Diamond fluted end mill
AssigneeSmith International, Inc.
InventorScott M. Packer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An end mill forms at least a pair of spiral grooves or flutes in the mill side walls. Each groove includes polycrystalline diamond formed along a leading edge of each flute. A process for forming the diamond edged on the PCD material bonded within the flute.
Claims26
A diamond rotary cutter comprising:
- a rotary cutter blank forming first and second ends, said cutter blank further forming at least a pair of grooves in side walls formed by said blank, said groove substantially extending between said first and second ends, and
- diamond material secured within said grooves formed in said side walls, said diamond material and said cutter blank is subsequently machined to form a cutting edge along a leading edge formed by said diamond material to form said rotary cutter.
A helically fluted diamond end mill comprising:
- a first cylindrical end mill blank forming a first cutting end and a second base end, said mill blank further forming at least a pair of grooves in the cylindrical side walls of said mill blank, said mill blank being formed from a relatively tough material, and
- diamond material is secured within said grooves formed in said mill blank, said mill blank is subsequently machined to form said flutes exposing a leading edge of said diamond material in said grooves, said diamond is then ground thereby forming a continuous cutting edge along said leading edge of said diamond.
A process for forming a diamond end mill comprising the steps of:
- forming an end mill blank of hard metal, said end mill blank having a first cutting end and a second base end, said end mill blank forming at least a pair of helical flutes from said first cutting end and extending toward said base end,
- forming at least a pair of grooves in said flutes, said grooves substantially follow the helical path of said flutes, said grooves further are formed between said first cutting end and said base end,
- filling said grooves formed in said flutes formed by said end mill blank with diamond material,
- bonding said diamond material in said grooves in said end mill blank in a press, and
- grinding said diamond material sintered in said grooves formed by said end mill blank thereby providing a diamond cutting edge along a leading edge of said sintered diamond material.
The process as set forth in claim -8 further comprising the step of forming sloped side walls for said grooves formed in said flutes, said grooves being narrower in the bottom of said groove than a width of said groove at a surface formed by said flute, said sloped side walls assure compaction of said polycrystalline diamond matrix without voids.
A diamond end mill comprising a first cutting end and a second base end, said end mill forming flutes with diamond sintered within a leading edge of said flutes, said diamond being subsequently ground to form a cutting edge along said leading edge of said diamond.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.