US 9,808,869 B2Granted

Hole cutter with chip egress aperture

AssigneeIrwin Industrial Tool Company

InventorsJoseph Thomas Novak, Matthew Christopher Green

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Abstract

A hole cutter has a substantially cylindrical blade body defining a blade body circumference, a cutting edge formed on one end of the blade body, and an axially-elongated slot formed through the substantially cylindrical blade body. The axially-elongated slot is configured to receive chips flowing from the cutting edge within the interior of the blade body and (i) into the slot, and/or (ii) through the slot, to prevent the collection of such chips within the interior of the blade body and/or at an interface between the blade body and work piece. The axially-elongated slot defines a first end adjacent to the cutting edge, a second end axially spaced further from the cutting edge, and a slot area. The hole cutter further defines a total slot area to blade body circumference ratio within the range of about 0.1 to about 0.3 depending on the size of the hole cutter.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A hole cutter for cutting a work piece, comprising a substantially cylindrical blade body defining a blade body circumference, a cutting edge formed on one end of the blade body, and an axially-elongated slot formed through the substantially cylindrical blade body and configured to receive chips flowing from the cutting edge within an interior of the blade body and at least one of (i) into the slot, and (ii) through the slot, to prevent the collection of such chips within at least one of the interior of the blade body and an interface between the blade body and the work piece, wherein the substantially cylindrical blade body includes at least one protrusion formed along a side edge of the axially-elongated slot such that the axially-elongated slot includes at least one fulcrum extending therein, wherein the axially-longated slot defines a first end adjacent to the cutting edge and axially spaced therefrom a first distance selected to be within the range of about 15/100 inch to about ⅜ inch, a second end axially spaced from the cutting edge a second distance that is greater than the first distance and selected to be at least about one inch, and a slot area, wherein one of (i) the substantially cylindrical blade body defines a diameter of about 13/16 inch or less, only one of the axially-elongated slots is formed through the blade body, and a slot area to blade body circumference ratio is selected to be at least about 0.15;

(ii) the substantially cylindrical blade body defines a diameter within the range of about ⅞ inch to about 1- 7/16 inches, only two of the axially-elongated slots are formed through the blade body and angularly spaced relative to each other, and a slot area to blade body circumference ratio is selected to be at least about 0.18;
(iii) the substantially cylindrical blade body defines a diameter within the range of about 1-½ inches to about 3-⅜ inches, at least two of the axially-elongated slots are formed through the blade body and angularly spaced relative to each other, and a slot area to blade body circumference ratio is selected to be at least about 0.1;
and (iv) the substantially cylindrical blade body defines a diameter of about 3- 1/2 inches or greater, more than two of the axially-elongated slots are formed through the blade body and angularly spaced relative to each other, and a slot area to blade body circumference ratio is selected to be at least about 0.1.

A hole cutter for cutting a work piece, comprising a substantially cylindrical blade body defining a blade body circumference, a cutting edge formed on one end of the blade body, and means formed through the substantially cylindrical blade body for receiving chips flowing from the cutting edge within an interior of the blade body and at least one of (i) into the means, and (ii) through the means, for preventing the collection of such chips within at least one of the interior of the blade body and an interface between the blade body and the work piece, wherein the substantially cylindrical blade body includes at least one protrusion formed along a side edge of the means such that the means includes at least one fulcrum extending therein, wherein the means defines a first end adjacent to the cutting edge and axially spaced therefrom a first distance selected to be within the range of about 15/100 inch to about ⅜ inch, a second end axially spaced from the cutting edge a second distance that is greater than the first distance and selected to be at least about one inch, and a means area, wherein one of (i) the substantially cylindrical blade body defines a diameter of about 13/16 inch or less, only one of the means is formed through the blade body, and a means area to blade body circumference ratio is selected to be at least about 0.15;

(ii) the substantially cylindrical blade body defines a diameter within the range of about ⅞ inch to about 1- 7/16 inches, only two of the means are formed through the blade body and are angularly spaced relative to each other, and a means area to blade body circumference ratio is selected to be at least about 0.18;
(iii) the substantially cylindrical blade body defines a diameter within the range of about 1-1/2 inches to about 3-⅜ inches, at least two of the means are formed through the blade body and are angularly spaced relative to each other, and a means area to blade body circumference ratio is selected to be at least about 0.1;
and (iv) the substantially cylindrical blade body defines a diameter of about 3-½ inches or greater, more than two of the means are formed through the blade body and are angularly spaced relative to each other, and a means area to blade body circumference ratio is selected to be at least about 0.1.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.