Abstract:
A milling tool is disclosed having a front head and a rear holder, which are detachably connected by means of a male/female coupling as well as a screw and a washer. Via a main duct, cooling liquid is fed to a chamber, from which it is fed out via branch ducts to individual milling inserts. The front chamber is closed by means of a cover that is held applied against a ring surface surrounding the chamber. The cover is tightenable by means of a threaded joint that is operative independently of a threaded joint between the screw and a front section of the main duct.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION DATA 
     This application is based on and claims priority under 37 U.S.C. §119 to Swedish Application No. 1150378-6, filed Apr. 29, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The present disclosure relates to a milling tool of the type that comprises a front head and a rear holder, which are detachably connected by means of a male/female coupling that includes a male member included in a front part of the holder, and a seat that mouths in a rear end of the head and, via a shoulder, transforms into a wider chamber mouthing in the front end of the head adjacent to a ring surface, a washer being pressed against the shoulder by means of a threaded joint comprising, on one hand, a male thread on a screw provided with a head, and on the other hand a female thread included in a through bore that runs through the holder and serves as a main duct for the conveyance of a fluid to said chamber, from which branch ducts extend toward individual milling inserts and chip spaces in the periphery of the head in order to individually feed the fluid to the same, and the chamber being sealed by means of a cover, which is held applied against the ring surface. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In the discussion that follows, reference is made to certain structures and/or methods. However, the following references should not be construed as an admission that these structures and/or methods constitute prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to demonstrate that such structures and/or methods do not qualify as prior art against the present invention. 
     Tools of the above-related kind are used to mill, by cutting or chip removing machining, workpieces of metal, such as steel, aluminium, cast iron, etc. They may also be used for the milling of composite materials. 
     In some applications, it is necessary to supply a flushing fluid to the individual chip channels in which the milling inserts are mounted, foremost in order to, as fast as possible, carry away the chips that are removed from the workpiece, but often also to cool the milling inserts and the surroundings thereof. When a chip-evacuating effect as well as a cooling effect is desired, some form of liquid is usually used, e.g., water or oil emulsions. If the fluid only should have a chip-removing effect, the same advantageously may be gaseous, preferably in the form of air. For this purpose, the present milling tools are constructed with an internal, suitably centrally situated, bore that forms a main duct through which the fluid can, from a storage container in or adjacent to the driving machine, be fed up to the head, where it, in one way or the other, is distributed outward to the peripherally situated milling inserts. In respect of the supply of fluid to the milling inserts, the present tools may be divided into two main categories, a first one of which makes use of a chamber that is formed in the front part of the head and to which the fluid is fed via the main duct in order to then be distributed outward individually to the milling inserts via individual, internal branch ducts, most often in the form of drilled holes or bores. The second category of tools makes use of a nozzle that is arranged in the front part of the head and, via a plurality of small nozzle holes, distributes the fluid outward to the milling inserts in an indifferent, shower-like flow. A disadvantage of the latter type of tools is that the initially pressurized fluid quickly loses its pressure as soon as the same has been flushed out through the nozzle, and then has a comparatively long distance to travel before it reaches up to the chip channel. Therefore, the rinsing of the milling inserts and the chip channels becomes fairly mediocre. 
     By U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,738 and WO 2007/085281, milling tools are previously known belonging to the category that distributes the cooling liquid in an external, indifferent flow, more precisely from a central nozzle via peripheral slots adjacent to the individual chip channels and milling inserts. Because of that, no distinct jets of appreciable pressure via internal branch ducts can be provided. 
     In SE 517817, there is shown a milling tool that, per se, includes a form of branch ducts intended to individually distribute cooling liquid to the individual milling inserts. However, in this case, the branch ducts are in the form of open grooves in the front surface of the milling cutter head and no sealing cover at all is included in the tool. 
     SUMMARY 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1-4  as well as  FIG. 10 , a brief description follows below of the general structural features of the present type of milling tool. The main components of the same are a front head  1  and a rear holder or adapter  2 , both of which have a rotationally symmetrical basic shape and, in the assembled state, are concentric with a common centre axis C, around which the tool is rotatable. The holder  2  is intended to be fixed in a driving machine (not shown) and includes a rear recess  3 , which in this case constitutes one of the parts, the female-like one, of a coupling, the male-like part of which is included in the machine. The head  1  as well as the holder  2  may advantageously be manufactured from steel. 
     In the head  1 , there are included a plurality of peripheral, and tangentially spaced-apart milling inserts  5 , e.g. of cemented carbide, which in a conventional way are replaceable and placed adjacent to each a chip channel  6 . Inside the head  1  (see  FIG. 4 ), there is a front, cylindrical chamber  7  and a rear, likewise cylindrical seat  8  between which a ring-shaped shoulder or support surface  9  is provided as a consequence of the chamber  7  having been given a diameter that is greater than the diameter of the seat  8 . The chamber  7  opens in the front end of the head  1  and has its mouth surrounded by a ring-shaped surface  10  (henceforth denominated “ring surface”). From the chamber  7 , there extend branch ducts  11  in the form of drill holes, which mouth in the outside of the head  1 . More precisely, the individual branch duct  11  extends to a chip channel  6  and has its mouth situated near the milling insert  5 . The individual branch duct  11  is advantageously bored at such an angle that a passing, tight liquid jet is directed toward the chip surface of the milling insert  5 . 
     The head  1  and the holder  2  are detachably interconnected via a male/female coupling, which, in addition to the seat  8 , includes a male member  12  in the form of a socket included in the front part of the holder  2  and having a rotationally symmetrical basic shape. In the example, the outside  13  of the socket—as well as the inside  14  of the seat  8 —is cylindrical, although also a conical shape is conceivable. The socket  12  is shorter than the seat  8 , and therefore the front, ring-shaped end surface  15  thereof will be located axially behind the shoulder  9 , when the connection of the head and the holder has been effected. 
     In order to hold together the components  1  and  2 , a screw  16  is used having a head  17  that is kept pressed against a washer  18 , which has been brought to abut against the shoulder  9 . Said screw  16  has a male thread  19   a  that can be tightened in a female thread  19   b  included in a front section of a central, through bore  20 , which serves as a main duct for the feed of cooling liquid in the forward direction through the tool. In this case, the screw  16  is solid, i.e., lacks holes, and may advantageously be manufactured from steel (like the head  1  and the holder  2 ). 
     In the tool, there is also included a cover  21  that has the purpose of sealing the chamber  7  and thereby force out the fed cooling liquid through the branch ducts  11 . 
     Reference is now made to  FIG. 10  that illustrates a milling tool, which is previously known by open use (marketed by SANDVIK COROMANT AB). An advantage of the same tool as well as the tool according to the invention is that the cooling liquid (or another suitable fluid) can be fed in a pressurized state to a collecting chamber of the head and after that, via internal branch ducts, is distributed out to the milling inserts/chip channels in the form of distinct, tight jets, which in an effective way remove the chips from the milling inserts and the surroundings thereof. A disadvantage of the known tool according to  FIG. 10  is, however, that the cover  21 , which has the purpose of sealing the chamber  7 , is integrated with the head of the screw  16  and arranged to sealingly be pressed against the ring surface  10  by means of one and the same threaded joint that has the purpose of holding together the head  1  and the holder  2  by pressing the washer  18  against the shoulder  9 . Thus, the screw  16  is, in this case, formed with a central bore  22  that runs through the threaded shank of the screw and branches into a number of branch ducts  23  inside the head  17 , at the same time as the washer  18  (with the exception of its central hole) is solid and therefore does not allow liquid to pass from the seat  8  to the chamber  7 . A key grip  24  in the screw head allows tightening of the screw while simultaneously tightening the washer  18  against the shoulder  9  as well as the cover  21  against the ring surface  10 . Also the washer  18  may advantageously be manufactured from steel. 
     To be able to tighten both the washer  18  and the cover  21  by means of one single threaded joint, viz. the male thread  19   a  of the screw and the female thread  19   b  in the bore  20 , in the above-described way may seem attractive from manufacturing and handling points of view. However, in practice, this design solution involves problems difficult to master. Namely, if the dimensional accuracy of the screw, above all in respect of the axial extension of the head, does not become meticulous, risk of leakage arises between the cover and the surrounding ring surface  10 . After the tightening of the screw  16  by a prescribed torque, the cover  21  can accordingly come to stop at a certain distance from the ring surface  10 , whereby the liquid can leak out in a shower-like flow, which—depending on the size of the leak—reduces the liquid pressure and thereby the efficiency of the targeted jets passing through the branch ducts  11 . In other words, the efficiency of the liquid flushing is deteriorated at the same time as unnecessary great quantities of liquid splashes around inefficaciously. Alternatively, the cover may—by too early being pressed against the ring surface  10 —prevent the screw from holding together the head and the holder by a sufficiently great force. 
     An exemplary embodiment of a milling tool for chip removing machining comprises a front head and a rear holder, which are detachably connected by means of a male/female coupling that includes a male member included in a front part of the rear holder, a seat that mouths in a rear end of the front head and, via a shoulder, transforms into a wider chamber mouthing in the front end of the front head adjacent to a ring surface, a washer pressed against the shoulder by means of a first threaded joint comprising a male thread on a screw provided with a head, and a female thread included in a through bore that runs through the rear holder and serves as a main duct for conveyance of a fluid to said chamber, from which branch ducts extend toward individual milling inserts and chip channels in the periphery of the front head in order to individually feed the fluid to the same, and a cover sealing the chamber and that is held applied against the ring surface, wherein the cover is tightenable against the ring surface by means of a second threaded joint that is operative independently of the first threaded joint. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       Before the disclosed milling tool, and the merits thereof in comparison with previously known milling tools, is described in more detail, the general structural features of the present tools will be made clear with the aid of the subsequent drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a milling tool. 
         FIG. 2  is an analogous perspective view, which is sectioned to show the inside of the tool. 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged, sectioned perspective view showing the head of the tool and a smaller part of the holder of the tool. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective exploded view, which in a sectioned state shows the head spaced-apart from the holder. 
         FIG. 5  is a bird&#39;s eye view showing a screw for the fixation of the head on the holder. 
         FIG. 6  is a worm&#39;s eye view of the same screw. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a washer co-operating with the screw. 
         FIG. 8  is a bird&#39;s eye view of a cover for the seal of a chamber included in the head. 
         FIG. 9  is a worm&#39;s eye view of the same cover. 
         FIG. 10  is a longitudinal section through a previously known milling tool belonging to the same category as the disclosed tool (Prior Art). 
         FIG. 11  is a partial, sectioned perspective view showing an alternative embodiment of the milling tool. 
         FIG. 12  is an exploded view showing a screw and a cover included in the embodiment according to  FIG. 11 . 
         FIG. 13  is an exploded view showing a screw and a cover included in a further alternative embodiment of the disclosed tool. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A characteristic of the invention (see  FIGS. 1-9  that illustrate a first embodiment of the invention) is that the cover  21  is tightenable against the ring surface  10  by means of a second threaded joint, which is independent from the first threaded joint  19   a ,  19   b  that presses the washer  18  against the shoulder  9 . In the preferred embodiment according to  FIGS. 1-9 , this has been realized by the head  17  of the screw  16  being formed with a male thread  25  for the co-operation with a female thread  26  on the inside of a cylindrical cuff  27 , which is included as an integrated part of the cover  21 . More precisely, the cuff  27  is arranged on the back side of the cover, the cover including a key grip  28  that is accessible from the front and by means of which the same can be screwed on and off the screw head. In this case, the screw is solid so far that the same lacks a liquid duct. The key grip  24  opens in the front side of the head, and by means of which solely the proper screw  16  can be tightened against the washer  18 . 
     In this case, the head  1  is applied to a holder  2 , the main duct  20  of which branches into a number of drilled holes  30  that, with its one end, mouths in the main duct  20  and with its other one in the front end surface  15  of the socket  12 . Furthermore, in the washer  18 , there are formed a suitable number of through holes  32 , via which the liquid from the main duct  20  and the branch holes  30  can pass between the seat  8  and the chamber  7 . In the example, the number of holes  32  amounts to four. A central hole  33  in the washer has a somewhat greater diameter than the screw. 
     The cover  21  may, like other components of the tool, be manufactured from steel. Alternatively, the same may also be manufactured from materials having greater elasticity and lower weight than steel, such as aluminium, plastic, or miscellaneous composites. It should furthermore be pointed out that, in the example, the key grip  28  of the cover is in the form of a through hole. If the cover is given a sufficient thickness, the key grip can also be formed as a seat countersunk in the upper side thereof. 
     The part of the cover that corbels out outside the cuff  27 , and that forms a peripheral brim, may advantageously be comparatively thin to guarantee a certain elasticity of the same. Thus, the thickness should be within the range of 0.5-2 mm. Furthermore, the diameter of the brim should be at least 50%, suitably at most 100% greater than the diameter of the cuff. 
     The Function and Advantages of the Invention: When the different components of the tool should be coupled together, the socket  12  is applied to the seat  8 , besides which the washer  18  is abutted against the shoulder  9 . In the next step, the screw  16  is brought in place and is tightened in the female thread  19   b  by a suitable torque. In such a way, the head  1  is locked to the holder  2  via the washer  18 . In a concluding step, the cover  21  is applied and tightened via the second threaded joint constituted by the co-operating male and female threads  25 ,  26 . As a consequence of the fact that the two described threaded joints can be activated independently of each other, a reliable sealing is guaranteed of the periphery of the cover against the ring surface  10 . Thus, the sealing effect will not be dependent on the dimensional accuracy of the co-operating components, viz. the washer, the screw head, and the cover. Neither can the cover detrimentally affect the correct tightening of the screw. 
     Brief Description of Alternative Embodiments: Reference is now made to  FIGS. 11 and 12 , which illustrate an alternative embodiment of the milling tool. Like the known tool according to  FIG. 10 , in this case, the tool includes a screw  16 , which includes a central bore  22  that runs through the threaded shank of the screw and branches into a number of branch ducts  23  inside the head  17 . However, in this case, the bore  22  extends all the way between the opposite ends of the screw and includes a widened section  34  in the head  17 . In addition, the head  17  is—in accordance with exemplary embodiments—formed with an external thread  25  for the co-operation with a female thread  26  included in the cuff  27  of the cover  21 . 
     In the embodiment according to  FIGS. 11 and 12 , the key grip  28  is in the form of a seat formed in a central, thickened knob that is accommodated in the widened section  34  of the bore  22 . When the cover is tightened on the screw, the rear end surface of the cuff will be located above the branch ducts  23 , so that the fed fluid can pass freely out into the chamber  7 . 
     Finally, in  FIG. 13 , there is shown an alternative embodiment in which the requisite branch ducts are on the form of radial holes  35  in the cuff  27  of the cover  21 . These holes  35  are located in the immediate vicinity of the brim of the cover. In this case, branch ducts do not need to be drilled in the head  17  of the screw  16  because the fluid, which is fed through the bore  22 , can be distributed out into the surrounding chamber via the holes  35  in the cuff. 
     In all embodiments, it is preferred to form homologous threads in the two separate threaded joints, so that they run in the same direction. If, for instance, the male thread  19   a  shown in  FIG. 5  is right-threaded, also the male thread  25  is made right-threaded. In such a way, it is guaranteed that the initial tightening of the screw does not risk being counteracted by the subsequent tightening of the sealing cover  21 . In other words, the tightening of the screw as well as the cover is carried out in one and the same direction. What is more, this direction may be selected so that it harmonizes with the direction of rotation of the tool in so far that the rotation aims to tighten the screw and the cover, respectively, rather than to loosen the same. 
     For the sake of completeness, it should also be pointed out that the components  1 ,  2 ,  16  and  21  all are concentric with the common centre axis C. 
     Feasible Modifications: The invention is not limited only to the example described above and shown in the drawings. Thus, it is feasible to arrange the second threaded joint, which is used to separately tighten the sealing cover, between the pipe section of the cover and the inner surface of the collecting chamber, instead of between the pipe section and the screw head. In the example, the key grip in the screw head is greater than the key grip in the cover. When the key grip of the cover is in the form of a through hole, also the opposite alternative is feasible, i.e., the key grip of the cover is made greater or wider than the one of the screw. In such a way, the key for the screw can be inserted into its key grip without the cover first needing to be removed from the screw head (e.g. in connection with loosening of the screw). Furthermore, it is feasible to feed fluid in two flows from the main duct to the chamber in the front head, viz. a first flow of the type that is illustrated in  FIGS. 1-9 , where the feed is effected via tilted ducts in the holder and holes in the washer, as well as a second flow via a hollow screw of the type shown in  FIGS. 11-13 . The feeding of the fluid in two flows may in certain applications be advantageous, namely if the available space for the ducts in the tool body and the screw, respectively, is limited. 
     Although the present invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that additions, deletions, modifications, and substitutions not specifically described may be made without department from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.