Hollow Thread Cutting Tap for Coolant Flow and Chip Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thread cutting taps face challenges with coolant and lubricant supply, chip removal, weight, and mechanical stress due to their solid structure, leading to friction, vibrations, heat, and potential breakage during operation.
Innovation Solution
A thread cutting tap with a hollow interior and grid structure, designed using 3D printing, allows for efficient lubricant and coolant supply through the tap, optimized chip removal, reduced weight, and enhanced mechanical strength through localized reinforcement of the grid structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a solid structure tap is used, then the tap has sufficient mechanical strength, but the weight is excessive and coolant/lubricant supply is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The tap body is segmented into a solid outer shell and a hollow interior space, creating a shell structure that maintains external strength while removing internal material to reduce weight. The hollow interior is further segmented into cooling channels and chip removal passages, dividing the internal space for multiple functional purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The tap employs local quality by having a solid outer shell where mechanical strength is needed for cutting edges and structural integrity, while the interior is hollow where weight reduction and fluid flow are priorities. The grid structure provides localized reinforcement only where mechanically necessary, rather than making the entire tap solid.
2Weight of moving object
If a hollow interior is introduced, then weight is reduced and coolant supply is enabled, but the tap structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functions are merged into the hollow interior space: weight reduction, coolant flow, chip removal, and thermal management all occur within the same internal cavity system. The grid structure serves both as structural reinforcement and as a framework that organizes the internal fluid passages.
Solution Approach 2:
The hollow interior structure serves multiple purposes simultaneously: it reduces weight by removing material, provides channels for coolant and lubricant flow, enables chip removal passages, and acts as a thermal management system. This multi-functionality within a single structural feature reduces the need for separate components.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If coolant and lubricant supply is improved through hollow interior, then friction and heat are reduced, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Traditional mechanical cooling methods (external coolant delivery systems) are replaced by an integrated internal fluid flow system embedded within the tap structure. The cooling function is transitioned from an external mechanical system to an internal passive fluid dynamics system utilizing the hollow interior channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing approach utilizes additive manufacturing parameters to create complex internal hollow structures that would be impossible or extremely difficult to produce with traditional subtractive manufacturing. The 3D printing process allows direct formation of internal channels and grid structures, changing the manufacturing parameter from mechanical machining to layered material deposition.
4Productivity
If chip removal is optimized through hollow interior, then chip jamming is reduced, but the tap structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The hollow interior is segmented into distinct functional zones: cooling channels for thermal management, chip removal passages for debris evacuation, and structural grid sections for reinforcement. This segmentation allows each zone to be optimized for its specific function while working together as an integrated system.
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 reduces friction, vibrations, and heat, enhances chip removal efficiency, and minimizes breakage, while being lighter and more durable than conventional taps.
Implementation Method 1
A hollow interior also has a cooling effect on the tap
Implementation Method 2
supply lubricant and coolant through the tap
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a lightweight thread cutting tap having a body, comprising at a first end a connector portion, and, at a second end, a threaded portion for cutting a thread of an opening in which said threaded portion is to be introduced, said threaded portion terminating in a bottom end, said threaded portion having at least two cutting edges in the circumferential direction of said body, each of said cutting edges being an integral peripheral part of a flank portion extending substantially radially from the longitudinal extension of said body; and a plurality of chip removal flutes between said flanks, said flutes extending in the longitudinal direction from said bottom end, said thread cutting tap having a hollow interior, wherein the body forms a sidewall and the hollow interior extends into the threaded portion.