3D Printed Gear Cutting Tools With Integrated MQL Capillaries
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacture and use of gear cutting tools with minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), gas, or liquid capabilities are hindered by the need for external hardware and a lengthy design and production process, which can take weeks or months before testing can begin.
Innovation Solution
A gear forming tool with a 3D printed gear cutting tool and capillaries that integrates fluid channels and capillaries to provide MQL, gas, or liquid directly to the cutting edges, allowing for efficient lubrication and reduced production time by utilizing traditional machining equipment and additive manufacturing techniques.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional manufacturing methods are used for gear cutting tools with MQL capability, then the tools require external hardware and lengthy design production processes, but this results in weeks or months of lead time before testing can begin
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the MQL fluid delivery system directly into the gear cutting tool body by integrating capillaries within the tool structure. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate external hardware components and enables simultaneous design and manufacturing of the tool with embedded MQL functionality, reducing lead time from weeks/months to a fraction of that time while maintaining reliable lubrication delivery
2Ease of manufacture
If external hardware is used for MQL delivery, then the system is simpler to manufacture traditionally, but it increases device complexity and requires additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The capillaries are integrated directly into the gear cutting tool body, merging the fluid delivery function with the cutting tool structure. This eliminates multiple external hardware components (separate fluid channels, connections, and delivery mechanisms) while maintaining ease of manufacture through additive manufacturing processes that can create complex internal capillary networks in a single production step
3Manufacturing precision
If traditional manufacturing methods are used, then production processes are well-established, but they cannot achieve complex capillary designs needed for efficient MQL delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs additive manufacturing technology, which fundamentally changes the manufacturing approach from traditional subtractive or formative methods. This parameter change enables the creation of complex three-dimensional capillary networks with varying cross-sections, curves, and orientations that cannot be achieved with conventional manufacturing, while still maintaining production efficiency through digital modeling and automated layer-by-layer construction
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
This solution enables the design, manufacture, and testing of gear cutting tools in a fraction of the time required by traditional methods, improving lubrication efficiency and reducing lead form errors while allowing for complex capillary designs that traditional manufacturing cannot achieve.
Implementation Method 1
a 3D printed gear cutting tool with a plurality of tool cutting edges and a plurality of capillaries... such that cutting fluid flows through the outer sleeve, the inner sleeve, the plurality of fluid channels of the tool holder, and the plurality of capillaries to the plurality of tool cutting edges
Data Source
AI summary
A gear forming tool includes an outer sleeve having an outer sleeve aperture and an inner sleeve having an inner sleeve aperture in fluid communication with the outer sleeve aperture, a tool holder disposed within the outer sleeve, and a 3D printed gear cutting tool with a plurality of tool cutting edges and a plurality of capillaries attached to the tool holder. The tool holder has a plurality of fluid channels configured to be in fluid communication with the inner sleeve aperture and the plurality of capillaries of the 3D printed gear cutting tool such that cutting fluid flows through the outer sleeve, the inner sleeve, the plurality of fluid channels of the tool holder, and the plurality of capillaries to the plurality of tool cutting edges.