Cutting Tool Lubrication Ports With Venturi-Driven Coolant Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cutting tools with internal lubrication holes are complex and expensive to produce, limiting their use due to the hardness of high-strength steels, which restricts the machining of complex lubrication orifice shapes and their application to only materials with a hardness below a certain threshold.
Innovation Solution
A cutting tool design featuring a body with complex-shaped lubrication orifices, including helical grooves and radial channels that generate a venturi effect, allowing for better lubricant distribution, achieved through a manufacturing method involving an insert made of polymer material and overmolding with metal powder, enabling machining of hard materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If high-strength steel is used for the cutting tool body, then strength and hardness are improved, but the complexity and cost of producing complex-shaped lubrication holes increases
Solution Approach 1:
A mandrel is introduced as an intermediary tool during the manufacturing process. The mandrel is inserted into the cutting tool body and serves as a template around which the complex-shaped lubrication holes are formed. This mediator enables the creation of complex geometries without requiring complex machining operations on the high-strength steel itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces traditional mechanical machining methods with a forming process. Instead of machining the complex lubrication hole shapes directly into the high-strength steel using complex mechanical tools, the process uses a mandrel-based forming approach where the holes are created by removing material around the mandrel, simplifying the manufacturing system.
2Strength
If high-strength steel is used for the cutting tool body, then strength is improved, but the ease of machining lubrication holes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mandrel acts as a mediator that simplifies the manufacturing process. By having the mandrel in place during the material removal process, the complex-shaped lubrication holes are formed more easily without requiring difficult machining operations on the hard high-strength steel.
Solution Approach 2:
The mandrel is inserted into the cutting tool body before the lubrication holes are formed. This preliminary action establishes the desired geometry in advance, making the subsequent hole formation process simpler and more efficient, as the complex shape is already defined by the mandrel's presence.
3Ease of manufacture
If simple lubrication holes are used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but the lubrication and cooling effectiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The lubrication holes are designed with complex shapes that provide different local qualities throughout the structure. The varying cross-sections and pathways of the holes are optimized to deliver lubricant to specific areas where it is most needed, improving local lubrication effectiveness while maintaining overall manufacturability through the mandrel process.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex-shaped lubrication holes incorporate curved and helical geometries rather than simple straight channels. These curved paths improve lubricant distribution by creating more effective flow patterns and reaching areas that straight holes cannot access, thereby enhancing cooling and lubrication effectiveness.
4Ease of operation
If complex-shaped lubrication holes are produced, then lubrication distribution is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mandrel serves as a mediator that transfers the desired complex geometry from a easily-manufactured component to the cutting tool body. By forming the holes around the mandrel, the complex shape is achieved without requiring complex manufacturing equipment or processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The mandrel essentially serves as a physical copy or template of the desired lubrication hole geometry. By using the mandrel as a model during the forming process, the exact complex shape is replicated in the cutting tool body without requiring complex manufacturing operations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enables efficient lubrication and cooling of cutting tools, allowing them to machine parts made of very hard materials like ceramics and metals, extending their application beyond materials with a specific hardness threshold.
Implementation Method 1
In particular embodiments, the exhaust opening is configured to generate a venturi effect.
Data Source
Figure 1~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a cutting tool (10) comprising a body having lubrication orifices and having a gripping part (11) intended to be fixed to a tool holder chuck and an active part having an active surface along which helical grooves extend, said grooves being connected to a central recess (13) extending axially in the body of the tool by radial channels (132), said central recess (13) extending between a lubricant inlet opening opposed to a lubricant outlet opening (130) configured so as to generate a venturi effect.