CUTTING ELEMENT AND THE USE THEREOF

Abstract

A cutting element, which is configured for the machining of a non-metallic composite material composed of a matrix and particles held together by the matrix, has a flank face, a rake face and a cutting edge which is coated with an edge coating and via which the flank face and the rake face are connected to one another, with which the non-metallic composite material can be machined in an improved fashion. The cutting edge within a cutting edge section thereof is curved in such a way that the cutting edge immediately beneath the edge coating in a section in a section plane that is perpendicular to the cutting edge has, at every point of the cutting edge section, a local radius of curvature which is greater than or equal to 10 μm and less than or equal to 80 μm.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A cutting element being configured for machining a non-metallic composite material composed of a matrix and particles held together by the matrix, the cutting element comprising: a flank face; a rake face; and a cutting edge being coated by an edge coating and via said cutting edge, said flank face and said rake face are connected to one another, said cutting edge within a cutting edge section thereof is curved such that said cutting edge immediately beneath said edge coating in a section in a section plane that is perpendicular to said cutting edge has, at every point of said cutting edge section, a local radius of curvature which is greater than or equal to 10 μm and less than or equal to 80 μm.

17. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein said cutting edge is formed from a cemented carbide or cermet at least in a region of said cutting edge section.

18. The cutting element according to claim 17, wherein said cutting edge is formed by said cemented carbide at least in said region of said cutting edge section, wherein said cemented carbide has hard material particles, wherein said hard material particles form a skeletal structure of said cemented carbide and wherein said hard material particles have a grain size in a range from 0.1 μm to 1.5 μm.

19. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein said cutting edge section extends over at least 50% of said cutting edge in the section in the section plane.

20. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein said flank face and said rake face define a wedge angle in the section in the section plane, a smallest radius of curvature of a radii of curvature defines a position and a radius of a circle in the section in the section plane, and a center of the circle defines a point on an angle bisector defined by the wedge angle.

21. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein said edge coating is formed from at least one deposited hard material layer, where said edge coating is formed on said cutting edge section.

22. The cutting element according to claim 21, wherein said deposited hard material layer is formed by diamond, amorphous carbon, cubic boron nitride or TiB.sub.2.

23. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein said edge coating is configured so as to extend over said flank face and/or over said rake face.

24. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein: said edge coating has a layer thickness being greater than or equal to 0.5 μm and less than or equal to 20 μm; said edge coating is formed on said cutting edge section.

25. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein said edge coating is formed by a physical vapor deposition process or a chemical vapor deposition process at least on said cutting edge section.

26. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein the cutting element is provided on a drilling tool, milling tool, or a planing tool.

27. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein the particles are particles of wood chips or wood fibers and the matrix is an adhesive.

28. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein the local radius of curvature is greater than or equal to 15 μm and less than or equal to 60 μm.

29. The cutting element according to claim 16, wherein the local radius of curvature is greater than or equal to 20 μm and less than or equal to 45 μm.

30. The cutting element according to claim 18, wherein said grain size is in a range from 0.15 μm to 0.8 μm.

31. The cutting element according to claim 18, wherein said grain size is in a range from 0.2 μm to 0.5 μm.

32. The cutting element according to claim 19, wherein said cutting edge section extends over at least 70% of said cutting edge in the section in the section plane.

33. A machining method, which comprises the steps of: providing the cutting element according to claim 16; and machining a non-metallic composite material with the cutting element.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein the particles are formed by wood chips or wood fibers and the matrix is formed by an adhesive.

35. The method according to claim 33, wherein the particles are formed by carbon fibers or glass fibers and the matrix is formed by a plastic.

Description

[0041] In the figures:

[0042] FIG. 1: shows a perspective, schematic and sectional view of a cross-sectional illustration of a coated cutting element in the region of its cutting edge, flank face and rake face;

[0043] FIG. 2: shows a detailed illustration of the cutting element from FIG. 1 in section in a section plane perpendicular to the cutting edge;

[0044] FIG. 3: shows a detailed illustration of the cutting element according to FIG. 2 with wedge angle additionally shown.

[0045] FIG. 1 shows a perspective, schematic and sectional view of a cross-sectional illustration of a cutting element 1 for cutting a non-metallic composite material in the context of the present disclosure; a sectional illustration has thus been rotated in perspective so that the cross section and the remaining structure of the cutting element 1 are visible therefrom.

[0046] The cutting element 1 is coated with a hard material layer 2 of deposited polycrystalline diamond. The hard material layer 2 has in this case been deposited on a wedge-shaped substrate body 3, formed by a tungsten carbide-containing cemented carbide, of the cutting element 1, specifically on a flat flank face 4, a flat rake face 5 and a curved cutting edge 6 connecting the flank face 4 and the rake face 5; however, a plurality of hard material layers 2 of deposited diamond or another hard material such as for example amorphous carbon are also conceivable and possible.

[0047] The flank face 4, the rake face 5 and the cutting edge 6 are thus coated with the hard material layer 2; it therefore protects the comparatively relatively soft substrate body 3 from wear during machining. Actual engagement in the non-metallic composite material during machining is thus established by the hard material layer 2, which follows the shape of the substrate body 3 and accordingly is curved where the cutting edge 6 is formed and is flat where the flank face 4 and rake face 5 are formed. Although the substrate body 3 is fundamentally suitable for the machining of the non-metallic composite material, it is typically not sufficiently wear-resistant. Accordingly, the hard material layer 2 on the outside, i.e. facing the non-metallic composite material, has a cutting edge 6′ which follows the cutting edge 6 and is accordingly curved, a flat flank face 4′ following the flank face 4 and a flat rake face 5′ following the rake face 5; the longitudinal extent of the cutting edge 6′ is covered by the longitudinal extent of the cutting edge 6′. In other words, the contour of the substrate body 3 can be transformed into the outer contour of the hard material layer 2, and vice versa, by linear scaling.

[0048] The layer thickness of the hard material layer 3 is illustrated by way of example as constant, this being defined by the respectively smallest distance of its surfaces (flank face 4′, rake face 5′, the curved surface of the hard material layer 3 corresponding to the cutting edge 6′) to the opposite faces of the substrate body (flank face 4, rake face 5, curved face of the substrate body 3 corresponding to the cutting edge 6).

[0049] At this point, it is explicitly noted that the hard material layer 3 may also be deposited only on the cutting edge 6 or only on the cutting edge 6 and the flank face 4 or only on the cutting edge 6 and the rake face 5.

[0050] In the detailed illustration, shown in FIG. 2, of the cutting element 1 in a section in a section plane perpendicular to the cutting edge 6 and hence the cutting edge 6′, the curved cutting edge 6 is particularly readily visible. Within a circular cutting edge section 8 of the cutting edge 6, which extends over the entire cutting edge 9 immediately beneath the hard material layer 2, i.e. over 100% thereof, a correspondingly local radius of curvature 9 can be assigned to each point of the cutting edge section 8 (for reasons of clarity, only four radii of curvature 9 are shown). Since the cutting edge section 8 is circular, the radii of curvature 9 are of equal size. The cutting edge section 8 and hence the cutting edge 6 begin here on the flank face 4 side at the point at which the latter ceases to be flat, and on the rake face 5 side at the point at which the latter ceases to be flat. Accordingly, the cutting edge 6′ begins here on the flank face 4′ side at the point at which the latter ceases to be flat, and on the rake face 5′ side at the point at which the latter ceases to be flat. The cutting edge 6′ is therefore likewise curved in the form of a circle, but with a greater radius of curvature at each point thereof.

[0051] The illustration of FIG. 3 thus corresponds to that in FIG. 2, with the difference that it explicitly shows a wedge angle 7 that the flank face 4 and the rake face 5 form with one another; the wedge angle 7 is by way of example 56°, but smaller or larger wedge angles are conceivable and also possible. The bisector 10 of the wedge angle 7 here passes through the center of a circle 11, the center being defined by the radii of curvature 9.