Development of profile milling tools with internal chip removal
Summary
As part of a research project funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology through the German Society for Wood Research via the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations "Otto von Guericke", the Institute of Wood and Paper Technology at TU Dresden worked on the topic: "Development of profile milling tools with internal chip removal".
The aim of this research project was to transfer a new type of milling cutter concept with internal chip removal to profile milling tools. By designing the tool as a hollow body and arranging chip entry openings in front of the cutting edge, it is possible to transport and discharge a large proportion of the chips produced during milling immediately into the tool. With such tools, up to 99% of the milled chips are discharged into the tool without any aids when milling solid wood and wood-based materials. Only a very low air speed is then required to extract the chips, as almost no free-flying chips need to be collected. In the test runs, an extraction speed of 5 m/s was sufficient.
The almost complete elimination of free-flying chips greatly reduces double cutting and imprints of leftover chips. As a result, the machining quality is improved and the cleaning effort for the workpiece and machine is greatly reduced.
In addition to the quantity of independently discharged chips, noise and dust emissions were also investigated. The values obtained are in line with the values required by the employers' liability insurance association, but there are still reserves with regard to the integration of the tools into the machine, which can still be exploited when the system is transferred for industrial applications.
In cooperation with LEUCO Ledermann GmbH Horb and Homag AG Schopfloch, tools for industrial edge processing were developed according to this principle. The results of the extensive practical tests, for which users with different product ranges were selected, are consistent: almost complete chip collection depending on the edge shape and material, no build-up of chips on the tool or on the sensing rollers (when processing plastic edges), significantly less cleaning effort on the machine and workpiece, no sticking together of the stacked parts due to chips flying off with adhering glue particles and thus, of course, significantly less downtime and better quality.
The so-called "i-tool" is used in the "Optimat profi line" and "Optimat power line" profile trimming units from Homag.
The research project (No. 11893 BR) was financially supported by the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations "Otto von Guericke" e. V. (AiF).