1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a cutting insert used in metalworking operations and, more particularly, to chip flow control features on a cutting insert.
2. Description of Related Art
Cutting inserts are well known and a large percentage of them are of the throw away design. Such inserts are detachably clamped on a toolholder and then are discarded when they become dull or chipped. Throw away inserts are usually indexable and/or invertable so that an insert can be provided with at least two cutting edges for selective presentation to the cutting position. An indexable and/or invertable insert having multiple cutting edges is more economical because when one edge has been used, the insert may simply be indexed or inverted to the next usable edge. Such a feature is especially important when considering the high cost of materials from which inserts are produced.
The main object of metalworking is the shaping of a new work surface. Much attention is paid to the formation of the chip during the machining process, even though the chip is a waste product, because the consumption of energy occurs mainly in the formation and movement of the chip. Thus, an essential feature of any metalworking operation is effective chip flow. U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,844 entitled “Cutting Insert and Method of Making the Same” teaches a cutting insert with a convex wiper cutting edge with a chamfered corner provided between the cutting edges. This patent is assigned to the Assignee of the present application and is hereby incorporated by reference.
Because chip flow control is an important consideration in metal cutting operations, it has been a long standing objective in the art of metal cutting to develop improved chip flow control surfaces for use with cutting inserts.