Abstract:
A milling cutter having a pair of clamping components mounted on a tool holder to form a slot for receiving a cutting insert. One of the clamping components forms an integral extension of the tool holder&#39;s shank. The two clamping components are fastened together by threaded fasteners. The insert is fastened to the clamping components by a second threaded fastener received in through-holes in the two components and a central opening in the cutting insert.

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to a milling cutter, and more particularly to a tool holder having a pair of clamping components forming a slot for receiving a milling cutting insert. 
   Milling cutters are commonly used in industry for a variety of metal cutting operations. A problem with conventional milling cutters is supporting a replaceable cutting insert. It is sometimes difficult to ensure that the cutting insert is on the centerline of the tool during a cutting operation. 
   A purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved tool holder for supporting a milling cutter insert. 
   The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises an elongated tool holder body having a shank at one end and a clamping component at the opposite, cutter head end. The shank is suited for connecting to a rotating driving means. A second removable clamping component is fastened to the tool holder body adjacent the first clamping component to form a slot for receiving the cutting insert. A fastener directly connects one clamping component to the other clamping component. 
   A camming screw passes through aligned holes in the two clamping components and a central hole in the cutting insert to connect the insert to the tool holder body. 
   The inner edge of the cutting insert has a V-shaped edge however it may take other configurations. The tool holder body has a V-shaped seat for receiving the V-shaped edge of the cutting insert to prevent it from being moved with respect to the tool holder body during a metal cutting procedure. 
   The camming screw biases the insert toward the V-shaped seat. 
   The first clamping component has an elongated longitudinal ridge. The second removable clamping component has a slot that mates with the ridge to prevent any lateral movement of one of the clamping components with respect to the other clamping component. 
   Some prior art related to this technology includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,575,670 issued Jun. 10, 2003 to Yuri Men for “Cutting Tool Assembly and Cutting Insert Therefor”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,719 issued Jul. 13, 1999 to Robert P. Laflamme for “Insert Holder with Top Clamp”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,589 issued Jul. 21, 1998 to John M. Cole for “Milling Cutter”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,194 issued Dec. 3, 1996 to Amir Satran et al. for “Cutting Tool”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,316 issued Nov. 12, 1991 to Stojan Stojanovski for “Ball Nose Milling Tool”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,383 issued Feb. 24, 1987 to Harold W. Lindsay for “End Milling Cutter and Method of Making Same” U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,711 issued Oct. 8, 1985 to Jimmy B. Dooley for “Tool Using Replaceable Bits”; and Publication No. 2001/0033776 published Oct. 25, 2001 to Stefano Villa for “Cutter Plate and Cutting Tool for Machining”. 
   Still further objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains upon reference to the following detailed description. 

   
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The description refers to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views and in which: 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a tool holder and a cutting insert illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a plan view of the tool holder showing the inside edge of the V-shaped seat; 
       FIG. 3  is an enlarged view as seen along lines  3 — 3  of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a view of the inner face of the removable clamping component; 
       FIG. 5  is an enlarged view as seen along lines  5 — 5  of  FIG. 4 ; 
       FIG. 6  is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the cutting tool clamped to the tool holder body; 
       FIG. 7  is a view of the cutting insert; 
       FIG. 8  is a sectional view of the cutting insert; and 
       FIG. 9  is an enlarged view of camming screw in the insert opening. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to the drawings,  FIG. 1  illustrates a preferred tool holder  10  comprising an elongated body  12  having a shank  14  at one end and a cutter head  16  at the opposite end. 
   The shank is adapted to be held in a rotating drive means, not shown, for rotation about a longitudinal axis  18 . A recess  20  and a slot  22  provide means for connecting the tool holder to the drive means in a manner described in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,102. Other shank configurations can be used. 
   The shank is integrally attached to a collar  24  having a planar mounting face  26 . Axis  18  is perpendicular to the plane of face  26 . 
   The components of the preferred tool holder are made of suitable steel alloys adapted for the particular metal cutting application to which they are to be applied. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the cutter end of the tool holder has a ridge  28  extending longitudinally from face  26 , and a pair of flat mounting surfaces  30  and  32  disposed in a common plane on opposite sides of ridge  28 , and at right angles to face  26 . Ridge  28  and mounting surfaces  30  and  32  terminate in a concave V-shaped seat  34 . Seat  34  has an apex  36  adjacent rotating axis  18  of the body. 
   Referring to  FIG. 2 , ridge  28  has a tapped hole  37  for receiving a threaded fastener  38 . 
   The outer end of the cutter head forms a clamping component  40  with a clamping surface  41  disposed in a plane that is parallel to mounting surfaces  30  and  32 . Clamping surface  41  is recessed from mounting surfaces  30  and  32 , about one-half the thickness of a cutting insert. Surface  41  has a tapped hole  42  for receiving a camming screw  44 . The two tapped holes  37  and  42  are disposed along parallel axes and at right angles to mounting face  41 . Mounting face  41  is disposed in a plane that is at right angles to face  26 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 4 , a removable second clamping component  46  is mounted on body  12  in abutment with clamping component  40 . End face  48  abuts mounting face  26  of the collar. 
   Clamping component  46  has a longitudinal slot  50  that closely receives ridge  28  to prevent any lateral shifting between the two clamping components. Clamping component  46  also has a fastener-receiving through-hole  52  aligned with tapped hole  37  for receiving fastener  38  to tightly connect the two clamping components together. 
   Referring to  FIG. 4 , removable clamping component  46  has a pair of flat mounting surfaces  54  and  56 , disposed in a common plane, on opposite sides of slot  50 . The inner end of mounting surfaces  54 ,  56  and slot  50  terminate in a V-shaped concave seat  58  for receiving a cutting insert  60 . When clamping component  46  is mounted on clamping component  40 , mounting surfaces  30  and  32  abut mounting surfaces  56  and  54 , respectively. Fastener  38  connects the two clamping components together. 
   V-shaped seat  58  on clamping component  46  is aligned with V-shaped seat  34  to form slot  64 . Face  66  on removable clamping component  46  and face  68  on clamping component  40  are parallel to one another and spaced to tightly receive cutting insert  60 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  7  and  9 , insert  60  has an outer cutting edge  70  which extends beyond the end of the cutter head. The insert has an inner end with a V-shaped convex edge  72  seated in V-shaped seats  34  and  58 . The insert has a central through-hole  74  having an axis  75  slightly offset from axis  75   a  in threaded hole  42  and frustoconical hole  76 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 6–8 , hole  76  is tapered from an elongated outer opening  80  to an annular enlargement  82 . Camming screw  44  has a head  86  with a diameter less than the diameter of outer opening  80 . The underside  88  of the camming screw head is also frustoconical, but slightly smaller than tapered hole  76  so that a small clearance exists permitting the camming screw to move in the direction  90 . 
   The lower threaded end of the camming screw is slightly smaller than the threads of hole  42  to provide a small clearance permitting camming midsection  92  to slightly move in direction  90 . Smooth, cylindrical camming midsection  92  abuts the inner end of insert through-hole  74 . 
   The camming screw is turned in the direction of arrow  94  until the underside of the camming screw engages the right side of frustoconical hole  76 , as viewed in  FIG. 6 . Turning the camming screw further causes the camming screw head to slide down tapered hole  76 , moving camming midsection  92  in the direction of arrow  90 . This movement of the camming screw biases the insert toward a locked position in abutment with V-shaped seats  34  and  58 . 
   Further, as the head of the camming screw head slides down tapered hole  76 , the camming screw head sandwiches that portion of clamping component  46  between the camming screw head and the insert in area  98  to further lock the insert in slot  64 . 
   Turning the camming screw in the opposite direction releases the insert so the camming screw can be removed, and then the insert removed from slot  64 . 
   Thus it is to be understood that I have described an improved milling tool holder in which the cutting insert is clamped at the outer end of the tool holder. The two clamping components have a mating ridge and slot to prevent any lateral movement of one of the components with respect to the other. The insert is biased against V-shaped seat in the two clamping components. The V-shaped seat may take other configurations so long as the configuration prevents the insert from being rotated with respect to the tool holder.