Cutters – for shaping – Gear cutting tool – Face mill gear cutting tool
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-02
2003-04-01
Banks, Derris H. (Department: 3722)
Cutters, for shaping
Gear cutting tool
Face mill gear cutting tool
C407S113000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06540446
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cylindrical cutting blade, and a cutter head assembly including a main body which holds the cylindrical cutting blade and is rotated to machine a workpiece.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As an example of such a cutter head assembly, JP-A-10-58232 discloses a face milling or hobbing cutter used in a gear cutting operation in which a spiral bevel gear, a hypoid gear or other bevel gear having curved teeth is machined or cut in accordance with a so-called “forming method (non-generating method)” or “generating method”. This cutter includes (a) a disk-shaped main body which is to be rotated about its axis, (b) a plurality of cylindrical cutting blades and (c) a clamping device for fixing each cutting blade to the main body. The main body has a plurality of cutting-blade receiving bores and wedge-member receiving bores all of which have respective circular shapes in their cross sections. Each of the cutting-blade receiving bores is offset from the axis and extends substantially parallel to the axis, while each of the wedge-member receiving bores extends in a direction not parallel to the axis so as to intersects with the corresponding one of the cutting-blade receiving bores. Each of the cutting-blade receiving bores interferes with the corresponding two of the wedge-member receiving bores which are positioned to be spaced apart from each other in a direction in which the cutting-blade receiving bore extends. Each of the cylindrical cutting blades has a predetermined diameter which enables the cylindrical cutting blade to be fitted into the cutting-blade receiving bore, and a flat surface in its outer circumferential surface. The flat surface is parallel to the axis of the cylindrical cutting blade, and is formed by removing a portion of the cylindrical cutting blade which is located on one of opposite sides of the flat surface remote from the axis. Each cylindrical cutting blade further has, in its axially distal end portion, a cutting edge defined by an intersection of a flank face and a rake face which is constituted by the flat surface.
The clamping device includes a generally cylindrical wedge member which is fitted in the wedge-member receiving bore such that the wedge member is slidably movable relative to the receiving bore in the axial direction of the receiving bore, and a moving mechanism for moving the wedge member relative to the receiving bore in the axial direction. The wedge member has a positioning surface which is inclined with respect to the axis of the wedge member. When the wedge member is forwardly moved by the moving mechanism, the positioning surface of the wedge member is brought into abutting contact with the flat surface of the cylindrical cutting blade, for thereby holding the cutting blade in a predetermined angular position relative to the cutting-blade receiving bore while pressing the cylindrical cutting blade onto an inner circumferential surface of the receiving bore owing to a wedge effect. The cylindrical cutting blade is thus fixed to the disk-shaped main body. It is noted that the moving mechanism is provided by an externally threaded member and an internally threaded member which are held in engagement with each other. One of the externally and internally threaded members is rotatable relative to the wedge member.
This cutter head assembly disclosed in JP-A-10-58232 has a construction more simple than that of a conventional cutter head assembly, and an excellent capability to fix the cutting blades to the main body. However, the present inventors felt a need of further simplifying the construction, or further improving the capacity to fix the cutting blades to the main body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide a cutter head assembly which is further improved in simplification of construction and capacity to fix cutting blade or blades to a main body thereof.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a cutting blade which is advantageously used in a cutter head assembly.
The above first object may be achieved according to any one of the following modes of the present invention, each of which is numbered like the appended claims and depends from the other mode or modes, where appropriate, to indicate and clarify possible combinations of elements or technical features. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the technical features or any combinations thereof which will be described for illustrative purpose only. It is to be further understood that a plurality of elements or features included in any one of the following modes of the invention are not necessarily provided all together, and that the invention may be embodied without some of the elements or features described with respect to the same mode.
(1) A cutter head assembly for cutting a workpiece, comprising:
a main body which is to be rotated about an axis thereof, and which has at least one cutting-blade receiving bore offset from the axis and extending from an axially distal end face of the main body toward an axially proximal end face of the main body, the main body further having at least one clamping-member receiving bore unparallel to the cutting-blade receiving bore and partially interfering with the cutting-blade receiving bore;
at least one cylindrical cutting blade each received in a corresponding one of the above-described at least one cutting-blade receiving bore and having a flat surface formed as a part of an outer circumferential surface thereof and parallel to an axis of the cutting blade, the cutting blade further having a cutting edge in an axially distal end portion thereof which projects from the axially distal end face of the main body; and
at least one cylindrical clamping member each received in a corresponding one of the above-described at least one clamping-member receiving bore and having a fitting portion and a cam portion, the cylindrical clamping member being fitted at the fitting portion in the clamping-member receiving bore, the cam portion having a cam surface whose radial distance from an axis of the fitting portion changes in a circumferential direction of the cylindrical clamping member,
wherein the cylindrical clamping member is rotatable about the axis of the fitting portion so that the cam surface is brought into contact with the flat surface of the cutting blade, for thereby pressing the cutting blade onto an inner circumferential surface of the cutting-blade receiving bore.
In the present cutter head assembly, when the cylindrical clamping member is operated to be rotated in a predetermined direction, the cam surface is pressed onto the flat surface of the cylindrical cutting blade, which surface is formed by removing a portion of the cylindrical cutting blade that is located on one of opposite sides of the flat surface remote from the axis. With the pressing contact of the cam surface with the flat surface, the cylindrical cutting blade is held in a predetermined angular position relative to the cutting-blade receiving bore while being pressed onto the inner circumferential surface of the cutting-blade receiving bore, so that cylindrical cutting blade is firmly fixed to the main body. The cylindrical clamping member is more simple in construction in which the fitting portion and the cam portion which are formed integrally with each other, than that of the clamping device of the above-described cutter head assembly disclosed in JP-A-10-58232. The simple construction of the clamping member leads to a simplification in the construction of the entirety of the cutter head assembly, making it possible to manufacture the cutter head assembly in a reduced manufacturing cost. The simple construction of the clamping member also enables the clamping member to be more compact in size, making it possible to increase the number of the cutting blades carried by the single main body of the assembly, without increasing the size of the main body. The increased number of the cutting
Iizuka Tsunesuke
Moriyama Junichi
Tsunenoki Ryunosuke
Banks Derris H.
Williams Jamila O
Yutaka Seimitsu Kogyo Ltd.
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