Production process for casting steel-bodied bits
US5893204A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 12, 1996 |
| Grant date | Apr 13, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 12, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/49988
- WIPO fieldTextile and paper machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Steel bit bodies are manufactured in a production process that employs polystyrene patterns in a lost foam casting process. The patterns are machined to permit the formation of complex shapes that cannot be reproduced in simple patterns that are extractable from reusable, two-piece pattern molds or dies. The patterns are machined from a billet material according to a basic, programmed, five-axis machining process to form multiple copies of a reproducible complex pattern body. The process is modified to produce multiple copies of a modified design. Machining the complex patterns and producing variations by changing the machine program permit multiple bit patterns of variable forms to be produced without need for building an intermediate, reusable pattern mold that would require multiple mold pieces, thus eliminating the associated time and expense required in the creation of a new pattern mold for each variation of the bit design. The pattern is machined in a single chucking operation in a machine tool adapted for machining plastics in a three-dimensional global process. The plastic has a composition and a density that permit it to be machined into a pattern having relatively small,…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.