End Mills With Differential Twisted Gash Profiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
End mills with corner cutting edges are prone to wear and chipping during ramping or peripheral cut operations, leading to reduced tool life due to repetitive impact, especially in operations where material is removed in both axial and radial directions.
Innovation Solution
Elongated rotary cutting tools with a central longitudinal axis, comprising a shank portion and a cutting portion with multiple blades having curved dish profiles and axial profiles, allowing for reduced wear at corner cutting edges and enabling high ramp angles up to 45°, thereby increasing tool life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional end mills with straight cutting edges are used, then the tool structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the corner cutting edges suffer from increased wear and chipping due to repetitive impact during ramping or peripheral cut operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature to the blade profiles by defining both a dish profile (curved in the radial direction) and a helical profile (curved in the axial direction). This curvature transforms the straight cutting edge into a twisted, curved path that reduces repetitive impact on the corner cutting edge during ramping operations, thereby improving durability while maintaining manufacturability through standard grinding processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the cutting edge by introducing specific mathematical relationships between the dish profile radius, helical profile pitch, and blade orientation. These parameter changes create a differential twisted path that distributes impact forces differently across the corner cutting edge, reducing wear and chipping without significantly complicating the manufacturing process.
2Productivity
If high ramp angles up to 45° are used during processing, then material removal efficiency is improved, but corner cutting edges experience increased wear and damage
Solution Approach 1:
The curved dish and helical profiles work together to create a twisting motion that reduces the severity of impact at high ramp angles. This allows the tool to maintain high ramp angles (up to 45°) for improved material removal efficiency while the curved paths distribute and reduce the repetitive impact that would otherwise cause corner cutting edge wear and damage.
3Productivity
If the end cutting edge extends towards the central longitudinal axis, then axial material removal capability is improved, but the corner area becomes more susceptible to damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the curved dish profile and helical profile to create a twisted cutting path that allows the end cutting edge to extend toward the central longitudinal axis for improved axial material removal capability. The curvature transforms the cutting action into a progressive, twisting engagement that reduces repetitive impact on the corner area, thereby maintaining durability while enabling effective axial and radial material removal.
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect, elongated rotary cutting tools such as end mills are described herein which may provide one or more advantages over prior designs. For example, in some embodiments, cutting tools described herein can provide reduced wear rates at corner cutting edges, may permit high ramp angles during processing up to and including 45° ramp angles, and/or increased tool life.