Cutting apparatus

A cutting apparatus comprising:

• a chuck table for holding a workpiece;
• cutting means for cutting said workpiece held on said chuck table;
• and
• feeding means for relatively feeding said chuck table and said cutting means;
• said cutting means including a spindle, a spindle housing for rotatably supporting said spindle, a support flange mounted on the front end portion of said spindle, a cutting blade detachably supported to said support flange, and a fixing flange for fixing said cutting blade supported to said support flange;
• said support flange including a boss portion adapted to be inserted through a central opening of said cutting blade, a flange portion formed integrally with the outer circumference of said boss portion for supporting one side surface of said cutting blade, and a cylindrical portion for engaging the front end portion of said spindle;
• said flange portion of said support flange being formed with a suction hole opening toward said fixing flange, said cylindrical portion of said support flange being formed with a communication hole communicating with said suction hole;
• said communication hole being connected to a vacuum source through a rotary joint fixed to said spindle housing so that the communication between said communication hole and said vacuum source is selectively made by an on-off valve, whereby when said on-off valve is opened to make the communication between said communication hole and said vacuum source, a reduced pressure is applied between said support flange and said fixing flange to suck said fixing flange toward said support flange, thereby fixing said cutting blade between said support flange and said fixing flange;
• a rotation restricting portion for restricting relative rotation of said support flange and said fixing flange being formed on the outer circumference of said boss portion of said support flange and the inner surface of an engaging hole of said fixing flange for engaging said boss portion.