Abstract:
End mill cutter having a plurality of cutting edges distributed over the circumference of the mill cutter, having a flank which is adjacent to the respective cutting edge in the circumferential direction and a supporting surface which adjoins the flank on that side which faces away from the cutting edge in the circumferential direction.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a multi-edged end mill cutter. Such end mill cutters are normally used as conventional-milling cutters for the rough and finish machining of workpieces. For the machining, the workpieces are not always clamped in chucks of special machine tools. On the contrary, it is also normal practice for workpieces suspended during production from special transport and conveying equipment to be machined by means of such end mill cutters. For example, it is normal practice in the production of automobiles to suspend axle carriers or similar subassemblies from simple stirrups and to then machine them. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     As a result of a lack of stable clamping in a workpiece chuck, the workpiece is suspended only in a very unstable manner, such that the milling tool rotating in the opposite direction causes the workpiece suspended in an unstable manner to vibrate during the milling. This vibration of the workpiece immediately causes high wear of the cutting edges on the tool. Chipping of the cutting edges may even occur as a result of the irregular vibration of the workpieces. An unsatisfactory solution to the problem consists in the use of end mill cutters having cutting inserts. However, the use of these cutting inserts considerably increases the setting-up times for the tools. 
     Proceeding from these disadvantages, the object of the invention is to improve an end mill cutter with regard to its stability. This object is achieved in an inventive manner by the combination of features of device claim  1  and of method claim  14 . The claims that refer back contain partly advantageous developments of the invention and partly developments of the invention that are inventive on their own. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The basic idea of the invention consists in the arrangement of a sliding surface in the region of each flank of the cutting edge of the end mill cutter. The individual cutting edges of the end mill cutter are distributed over the circumference of the cutter. The number of cutting edges depends in this case on the machining objective pursued. The workpiece is set in vibration as a result of the engagement of each cutting edge on the workpiece. The sliding surface arranged in the region of the cutting edge comes into contact with the workpiece briefly after the engagement of the cutting edge, is supported on the workpiece and thus dampens again the unwanted vibratory movement of the workpiece. The sliding surface is therefore effective as a supporting surface in the invention. 
     According to the invention, the region that is adjacent in the circumferential direction of the cutting edge is divided into a flank and the supporting surface adjoining the flank. The flank ensures a reliable cutting movement of the cutting edge and the requisite chip disposal. The flank is consequently defined on the one side by the cutting edge and on the other side by the supporting surface. The supporting surface acts and more or less completely dampens the vibration of the workpiece caused by the engagement of the cutting edge. 
     In an advantageous configuration, the supporting surface is polished. In a further configuration, the supporting surface is coated with PVD thin films. All of these measures serve to prevent material accumulations, in particular adhering material or friction welds. These measures ensure that the supporting surface, apart from exerting its supporting function, causes no undesirable secondary phenomena to appear on the workpiece. 
     In an advantageous configuration, the region of the cutter outside diameter in the region of the supporting surface is slightly smaller than in the region of the cutting edge of the cutter. This configuration promotes good concentric running of the end mill cutter and prevents tilting of the end mill cutter on the workpiece. This good concentric running behavior of the end mill cutter is further promoted by a cylindrically ground run-out of the supporting surface provided in a further configuration. 
     Furthermore, to stabilize the cutting edge and increase the service life of the cutting edge, provision is made for the cutting edge corner to be rounded. Furthermore, provision is made to assign a cutting edge bevel to the cutting edge. Both the edge rounding mentioned and the cutting edge bevel serve to protect the cutting edge. In particular in the case of workpieces which tend to build up oscillations, like the suspended workpieces in question here, such protection of the cutting edge is advantageous. 
     To stabilize the concentric running behavior of the tool and to avoid periodic vibrations on the workpiece, the cutting edges are arranged with an unequal pitch relative to one another over the circumference of the end mill cutter. 
     To improve the result of the cut and to achieve short chips, the cutting edges are offset from one another in the axial direction in such a way that they overlap one another. 
     The combination of cutting edge, flank and supporting surface, said combination being proposed in a configuration of the end mill cutter according to the invention, in a cutting edge module which is configured as a carbide strip and can be brazed onto the parent body of an end mill cutter has the advantage that the cutter parent body can be produced from a heat-resistant “hot-work steel”. The cutter parent body can be optimized with regard to its material properties in the same way as the cutting edge module to be brazed in place. Suitable and preferred materials for the brazed-on cutting edge modules or cutting inserts are carbide, cermet, ceramic, cubic boron nitride (CBN) or polycrystalline diamond (PCD). 
     In a further advantageous configuration, the cutting edge modules are divided into a plurality of cutting edge segments. For this purpose, each cutting edge module has chip breaker grooves running transversely to the center longitudinal axis of the end mill cutter. The chip breaker grooves form the respective cutting edge segments between them. In an advantageous configuration, the chip breaker grooves are arranged in such a way that they are offset from one another in the axial direction like the cutting edges in order to ensure in turn good chip breaking and thus the generation of short chips. 
     In an alternative configuration, it is likewise possible to arrange the elements described, namely cutting edge, flank and supporting surface, on a cutting insert, in particular an indexable cutting insert, in order to likewise utilize for the invention the advantages associated with the use of such cutting inserts. 
     In a further configuration, it is possible to produce a solid end mill cutter, for example from carbide or from high speed steel (HSS) or a comparable material, which has the inventive configuration of the cutting edge with adjoining flank and in turn an adjoining supporting surface. A cutter produced from solid metal and having the features according to the invention is considered to be especially advantageous. 
     The cutter according to the invention advantageously permits the use of a climb-milling method. The conventional-milling method is normally used in the case of workpieces clamped in an unstable manner. Here, the workpiece is pushed away by the milling tool during the machining. As a result of the movement in the opposite direction, the workpiece tends to build up oscillations and to chatter. According to the prior art, however, it does not appear to be possible to machine workpieces clamped in an unstable manner using a climb-milling method, since backlash-free machining in the region of the point of action is necessary for this purpose, because otherwise there is the risk of tool fracture. 
     When the end mill cutter according to the invention is used for a climb-milling method, first of all the fact that the climb-milling cutter tends to pull the workpiece to be machined up to the cutter, as it were, is utilized. Once the cutting edge of the cutter pulls the workpiece up to the end mill cutter during the cutting, the supporting surface comes into engagement with the workpiece and thus supports the end mill cutter relative to the workpiece, such that a build-up of oscillations of the workpiece is effectively prevented. The combination of the pulling movement exerted on the workpiece by the cutting edge of the cutter on the one hand and the supporting effect of the supporting surface on the other hand brings about the backlash-free machining, required for the climb milling, at the point of action. 
     The end mill cutter, for the machining, advances laterally up to the workpiece surface to be machined and is guided along this surface in a parallel manner or in the same plane. During the machining, the workpiece surface to be machined is pulled up, as it were, to the end mill cutter as a result of the synchronous rotary movement of the end mill cutter for the axial movement of the workpiece. The cutting conditions for the individual cutting edges of the cutter are promoted by the workpiece being pulled up to the tool in this way. The forces acting laterally as a result of the workpiece being pulled up on the end mill cutter and the vibrations caused by this are compensated for by the supporting surface according to the invention. By means of the tools according to the invention, it is possible to increase the tool service life by a factor of 3 to 4. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention is explained in more detail with reference to an exemplary embodiment. In the drawing: 
         FIG. 1  shows a side view of the end mill cutter according to the invention with cutting edge modules, 
         FIG. 2  shows the front view of the end mill cutter shown in  FIG. 1  according to arrow II in  FIG. 1 , 
         FIG. 3 a    shows a detail drawing of the cutting region of the cutting edge modules with integrally formed chip breaker grooves of a first cutting edge, 
         FIG. 3 b    shows the configuration and position of the cutting edge module of the next cutting edge on the end mill cutter, said cutting edge being offset from the first cutting edge according to  FIG. 3   a,    
         FIG. 3 c    shows the section c-c in  FIG. 3   a,    
         FIG. 4  shows the detail IV in  FIG. 1   
         FIG. 5  shows the detail V in  FIG. 2 , 
         FIG. 6  shows a side view of an end mill cutter according to the invention with carbide indexable inserts screwed into insert seats, and 
         FIG. 7  shows the section VIII-VIII in  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The end mill cutter shown in side view in  FIG. 1  consists of a clamping shank  1  for clamping in a tool chuck and a cutter region  2 . The helical flutes  3  and the brazed-on cutting edge modules  4  can be seen in the cutter region  2 . The cutter outside diameter  5  in the region of the cutting edge  6  can also be seen. It can be seen from the plan view of  FIG. 2  that the cutter shown in the exemplary embodiment is a four-edged end mill cutter having four cutting edge modules  4 . The pitch of the cutting edge modules and thus of the cutting edges  6  relative to one another is unequal. A small pitch angle  7  and a large pitch angle  8  alternate with one another in each case. In the exemplary embodiment, the small pitch angle  7  is 83° in each case, whereas the large pitch angle  8  is 97° in each case. 
     The cutting edge modules  4 , which are brazed-on carbide strips in the exemplary embodiment, are brazed onto a parent body  9  made of hot-work steel. The flank  11  adjoins the cutting edge  6  in the circumferential direction  10 . The supporting surface  12  adjoins the flank  11  in the circumferential direction  10 . 
       FIG. 3 a    shows a detail of a cutting edge module  4 . Three chip breaker grooves  20  arranged at equal distances next to one another are integrally formed in this cutting edge module  4 . These chip breaker grooves  20  run transversely to the center longitudinal axis  19  of the end mill cutter.  FIG. 3 b   , arranged below  FIG. 3 a   , shows the cutting edge module  4  of the corresponding adjacent cutting edge. Here, the auxiliary lines  21  show that the chip breaker grooves  20  of the adjacent cutting edge modules  4  are, as it were, “staggered”, that is to say they are arranged offset from one another in the center longitudinal direction  19  of the end mill cutter. The unequal pitch as a result of the alternating small pitch angle  7  and large pitch angle  8  means that the chip breaker grooves  20  offset from one another produce chips of short breaking length. 
     The cutter outside diameter  5  is smaller in the region of the supporting surface  12  by the diameter difference than in the region of the cutting edge  6 . The diameter difference  13  in the exemplary embodiment is 0.04 mm. The cutter outside diameter  5  of the end mill cutter is therefore 0.04 mm below the nominal size in the region of the supporting surface  12 . Finally, the supporting surface end  14  of the supporting surface  12  has a cylindrically ground run-out for forming a clearance angle at the supporting surface end  14 . 
     In the region of its cutting edge corner  15 , the cutting edge  6  has edge rounding. In the exemplary embodiment, this edge rounding has an edge rounding radius  16  of 0.01 mm to 0.02 mm. Furthermore, the cutting edge  6  has a cutting edge bevel  18  having a cutting edge bevel width  17  of 0.15 mm. Furthermore, the end mill cutter shown in the exemplary embodiment has a thin-film coating. This coating is within the range of 0.5 to 0.8 μm. The coating significantly increases the wear resistance of the end mill cutter. 
     The second exemplary embodiment of the inventive end mill cutter according to  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7  again has a clamping shank  1  and a cutter region  2  adjacent to the clamping shank  1  in the direction of the center longitudinal axis  19  of the end mill cutter. In this embodiment, indexable inserts  22  are fixed as cutting bodies in corresponding insert seats on the end mill cutter. The indexable carbide inserts  22  are held in their insert seats by fastening screws  23 . The fastening screws  23  are simply screwed into the insert seats through the indexable inserts  22 . Each of the indexable inserts again has a cutting edge  6 , a flank adjoining the cutting edge  6  and a supporting surface  12  again adjoining the flank  11 . In the exemplary embodiment, the supporting surface  12  is coated with DCHP. The number of indexable inserts  22  used depends on the diameter of the cutter. The cutter outside diameter  5  can be designed to be variable by using the indexable inserts  22 . 
     The end mill cutter functions as follows: first of all one of the cutting edges  6  comes into engagement with the workpiece. A chip (not shown in the drawings) is cut from the workpiece and slides off over the rake face  11  into the adjacent flute  3 . The workpiece is pulled up during climb milling and is supported on the supporting surface  12 , and so the individual supporting surfaces  12  support the workpiece like guide strips in order thus to prevent the workpiece from vibrating.