Patent 7951737 was granted and assigned to NGK SPARK PLUG CO on May, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A cutting insert 1 is made of an aluminum oxide-based composite sintered body constituted by a ternary ceramic material including aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, and a sialon. The sialon in the aluminum oxide-based composite sintered body is Si—Al—O—N as defined by JCPDS No. 32-0026 in X-ray diffraction analysis.