Patent Publication Number: US-2022212273-A1

Title: Cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a cutter holder assembly, and more particularly to a cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A conventional cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling includes a side lock holder, a cutter, and a fixation element. The side lock holder has a mounting groove. The cutter has a compression groove disposed on an outer surface of the cutter. To fix the cutter in the side lock holder, extend the cutter into the side lock holder firstly, and then rotate the cutter to align the compression groove of the cutter with the mounting groove of the side lock holder. Next, insert the fixation element into the mounting groove of the side lock holder and make the fixation element abut against the compression groove of the cutter to fix the cutter in the side lock holder. 
     However, after the cutter is extended into the side lock holder, the compression groove of the cutter is shielded by the side lock holder, and a user cannot see the position of the compression groove of the cutter from an exterior of the side lock holder. The user needs to rotate the cutter repeatedly to align the compression groove of the cutter with the mounting groove of the side lock holder. Overall, the conventional cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling has the disadvantages of taking too much time for the user to rotate the cutter to align the compression groove of the cutter with the mounting groove of the side lock holder and being inconvenient in installation. 
     To overcome the shortcomings of the conventional cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling, the present invention tends to provide a cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main objective of the present invention is to provide a cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling. 
     The cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling includes a cutter holder, an end cap, a cutter, a positioning key, a compressing element, and a nut. The cutter holder has a chamber and a mounting hole. The chamber is formed in the cutter holder and has at least one engaging groove. The at least one engaging groove is formed on an inner surface of the chamber and has a guiding channel and a limiting groove. The guiding channel is formed on the inner surface of the chamber and has a longitudinal direction. The limiting groove is formed on the inner surface of the chamber, communicates with the guiding channel, and has a longitudinal direction. An included angle is formed between the longitudinal direction of the limiting groove and the longitudinal direction of the guiding channel. The mounting hole is formed in the cutter holder and communicates with the chamber of the cutter holder. 
     The end cap is mounted on one of two end surfaces of the cutter holder adjacent to the chamber and has at least one guiding groove. The at least one guiding groove is formed on an inner surface of the end cap, is aligned with the guiding channel of the at least one engaging groove of the cutter holder, and communicates with the guiding channel. The cutter is inserted through the end cap, extends into the chamber of the cutter holder, and has a keyway formed on an outer surface of the cutter. 
     The positioning key is mounted in the keyway of the cutter and has a body and a protruding rod. The body is mounted in the keyway of the cutter. The protruding rod protrudes from one of two sides of the body away from the keyway of the cutter and is capable of extending into the guiding channel and the limiting groove of the at least one engaging groove, such that the positioning key is limited in the cutter holder along with the cutter. The compressing element is mounted to the mounting hole of the cutter holder and is capable of moving relative to the mounting hole along an axial direction of the cutter holder. 
     In such an arrangement, the compressing element abuts against one of two ends of the cutter inserted into the chamber of the cutter holder to tightly compress the protruding rod of the positioning key in the limiting groove of the at least one engaging groove. The nut is sleeved on the cutter holder and surrounds the chamber of the cutter holder. The positioning key is limited in the limiting groove of the at least one engaging groove of the cutter holder after the protruding rod of the positioning key is guided into the guiding channel and the limiting groove of the at least one engaging groove sequentially. 
     Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view in partial section of a cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view in partial section of the cutter holder assembly in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross sectional side view of the cutter holder assembly in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view in partial section of a cutter holder of the cutter holder assembly in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross sectional side view of the cutter holder of the cutter holder assembly in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross sectional end view of the cutter holder of the cutter holder assembly along line  6 - 6  in  FIG. 5 ; and 
         FIGS. 7 to 10  are schematic views showing how the cutter holder assembly of the present invention is assembled. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling in accordance with the present invention includes a cutter holder  10 , a needle roller bearing  20 , an end cap  30 , a cutter  40 , a positioning key  50 , a compressing element  60 , and a nut  70 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2, 4, and 5 , the cutter holder  10  has a chamber  11  and a mounting groove  12 . The chamber  11  is formed in the cutter holder  10  and has at least one engaging groove  111 . The at least one engaging groove  111  is formed on an inner surface of the chamber  11 , and has a guiding channel  112  and a limiting groove  113 . The guiding channel  112  is formed on the inner surface of the chamber  11  and extends along an axial direction of the cutter holder  10 . The limiting groove  113  is formed on the inner surface of the chamber  11  and communicates with the guiding channel  112 . An included angle is formed between a longitudinal direction of the limiting groove  113  and a longitudinal direction of the guiding channel  112 . In the present invention, the included angle is a right angle. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , furthermore, the chamber  11  has three engaging grooves  111  on the inner surface of the chamber  11  at spaced intervals. The mounting groove  12  is formed in one of two ends of the cutter holder  10  opposite to the chamber  11 , communicates with the chamber  11 , and has a mounting hole  121  formed in one of two ends of the mounting groove  12  adjacent to the chamber  11  and communicating with the chamber  11 . In the present invention, the mounting hole  121  is a threaded hole. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the needle roller bearing  20  is sleeved on an outer surface of the cutter holder  10  and surrounds the chamber  11 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2 to 4 , the end cap  30  is fixed and mounted on one of two end surfaces of the cutter holder  10  adjacent to the chamber  11  and has at least one guiding groove  31 . The at least one guiding groove  31  is formed on an inner surface of the end cap  30 , is aligned with the guiding channel  112  of the at least one engaging groove  111  of the cutter holder  10 , and communicates with the guiding channel  112 . Moreover, the end cap  30  has three guiding grooves  31 , and each one of the three guiding grooves  31  is aligned with the guiding channel  112  of a respective one of the three engaging grooves  111  and communicates with the guiding channel  112 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the cutter  40  is inserted through the end cap  30 , extends into the chamber  11  of the cutter holder  10 , and has a keyway  41  formed on an outer surface of the cutter  40 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the positioning key  50  is detachably mounted in the keyway  41  of the cutter  40  and has a body  51  and a protruding rod  52 . The body  51  is mounted in the keyway  41  of the cutter  40 . The protruding rod  52  protrudes from one of two sides of the body  51  away from the keyway  41  and is capable of extending into the guiding channel  112  and the limiting groove  113  of the at least one engaging groove  111 , such that the positioning key  50  is limited in the limiting groove  113  of the at least one engaging groove  111  of the cutter holder  10  along with the cutter  40 . In another embodiment, the positioning key  50  may be disposed in the keyway  41  of the cutter  40  integrally. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 , the compressing element  60  extends into the cutter holder  10  via the mounting groove  12 , is mounted to the mounting hole  121  of the mounting groove  12 , and is capable of moving relative to the mounting hole  121  along the axial direction of the cutter holder  10 . With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 10 , in such an arrangement, the compressing element  60  can abut against one of two ends of the cutter  40  extending into the chamber  11  of the cutter holder  10  to tightly compress the protruding rod  52  of the positioning key  50  in the limiting groove  113  of the at least one engaging groove  111 , which lowers the degree of vibration of the cutter  40  relative to the cutter holder  10  during a machining process. Furthermore, the compressing element  60  has a thread disposed on an outer surface of the compressing element  60 , such that the compressing element  60  is capable of moving relative to the mounting hole  121  along the axial direction of the cutter holder  10  by being threaded to the mounting hole  121 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the nut  70  is sleeved on the needle roller bearing  20  and surrounds the chamber  11 . That is, the needle roller bearing  20  is disposed between the cutter holder  10  and the nut  70 . Moreover, the nut  70  can be sleeved on the cutter holder  10  without having the needle roller bearing  20  disposed between the cutter holder  10  and the nut  70 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2, 7, and 8 , to assemble the cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling in accordance with the present invention, mount the needle roller bearing  20 , the end cap  30 , the compressing element  60 , and the nut  70  to the cutter holder  10  firstly. Next, place the positioning key  50  on the keyway  41  of the cutter  40 , and then align the protruding rod  52  of the positioning key  50  with the at least one guiding groove  31  of the end cap  30  to extend the cutter  40  into the chamber  11  of the cutter holder  10  via the end cap  30  along with the positioning key  50 . In the process of extending the cutter  40  into the chamber  11  of the cutter holder  10 , the protruding rod  52  of the positioning key  50  is guided by the at least one guiding groove  31  of the end cap  30  and the guiding channel  112  of the at least one engaging groove  111  communicating with the at least one guiding groove  31  sequentially until one of the two ends of the cutter  40  extending into the chamber  11  abuts against the compressing element  60 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , then, rotate the cutter  40  and make the positioning key  50  rotate along with the cutter  40 , such that the protruding rod  52  of the positioning key  50  extends into the limiting groove  113  of the at least one engaging groove  111 . In such a manner, the cutter  40  can be assembled with the cutter holder  10  via the positioning key  50 . With reference to  FIGS. 8 and 10 , after the cutter  40  is assembled with the cutter holder  10 , a gap exists between the protruding rod  52  of the positioning key  50  and the limiting groove  113  of the at least one engaging groove  111 , which leads to the vibration of the cutter  40  relative to the cutter holder  10  in a machining process. 
     To prevent this circumstance, a user can extend a screwdriver into the mounting groove  12  of the cutter holder  10  to mount the screwdriver to the compressing element  60 . Then, rotate the screwdriver to make the compressing element  60  rotate along with the screwdriver and mounted to the mounting hole  121  of the mounting groove  12 . In the process of the compressing element  60  threaded to the mounting hole  121  of the mounting groove  12 , the compressing element  60  moves relative to the mounting hole  121  and compresses the cutter  40  toward a direction away from the mounting groove  12 , such that the protruding rod  52  of the positioning key  50  is tightly compressed in the limiting groove  113  of the at least one engaging groove  111 . 
     With the aforementioned technical characteristics, the cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling in accordance with the present invention has the following advantages. 
     1. After the protruding rod  52  of the positioning key  50  is aligned with the at least one guiding groove  31  of the end cap  30 , the user only needs to extend the cutter  40  into the at least one guiding groove  31  of the end cap  30  and the guiding channel  112  of the at least one engaging groove  111  communicating with the at least one guiding groove  31  until the cutter  40  abuts against the compressing element  60  and rotate the cutter  40  to make the protruding rod  52  of the positioning key  50  extend into the limiting groove  113  of the at least one engaging groove  111  to assemble the cutter  40  with the cutter holder  10 . Since the at least one guiding groove  31  of the end cap  30  and the guiding channel  112  of the at least one engaging groove  111  of the cutter holder  10  provide the positioning key  50  with guiding effects, the cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling can be easily assembled and saves time in the assembling process. Compared with the conventional cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling that should be assembled by rotating the cutter repeatedly to align the compression groove of the cutter with the mounting groove of the side lock holder, the cutter holder assembly capable of preventing a cutter thereof from falling in accordance with the present invention provides ease and time efficiency in assembly. 
     2. Since the protruding rod  52  of the positioning key  50  is guided by the at least one guiding groove  31  of the end cap  30  and the guiding channel  112  of the at least one engaging groove  111  of the cutter holder  10  during the assembling process, the positioning key  50  will not fall from the cutter holder  10 . 
     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.