Protective wear sleeve for cutting element

Abstract

A protective wear sleeve for a cutting tool assembly that includes a solid body that has a shaft portion, a radial collar portion, and a central bore that defines a central axis. The shaft has a forward end and a rearward end, wherein the radial collar is integral with the forward end. The radial collar has a ring support surface that faces at least partially in an outward radial direction. The forward end of the shaft and the radial collar together define a tooth support surface that faces in a forward direction and has an outer diameter. At least one wear ring is disposed on the ring support surface and extends around the radial collar. The at least one wear ring has a hardness greater than that of the radial collar and has an outer diameter greater than that of the outer diameter of the tooth support surface.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A protective wear sleeve for a tooth holder of a cutting tool assembly wherein the tooth holder contains a central bore, the protective wear sleeve comprising:
 an elongate body made from a base material, the elongate body including:
 a tooth bore that defines a tooth axis; 
 an axial forward end and an axial rearward end; 
 a mount portion at the rearward end configured for an interference press-fit with the central bore of the tooth holder; and 
 a tooth support collar at the forward end, the tooth support collar including:
 a tooth support surface projecting from the tooth bore out to a tooth collar diameter, the tooth support surface facing generally in a forward direction; and 
 a shoulder with an outer diameter equal to, or greater than, the tooth collar diameter and a shoulder thickness along the elongate axis of the body, 
 
 wherein the shoulder includes a hardfacing portion. 
   
     
     
         2 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the base material is a medium carbon steel induction hardened. 
     
     
         3 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the shoulder includes a groove that is configured to hold the hardfacing portion so that the hardfacing portion has an outer diameter equal to, or greater than, the outer diameter of the shoulder. 
     
     
         4 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the hardfacing portion is comprised of a plurality of beads of hardfacing material formed on the shoulder. 
     
     
         5 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 1  wherein the hardfacing portion extends around the entire perimeter of the shoulder. 
     
     
         6 . A protective wear sleeve for a cutting tool assembly comprising:
 a solid body having a first portion and a second portion, the body having a central bore, the central bore defining a central axis;   the first portion being a shaft portion having a forward end and a rearward end;   the second portion being a radial collar integral with the forward end of the shaft portion, the radial collar having a ring support surface that faces at least partially in an outward radial direction;   the forward end of the shaft portion and the radial collar together defining a tooth support surface that faces generally in a forward direction, the tooth support surface having an outer diameter; and   at least one wear ring disposed on the ring support surface, the least one wear ring extending around the radial collar, the at least one wear ring having a hardness greater than that of the radial collar and having an outer diameter greater than that of the outer diameter of the tooth support surface.   
     
     
         7 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 6 , wherein the bore includes an inner bore surface and wherein the inner bore surface and the tooth support surface are induction hardened. 
     
     
         8 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one wear ring has a hardness greater than the hardness of the inner bore surface and tooth support surface. 
     
     
         9 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 6 , wherein the inner bore surface and the tooth support surface have a first hardness and the radial collar has a second hardness and wherein the first hardness is greater than the second hardness. 
     
     
         10 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one wear ring has a third hardness, and wherein the third hardness is greater than the first hardness. 
     
     
         11 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 6 , wherein the ring support surface includes a groove that is configured to hold the at least one wear ring. 
     
     
         12 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one wear ring has a hardness of about 40 HRC to about 70 HRC. 
     
     
         13 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one wear ring has a hardness of about 45 HRC to about 70 HRC. 
     
     
         14 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one wear ring has a hardness of about 50 HRC to about 70 HRC. 
     
     
         15 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one wear ring has a hardness of about 60 HRC to about 70 HRC. 
     
     
         16 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one wear ring includes first and second wear rings. 
     
     
         17 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 16 , wherein the first wear ring has an outermost diameter smaller than an outermost diameter of the second wear ring and wherein the first wear ring is positioned in front of the second wear ring relative to the forward direction. 
     
     
         18 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 17 , wherein the ring support surface includes first and second grooves configured to hold first and second wear rings. 
     
     
         19 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 6 , wherein the ring support surface faces at least partially in an outward radial direction and at least partially in an axial direction. 
     
     
         20 . The protective wear sleeve of  claim 6  wherein the wherein the shaft portion has an outer diameter between about 2.250 inches and about 2.260 inches and the central bore has a diameter between about 1.70 inches and about 1.75 inches. 
     
     
         21 . An apparatus comprising:
 a holding block having a protective wear sleeve opening;   a cutting tooth having a support flange and a shank; and   a protective wear sleeve including:
 a solid body having a first portion and a second portion, the body having a central bore for receiving the shank of the cutting tooth, the central bore defining a central axis; 
 the first portion being a shaft portion having a forward end and a rearward end; 
 the second portion being a radial collar integral with the forward end of the shaft portion, the radial collar having a ring support surface that faces at least partially in an outward radial direction; 
 the forward end of the shaft portion and the radial collar together define a tooth support surface that faces in a forward direction, the tooth support surface being configured to encase a back side of the support flange of the cutting tooth; and 
 at least one wear ring disposed on the ring support surface, the at least one wear ring extending around the radial collar, the at least one wear ring having a hardness greater than that of the radial collar and having an outer diameter greater than that of an outer diameter of the tooth support flange; and 
   wherein the protective wear sleeve is press fit into the protective wear sleeve opening of the holding block, and the cutting tooth being secured in the central bore of the protective wear sleeve and being rotatable around the central axis of protective wear sleeve.   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the holding block is secured to an outer surface of a rotatable cutting drum.