Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to floor sanders, and more particularly to walk behind drum floor sanders.
In the installation of, or renovation of, hardwood flooring, the surface of hardwood floors must be sanded. Sanding is usually carried out with a drum sander. This piece of equipment comprises a cylindrical drum, around which a strip of abrasive material is secured. A motor rotates the drum. The drum is moved around the hardwood floor surface and sands it smooth.
Floor sanders are used to refinish hardwood floors that have been covered for long periods of time with carpeting and carpet pads. Over time, the pads have deteriorated and because of compression caused by foot traffic on the carpet, adhere to the hardwood floor as a sticky, gummy material. When the floor is sanded, the adhering material heats up and softens. The heated material gums up the sandpaper, and fouls the interior of the housing, creating a difficult to clean sander and an ineffectively sanded hardwood floor.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a floor sander that can effectively remove the adhering material from hardwood floors, while also sanding the hardwood floor, which does not become fouled in the process.
The use of blowers is well known in the art of floor sanding. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,069,502, 5,341,605, 5,575,510 and 7,435,160 disclose floor sanders having a blower used to move air across the motor to cool it. Often, a second blower is used to create suction from the floor inlet to the outlet dust bag to remove dust from the work environment. These two air flows merge and exit through the outlet to the dust bag. Neither of these blowers create sufficient air across the rotating drum to cool the drum and prevent the generation of heat on floor adhesives. When the adhesive is not heated by the drum sander, it can be effectively removed using a drum sander. None of the above references disclose a separate blower directed across the rotating drum.
The present invention is a floor sander comprising a drive motor, a horizontal rotating drum, a sander housing, a drum blower impeller, a vented impeller housing, and a fluid channel. The horizontal rotating drum is driven by the drive motor and has a top and a bottom. The sander housing covers the top of the rotating drum and has an inside proximate the rotating drum and an outside. The rotating drum supports and drives a sandpaper, and the bottom of the rotating drum is exposed for the sandpaper to sand a floor. The drum blower impeller is driven by the drive motor to create an air flow and is covered by the vented impeller housing. The fluid channel has a first end and a second end, and the first end is fluidly connected to the vented impeller housing. The second end is fluidly connected to the inside of the sander housing proximate the rotating drum. The fluid channel is mounted on the outside of the sander housing. The air flow is directed from the drum blower impeller through the fluid channel to proximate the rotating drum to cool the drum.
In a preferred embodiment, the drum blower impeller is a bidirectional impeller and has a drum impeller on the exterior side to create air flow to the rotating drum and has a motor impeller on the interior side to create flow across the drive motor.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.
The prior art floor sander has a motor blower impeller 24 driven by the drive motor to create an air flow directed across the drive motor for cooling. The impeller 24 is attached directly to the motor's rotating shaft 22. The impeller is covered with a vented drive motor cover 160 to allow air intake to blow across the motor to cool it. Optionally, the floor sander has a sander outlet impeller 80 driven by the drive motor, which creates a suction air flow from the sander housing air inlet 42 to the sander housing outlet 50 which removes dust from the work environment and directs it to a collector bag 150. The sander outlet impeller 80 is attached to the drive motor by means well known in the art such as belts and pulleys or gear mechanisms. The sander housing covers the moving parts and also directs the air flow up and out to the outlet 50. There is little or no air flow directed across the rotating drum and sandpaper.
As shown in
Further contemplated in this invention is sander modifier kit which includes, at least in part, a ducted impeller housing, a bidirectional impeller, a fluid channel having a first and a second end, and miscellaneous connecting parts such as couplers, screws, bolts, etc. suitable for attaching the included parts to a drum floor sander.
The embodiments were chosen and described to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to persons who are skilled in the art. As various modifications could be made to the exemplary embodiments, as described above with reference to the corresponding illustrations, without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application 63/088,320 filed Oct. 6, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US21/53766 | 10/6/2021 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63088320 | Oct 2020 | US |