BOVONE, Vittorio (Via Castagnola 11, Silvano d'Orba, I-15060, IT)
| CLAIMS 1. A tool (1) or cutting mill for grinding glass comprising an elongated body (2) having a first portion (3) intended to be coupled to a base, which preferably allows it to rotate around a longitudinal axis (K) and a second portion (4) superficially holding the protruding milling elements defined as diamond grinding bodies or elements (13; 13A, 13B) intended to touch a glass body for example a plate-shaped or polygonal or rotational solid shaped body, to grind it, characterized in that said milling elements (13; 13A, 13B) are arranged in staggered rows on said second portion (4) of the cutter mill body (2). 2. A tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein said elongated mill body (2) has a plurality of openings (15) in a surface (10) of the second portion (4) , said openings (15) being arranged among the milling elements (13; 13A, 13B ) arranged in staggered rows. 3. A tool as claimed in claim 2, wherein said openings (15) are placed at multiple positions around each milling element (13; 13A, 13B) , said openings being connected to at least one conduit within the mill body (2) and carrying a cooling fluid on the said surface (10) thereof. 4. A tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein said milling elements (13; 13A, 13B) are individually placed on this second portion (4) of the mill body (2) . 5. A tool as claimed in claim 4, wherein said milling elements are autonomous bodies of the mill body (2) and are inserted and secured in the corresponding seats (14) thereof. 6. A tool as claimed in claim 4, wherein the individual milling elements (13; 13A, 13B) have a form chosen from polygonal, elongated polygonal or circular shapes . 7. A tool as claimed in claim 6, wherein individual milling elements (13; 13A, 13B) with an elongated polygonal shape and positioned along adjacent lines parallel to the longitudinal axis (k) of the mill body (2), lie along their own longitudinal axes (W, X) positioned at 90° from each other and arranged at 45° with respect to the abovementioned longitudinal axis K. 8. A tool as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the milling elements (13) placed near one free end (20) of the second portion (4) of the milling body (2) have greater extension with respect to the other milling elements (13) far from that end. |
The subject of this invention is a tool for grinding or cutting a glass body, or mill, according to the preamble of the main claim.
As it is known, a tool or mill for grinding or cutting a glass body (in plate form or polygonal shaped or in the form of a rotational solid) usually comprises an elongated body held by a support (driven by a motor) which usually allows it to rotate around its longitudinal axis. For that purpose, said support includes a first portion shaped so as to allow it to be coupled to the abovementioned support.
The body of the mill comprises a second portion holding the milling elements protruding from one of its surfaces and intended to touch the glass body and, by the rotation of the same around its longitudinal axis, to grind the glass. The milling elements are diamond bodies or elements constructed with known techniques.
The body of the mill, furthermore, comprises internal conduits for a cooling fluid (usually water) properly fed into the same body through its support, said fluid flowing onto the surface of the second portion of this body through the normal openings provided therein. Thus the cooling fluid can cool both the tool during operation and the glass being processed.
The mill currently in use for cutting or grinding the glass usually comprises a plurality (generally three to six) of diamond segments, each of them arranged continuously on the second portion of the mill body and defining the elements or processing bodies that have a first end near the first portion of the mill body and a second end near the end of the second portion of this body. The abovementioned diamond bodies, attached by translation, define a kind of parallel strips arranged in a curved progression (i.e. not parallel to the longitudinal axis of the mill body) on said second portion.
Among the various diamond bodies there are zones of the second portion of the mill body free of grinding elements, in said zones the openings through which the cooling fluid flows being located.
This mill solution gives a "discontinuous" cutting or grinding of the glass surface because of the alternation between the diamond grinding bodies and the empty zone of the second portion of the mill body. Furthermore, because of the arrangement of the cooling fluid openings in only the zones adjacent to every "strip" of the diamond body there is an imperfect cooling of the tool and the grinding body.
Because of the abovementioned drawbacks, the mill operating on the glass produces a number of chips, which can sometimes also lead to the localized breakage of the glass body. In addition, because of the shape of the diamond bodies, the grinding or cutting operation requires a high number of rotational turns of the mill around its own longitudinal axis, which implies the need for increased power (and therefore greater magnetic costs) by the motor which generates this rotation.
An object of this invention is to provide a tool for grinding or cutting a glass body which is an improvement with respect to similar known tools.
In particular, an object of the invention is to offer a tool or mill of the type cited above that allows for better efficiency in grinding glass as well as an optimal action on glass that is "softer" with respect to that of known mills in order to reduce the number of chips produced and avoid localized breakage of the body being processed. Another object is to provide a tool or mill of the cited type that allows better cooling of the same tool and of the glass body being grinded.
Another object is to provide a tool or mill which, due to its special design and to the efficiency of the action on the glass that ensues, can operate at a fewer number of turns around its longitudinal axis than that of known mills, so allowing lower stress on the motor that generates this rotation, resulting in energy savings and longer life of the same motor.
These and other purposes or objects that will be clear to the expert in the art are achieved by a tool or mill according to the accompanying claims.
For a better understanding of this invention, for purely illustrative and not limitative purposes, the following drawings are attached, in which:
Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a tool or mill made according to the invention;
figure 2 shows a front view of the tool of figure 1;
figure 3 shows a side view of the tool of figure 1 ; and
figure 4 shows a top view of the tool of figure 1. With reference to the cited figures, a tool or mill for grinding or cutting of a glass body is indicated generically with 1 and comprises a body 2 having a first portion 3 and a second portion 4. The first portion 3 of the mill body 2 is intended to be coupled in any known way (e.g. by a threaded external part 5 ) , to a support (not shown) connected to a motor to allow the rotation of the body 2 around its longitudinal axis K.
This first portion comprises a frustoconical part 7, terminating with a cylindrical end block 8 having opposing flat portions 9 intended to cooperate with a usual and known tool for coupling the body 2 to the support (not shown) cited above.
The second portion 4 is substantially cylindrical and comprises a surface 10 from which project milling elements 11 defined by individual diamond processing bodies or elements 13 which, in the embodiment shown, are rectangular in shape. Obviously this shape is not limiting, but other polygonal or rotational solid shapes can be used depending on the desired use of the tool or mill 1.
The individual processing elements or bodies 13 are inserted into corresponding seats 14 provided in the surface 10 of the second portion 4 of the mill body 2, seats in which these bodies 13 are blocked in any known way (through interference, adhesive or brazing) .
These individual elements are arranged on the surface 10 in staggered rows ("quincunxes") or with a discrete disposal that does not leave large areas of this surface devoid of diamond elements, as is instead the case of known mills with a two-portion body of which at least one is cylindrical. At the same time, this arrangement permits the arrangement of openings 15, intended to deliver a common cooling fluid (e.g. water) on the surface 10 and originating from tubing inside body 2 (not shown) , around the individual elements 13, which improves the cooling effect of the body 2 (and of the glass body subjected to processing) with respect to the known equivalent solutions. Preferably these openings 15 are ideally arranged around every element 13 in order to obtain the cooling effect mentioned above.
The diamond processing elements or bodies 13 are furthermore advantageously arranged so that adjacent bodies, when polygonal and elongated in shape, positioned along vertical lines parallel to the K axis and one after another, are positioned along axes angled at 90° from each other. In other words, with reference to Figure 2, considering the elements indicated with 13A and 13B (in the case of a polygonal and elongated shape) , they lie along their own longitudinal axes W and X, parallel to their long sides 130A and 130B, arranged at 90° from each other. This allows for more efficient grinding of the glass with respect to the known solutions. These axes W and K are arranged at 45° with respect to the longitudinal axis K.
Furthermore, the bodies or elements 13 may have dimensions all identical or different from each other. For example, as shown in the figures, the elements 13 next to the free end 20 of the second portion 4 of the mill body 2 have a greater extension with respect to the other diamond elements or bodies 13 far from that end.
Due to this invention, the tool or mill is able to make a more continuous cut on the glass body with respect to known and equivalent mills, there being no longer any areas (with respect to the latter) devoid of diamond bodies flanked by areas with diamond bodies on its mill body; the latter, on the other hand, comprises a continuous alternation of empty areas (areas devoid of bodies 13) and full areas (areas defined by the abovementioned bodies 13) arranged so that the impact of the single diamond elements on the glass is more gentle or "soft" with respect to that of state-of-the- art solutions.
In addition the presence of the openings 15 distributed on the surface 10 of the second portion 4 of the mill body 2 allows better cooling of the whole body as well as of the individual diamond elements 13 to which these openings 15 are adjacent on all sides.
A preferred form of the invention has been described. Still others are however possible in the light of the above description and are to be considered as falling within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims that follow.