Cutter assembly and methods for making same
A cutter assembly for a cutting tool has a super-hard volume of super-hard material having a proximal end and a distal end and including a cavity; and a cover member. The super-hard volume has a super-hard surface at the distal end including a cutting edge. The cavity has a cavity open end at the distal end. The super-hard surface includes a cavity peripheral area coterminous with the cavity open end and the cover member has a cover peripheral area configured to mate with the cavity peripheral area to allow the cover member to cover the cavity at the cavity open end, the covered cavity providing a housing chamber within the super-hard volume. A method of making a cutter assembly is also disclosed.
1. A cutter assembly for a cutting tool, comprising
a super-hard volume of super-hard material having a proximal end and a distal end and including a cavity; and
a cover member comprising the super-hard material;
the super-hard volume having a super-hard surface at the distal end including a cutting edge;
the cavity having a cavity open end at the distal end;
the super-hard surface including a cavity peripheral area coterminous with the cavity open end;
the cover member including a cover peripheral area configured to mate with the cavity peripheral area to allow the cover member to cover the cavity at the cavity open end; the covered cavity providing a housing chamber within the super-hard volume.
2. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1 , including an electronic device housed within the housing chamber.
3. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1 , including a join layer joining the cover peripheral area to the cavity peripheral area, to attach the cover member to the super-hard volume and cover the cavity.
4. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the join layer comprises metallic alloy material.
5. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the join layer comprises metallic alloy including one or more of Al, Ni, Cu, Si, Au, Sn and In.
6. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the join layer comprises join material; and a region of the super-hard volume adjacent the cavity peripheral area includes a portion of the join material.
7. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1 , the super-hard material comprises diamond or cubic boron nitride (CBN) material.
8. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the cavity extends through the super-hard volume from the cavity open end to the proximal end.
9. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a substrate portion; the super-hard volume being joined to the substrate portion at an interface boundary coterminous with the proximal end of the super-hard volume.
10. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1 , the super-hard volume including a channel connecting the cavity to an aperture remote from the cavity.
11. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1 , the super-hard volume having a side connecting the proximal end and the distal end; wherein the cavity extends to the side.
12. A cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1 , the cavity peripheral area and the cover peripheral area comprising respective mating cone surfaces.
13. A method of making a cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1 , the method including:
providing a super-hard volume of super-hard material having a proximal end and a distal end;
processing the super-hard volume to form a cutting edge at the distal end;
removing super-hard material from the distal end to form a cavity having a cavity open end, and a cavity peripheral area coterminous with the cavity open end;
providing a body comprising the super-hard material, and
processing the body to form a cover plate including a plate peripheral area configured to mate with the cavity peripheral area; and
joining the plate peripheral area to the cavity peripheral area.
14. A method of making a cutter assembly as claimed in claim 13 , wherein joining the plate peripheral area to the cavity peripheral area includes:
applying braze alloy material to at least one of the plate peripheral area or the cavity peripheral area; and
heat treating the braze alloy material, to braze-join the plate peripheral area to the cavity peripheral area.
15. A method of making a cutter assembly as claimed in claim 13 , wherein joining the plate peripheral area to the cavity peripheral area includes:
applying diffusion bonding material to at least one of the plate peripheral area or the cavity peripheral area; and
applying pressure to the cover plate to diffusion-bond the plate peripheral area to the cavity peripheral area.