Patent Abstract:
An adaptive device for use as a tool holder for manual and computer numerical controlled lathes is provided to retain and use tools of various sizes, including those intended for use on CNC lathes and on mills. The device includes a sleeve, which includes an inner-tapered surface, a neck and an opening, and a threaded member sized to fit through the neck in the opening. The adaptive device may further include one or more shoulders and/or grooves on the exterior of the sleeve, and/or a retaining member fitted to the threaded section, and may include an embodiment where the sleeve is integrated into a tool holder and/or where the threaded member is constructed to permit fluid flow into the tool holder.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    None. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not applicable. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
         [0003]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0004]    The present invention relates to a tool holder for use on manual and computer numerical controlled lathes, and particularly for a universal tool holder to retain and use in a lathe, and to use on lathes milling holders of various sizes intended for use on CNC mills. 
         [0005]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0006]    Lathe tooling currently available requires time to be expended in changing from one size tool or drill to another. In particular, lathe tooling requires a particular bushing for each size tool or drill, thus requiring a number of different size bushings and added cost to fulfill manufacturing needs. Even with the correct bushing size, installation can still be time-consuming and potentially improper. Currently tooling is locked in place with side-mounted set screws, which is prone to tilting the cutting edge off its true center-line. Thus, maintaining true centerline during assembly can be problematic and time consuming. Compounding this problem, the tolerances between multiple components can cause deflection of the cutting edge during assembly, causing excessive tool wear and tolerance issue. Additionally, when a small hole or inner diameter is to be machined within a cavity, the available tool or drill may be short, requiring either a longer tool or use of the existing tool beyond the manufacturer&#39;s specification, causing excessive tool wear and creating tolerance issues. These problems are exacerbated by the use of at least two standard milling holders, generally referred to a CAT and BT style milling holders, and by the variety of milling holders, differing in characteristics such as size and length. 
         [0007]    Additionally, machine shops typically utilize mills and lathes, which each may utilize its own tooling. Often the tooling for a milling machine cannot be easily used on the lathe. This can easily result in a large number of tooling pieces, a number which could be reduced if some of the milling tools could be used on the lathe. 
         [0008]    The need therefore exists for an adapter which can be mounted on a lathe, which permits quick exchange of tools, and which ensures the centerline of the tool during installation. Additionally, there exists a need to provide an adapter that can be mounted on a lathe that accepts a variety of sizes of tools, including tools intended for use on mills and on lathes, regardless of the style of milling holder. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention overcomes the foregoing drawbacks. 
         [0010]    The present invention provides an adapter to be mounted on a lathe that permits use of both CNC lathe tools and CNC mill tools to be used on lathe applications, reducing the cost and the need for purchase of numerous bushings of various sizes. 
         [0011]    In operation, after removal of the milling holder retention knob from the milling tool, the milling holder is positioned within an adapter sleeve and retained in place with a locking screw of the adapter sleeve. The adapter sleeve is then inserted into a standard lathe holder and the set screws of the lathe holder positioned against the exterior of the adapter sleeve. The milling holder is thus positioned for use. 
         [0012]    The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    So that the manner in which the described features, advantages and objects of the invention, as well as others which will become apparent, are attained and can be understood in detail, more particular description of the invention briefly summarized above may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof that are illustrated in the drawings, which drawings form a part of this specification. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical preferred embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope as the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. 
           [0014]    In the drawings: 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  illustrates the sleeve portion of the adaptive device; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  illustrates a cut-away view of the sleeve portion of the adaptive device together with the locking mechanism; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  illustrates a partial cut-away isometric view of the adaptive device; 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  illustrates a partial cut-away side view of the adaptive device; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  illustrates a partial cut-away isometric view of an alternative embodiment of the adaptive device. 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  illustrates one embodiment of the head of the threaded member, which permits rotation. 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  illustrates one embodiment of the threaded member with a passage therefore for fluid introduction. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0022]    The invention may be further understood by the following non-limiting examples. Although the description herein contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention. For example, thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents, rather than by the examples given. In general the terms and phrases used herein have their art-recognized meaning, which can be found by reference to standard texts, journal references and contexts known to those skilled in the art. The following definitions are provided to clarify their specific use in the context of the invention. All references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the extent not inconsistent with the disclosure herewith. 
         [0023]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , the adaptive device  100  includes a sleeve  110 , preferably externally cylindrical, which may include one or more shoulders  120  and one or more grooves  130  on the exterior of the sleeve and radially encircling the sleeve  110 , and which has an outer edge  140  adjacent its end opening  150 . A portion of one or more of the shoulders  120  may be milled to provide a flat surface  160 . When present, the flat surface  160  of the shoulder  120  presents a surface for the set screws  370  in the lathe holder  310  (depicted in  FIG. 3 ) to press against and thus retain the adaptive device  100  in position in a lathe holder  310  (depicted in  FIG. 3 ). Alternatively, when present, the grooves  130  provide a track into which the set screws  370  in the tool holder  310  (depicted in  FIG. 3 ) can penetrate, thus fixing or locking the sleeve  110  in relative position but permitting the sleeve  110  to rotate. Examples of typical milling holders include Techniks 22255 CAT40xER 32-4″ with a capacity range of 0.040″-0.787″ and SECO E4041 5875 4075 with a capacity 0.118″-1.02″. 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , sleeve  110  also includes a conically-tapered inner surface  240 , terminating adjacent a neck  250  and an opening  260 . 
         [0025]    Still referring to  FIG. 2 , the adaptive device  100  also includes a threaded member  270 , which includes a head  272  and a threaded section  274 . The threaded section  274  of the threaded member  270  is fitted to pass through the neck  250  of the sleeve  110 . The head  272  of the threaded member  270  has an outer diameter  276  sufficiently larger than the inner diameter  252  of the neck  250  of the sleeve  110  that the neck  250  provides a seating surface for the threaded member  270 . The adaptive device  100  may further include a retaining ring  280 . When present, a groove may be included on the threaded member  270  at a location just beyond the neck  250  to provide a seat for the retaining ring  280 , thus fixing the threaded member  270  in a position relative to the neck  250 . Alternatively any other retention system may be utilized to maintain the threaded member  270  in position. For example, a threaded washer, thick enough to provide a rigid bearing surface, preferably ¼ inch (0.635 cm), may be formed to screw onto the threaded section  274  of threaded member  270 , screwed onto the threaded section  274  of threaded member  270  and then distorted at its front to lock onto the threaded section  274 , thus working like a lock nut rather than a snap ring. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , thus when the threaded member  270  is rotated into or out of the milling holder  320 , the threaded member  270  remains in position relative to the adapter sleeve  110 , either drawing milling holder  320  further into adapter sleeve  110  or permitting its rapid removal depending on the direction of rotation of threaded member  270 . Rotation of the threaded member  270  is accomplished by rotating the head  272  of the threaded member  270 , which can be made possible by any interface, such as a hex, spline, Phillips or straight female section  602  on head  272 , as depicted in  FIG. 6 . Referring to  FIG. 7 , head  272  may be fitted with another fitting  702  and threaded member  270  provided with an interior passage  704 , permitting both rotation and for connection with a fluid source to permit fluid to pass through threaded member  270 , to the milling holder  320  and ultimately to the tool  350 . 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , once assembled, using a threaded member  270  for either a CAT-style (English) or BT-style (metric) milling holder, a milling holder  320 , with its retention knob removed, may be inserted into the adaptive device  100  along the inner tapered surface  240  until contact with the threaded member  270 , at which time the threaded member  270  may be rotated to further draw the milling holder  320  into the sleeve  110  and thus maintain the milling holder  320  in relative position. By virtue of the three points of contact against the milling holder  320 , namely the threaded member  270 , the tapered surface  240  of the sleeve  110  and the outer face  321  of the standard lathe holder  310 , milling holder  320  is maintained on a common centerline, regardless of the milling holder used. 
         [0028]    The sleeve  110  of the adaptive device  100 , retaining the milling holder  320 , may be integrated into a standard lathe holder  310  at the opening  330  sized for insertion of a particular milling holder  320 . Beneficially, as adaptive device  100  can be inserted into the standard lathe holder  310  and can retain any number of milling holders  320 , the number of milling holders  320  which can be used with any single standard lathe holder  310  is substantially increased. The adaptive device  100  is sized so the shoulders  120  of the adaptive device  100  cleanly fits to the opening  330  of the lathe holder  310 . The set screws  370  of the standard lathe holder  310  may then be advanced until either contacting the flat surface  160  or the grooves  130  of the shoulder  120 , thus retaining the adaptive device  100  in relative position. 
         [0029]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , in operation, the adaptive device  100  may be inserted into a standard lathe holder  310  until the back flange face  322  makes contact with the face  321  of the standard lathe holder  310 . The set screws  370  of the lathe holder  310  can then be brought into contact with the adaptive device  100  at either flat surfaces  160  the sleeve  110  or into the grooves  130 , preferably three (3) in number, around the outer diameter of adaptive device  100 . By locating the taper  240  and the flange face  322  of the milling holder  320 , rigidity is increased and a true centerline position is maintained. Once the adaptive device  100  is installed, changing from one tool  350  to another, including from one style of milling holder  320  to another, is accomplished by simply unscrewing the locking mechanism  290 , allowing retaining ring  280  to contact the neck face  250 , and releasing holder  320  form tapered surface  240 . Locking mechanism  290  can include a passage  704 , which allows coolant to pass through or around tool  350 , for coolant introduction. 
         [0030]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , in an alternative embodiment, the sleeve  110  may be integrated into a lathe holder  510 , such that the sleeve  110  is no longer a separate member and so the inner-tapered surface  540  is constructed within the lathe holder  510 , so that the inner tapered surface  540  terminates adjacent a neck  550  and an opening  560 . The adaptive device  100  continues to include a threaded member  270 , which includes a head  272  and a threaded section  274 , which continues to be fitted to pass the neck  250  of the sleeve  110  and where the head  272  of the threaded member  270  continues to have an outer diameter sufficiently larger than the inner diameter of the neck  550  of the lathe holder  510  to provide a seating surface for the threaded member  270 . 
         [0031]    The invention can therefore be characterized as a device for retaining milling tool holders with a sleeve  110 , which includes an inner-tapered surface  240 , a neck  250  and an opening  260 , the neck  250  having an inner diameter, and a threaded member  270 , the threaded member having a head  272  and a threaded section  274 , the threaded section  274  having an outer diameter, the outer diameter of the threaded section  274  equivalent to the inner diameter of the neck  250 , the head  272  having an outer diameter, the outer diameter of the head  272  greater than the inner diameter of the threaded section  274 . The invention may further include one or more shoulders  120  and/or grooves  130  on sleeve  110 , and/or a retaining member  280  fitted to the threaded section  274 , and may include an embodiment where the sleeve  110  is integrated into a tool holder  310 . 
         [0032]    The terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1