Insert rotary cutter

Claim 1

An insert rotary cutter comprising: (a) a cutter body having an axis of rotation therethrough and a plurality of pockets formed in one end thereof in circumferentially distributed relation; (b) a plurality of support members of cemented carbide attached respectively to said pockets, each support member having a front face, a rear face and a recess formed in the front face thereof, said recess being open radially and axially outwardly of the cutter body and having a bottom face; (c) a plurality of cutter inserts each comprising a polygonally shaped plate defined by a front face, a rear face and a plurality of side faces, each cutter insert being received in a respective one of said recesses of the said support member with the rear face of the insert held in contact with the bottom face of the recess so as to have a positive rake in the radial and axial directions; and (d) a plurality of clamp means to respectively clamp said cutter inserts to said cutter body through said support members; the depth of each said recess being one third to two thirds of a thickness of a said respective cutter insert, the thickness of said respective support member between said bottom face of said respective recess and said rear face of the support member being not less than three times the depth of said respective recess, said respective recess having at least one side wall disposed generally perpendicularly to said bottom face, said side wall of said respective recess having a positioning surface with which one of said side faces of said cutter insert is held in abutment for positioning the cutter insert, an edge portion defined by said positioning surface of said respective recess and said front face of said support member being removed.