Kennametal Inc.

Danny Ray Davis

Russell Lee Yeckley

Sean Erin Landwehr

Frederick John Palmer

Leonid Boris Sharivker

Sergei Vladimir Boulakhov

Stephen G Pritchard

An orbital drill includes a drilling portion, a shank portion, and a neck portion between the drilling portion and the shank portion. The drilling portion includes one or more right-handed spiral flutes with cutting edges having a positive axial rake angle for positive cutting action while orbiting into a material. The right-handed spiral flutes have a positive radial and axial rake angle. The drilling portion also includes one or more left-handed spiral flutes located rearward of the one or more right-handed spiral flutes with cutting edges having a positive axial and radial rake angle for positive cutting action while orbiting back out of the material and removing any material left in the hole, thereby eliminating a separate reaming operation. A method of machining a workpiece using the orbital drill is also disclosed.

Orbital drill with left-handed and right-handed flutes

A rotary cutting tool with a longitudinal axis includes a shank portion and a cutting portion defining a length of cut. The cutting portion includes a plurality of blades separated by flutes extending along the length of cut. A first blade forms a first helix angle with respect to the longitudinal axis at the cutting tip. A second blade adjacent the first blade forms a second, different helix angle with respect to the longitudinal axis at the cutting tip. A third blade adjacent the second blade forms a third, different helix angle with respect to the longitudinal axis at the cutting tip. The first, second and third helix angles deviate by at least 2 degrees. The cutting edges of the first, second and third blades have unequal indexing.

Rotary cutting tool with blades having repeating, unequal indexing and helix angles

A milling cutter includes a shank and a cutting head attached to the shank. The cutting head has a plurality of helical teeth, each tooth including a cutting tip, a leading face and a rear face. A flute is defined between the leading face of a trailing tooth, and a rear face of an immediately preceding tooth. A gully of the flute has a flute base with a portion that is planar or convex in profile to provide additional volume for effective chip evacuation. A method for manufacturing the milling cutter includes rotating a cylindrical blank about its own longitudinal axis, rotating a disc-shaped flute grinding wheel) about a rotational axis of a flute wheel and moving the grinding wheel in a longitudinal direction so as to form the helical flute with the gully having the flute base with the planar or convex portion in profile.

Cutting tool with enhanced chip evacuation capability and method of making same

A rotary cutting tool with a longitudinal axis includes a shank portion and a cutting portion defining a length of cut. The cutting portion includes a plurality of blades separated by flutes extending along the length of cut. A first blade forms a first helix angle with respect to the longitudinal axis at the cutting tip. A second blade adjacent the first blade forms a second, different helix angle with respect to the longitudinal axis at the cutting tip. The cutting edge of the first blade is formed at a first distance with respect to the cutting edge of the second blade. A helix angle of at least one of the plurality of blades varies along the length of cut and a distance between cutting edges of the first and second blades varies along the length of cut.

Rotary cutting tool with unequal indexing, alternating helix angle and varying helix angle along length of cut

End mills are disclosed which may be made monolithically of ceramic or other materials. The cutting portions of the end mills have lengths of cut that are no more than twice their cutting diameters and cores which are at least 0.7 times their cutting diameters. Their axial blades have cutting edges with negative radial rake and are separated by helical flutes. Their cutting ends have negative axial rake and are gashed ahead of center and have radial cutting edges with negative rake. Such end mills also have radiused corners and gashes transitioning from radial to axial at a flute. Methods of milling materials using such ceramic end mills are also disclosed.

Monolithic ceramic end mill

A rotary cutting tool with a longitudinal axis includes a shank portion, a cutting portion, and a plurality of chip-breaking features. The cutting portion includes a plurality of blades and a plurality of flutes. The blades and flutes extend substantially along the length of the cutting portion and have unequally-indexed spacing. The flutes have a tapered depth along the longitudinal axis. Each blade includes a leading face, a trailing face, and a land surface that extends between the leading face and the trailing face. A plurality of chip-breaking features having a multi-radius profile are disposed in the land surfaces of the blades and are distributed in an offset chip breaker pattern among the blades such that each chip-breaking feature on one blade is not directly behind the chip-breaking features on immediately adjacent blades. The chip-breaking features on each blade are equidistant from each other.

Growing community of inventors

Asheboro, NC, United States of America

Danny Ray Davis