that all features as can be seen by a man skilled in the art from the present description, the drawings and the claims, even if they are described in specific terms only in connection with certain other features, can be combined both individually and also in any combinations with others of the features or groups of features disclosed here insofar as that has not been expressly excluded or technical aspects make such combinations impossible or meaningless. A comprehensive explicit representation of all conceivable combinations of features is dispensed with here only for the sake of brevity and readability of the description, and shall not be construed as to limit the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.