Shoulder Milling Cutter Geometry to Prevent Profile Edge Chipping

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Milling brittle materials like gray cast iron results in material chipping at the profile edge, which compromises the integrity of the workpiece, and existing methods require multiple milling steps to prevent this, leading to prolonged process times.

Innovation Solution

A milling tool with a combination of base and shoulder milling cutters, featuring a divided shoulder milling cutting edge into a main and secondary cutting edge, aligned perpendicularly and axially spaced, to minimize material removal and prevent chipping, allowing a single-step process.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If multiple milling steps are used to prevent material chipping, then material chipping is prevented, but process time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveworkpiece integrityVSAvoidprocess time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The shoulder milling cutting edge is divided into two distinct parts: a main cutting edge for primary material removal and a secondary cutting edge for finishing. This segmentation allows each edge to perform its specific function optimally, preventing material chipping while maintaining efficient material removal rates, thereby eliminating the need for multiple milling steps

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent combines the functions of multiple milling operations into a single milling tool by integrating both main and secondary cutting edges on the same tool. This merging allows the tool to perform both roughing and finishing operations in one pass, preventing material chipping without requiring separate milling steps

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Productivity

If a single milling step is used to reduce process time, then process time is reduced, but material chipping occurs

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprocess timeVSAvoidworkpiece integrity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The shoulder milling cutting edge is segmented into main and secondary cutting edges with distinct functions. The main cutting edge handles aggressive material removal while the secondary cutting edge provides a finishing pass that prevents material chipping, enabling single-step milling to achieve both high productivity and workpiece integrity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different portions of the cutting edge are designed with different properties: the main cutting edge is optimized for material removal rate while the secondary cutting edge is optimized for surface quality and chip prevention. This local differentiation allows the single tool to address both productivity and reliability requirements

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP4377037B1Milling tool
Publication Date: 2025.10.22 AUDI AG
  • EP4377037B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4377037B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4377037B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The invention relates to a milling tool (1), which produces at least one workpiece shoulder (5) on a workpiece surface in a milling process, the workpiece shoulder having a workpiece bottom (7), which transitions, at an inside corner (9), into a shoulder surface (11) raised therefrom. In particular in the milling process, an axis of rotation (R) of the milling tool (1) is oriented at a right angle to the workpiece bottom (7). According to the invention, the milling tool (1) has, at its tool end face (21), at least one bottom-milling cutting edge (17) running perpendicularly to the axis of rotation (R), for the milling of the workpiece bottom (17). For the milling of the workpiece shoulder surface (11), the milling tool (1) has at least one shoulder-milling cutting edge, which runs along the axis of rotation (R). The shoulder-milling cutting edge is divided into a shoulder-milling main cutting edge (23) and a shoulder-milling secondary cutting edge (25).