Claims
- 1. Buffing apparatus comprising:
- an elongated container for receiving an article to be buffed, said container adapted to be placed in a shiftable bin having an opening and to be moved about in the bin relative to a predetermined reference as the bin is shifted, said container having a side wall capable of being flexed to shorten the length of the container to permit it to be inserted in the bin through said opening, there being a buffing element in the container, said element having a buffing material thereon frictionally engageable with the article in the container, said container being of a size to permit the article therein to move relative to the buffing element and the container as the container is moved relative to said reference.
- 2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein is included a flexible bag of buffing material for placement into the container the bag adapted to receive the article and the buffing element, the bag, the article and the buffing element being movable within and relative to the container, there being a second buffing element in the container externally of the bag, said second element being movable within and relative to the container.
- 3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein each of the buffing elements comprises a body, the first-mentioned buffing element having a layer of buffing material covering the outer surface of the respective body.
- 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein each body is flexible and hollow and is provided with a hole therein to permit a weight material to be placed in the element, and a plug for closing said hole.
- 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein the weight material is water, said layer being of a stretchable fabric.
- 6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein the stretchable material is comprised of a synthetic material.
- 7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein said synthetic material is a combination of nylon and Lycra.
- 8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein the stretchable material has approximately a 210% stretch in length and a 75% stretch in width.
- 9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein each body is a vinyl ball.
- 10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said container has a cylindrical shape and a pair of ends, and including cap means at the ends of the container for removably closing the container.
- 11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein the cap means includes a cap for each end, respectively, of the container, each cap having a resilient bar for engaging the inner surface of a rotary bin.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application is a continuation-in-part patent application of application Ser. No. 790,300, filed Oct. 23, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,400 which was a continuation-in-part patent application of application Ser. No. 502,433, filed June 9, 1983 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,144.
This invention relates to improvements in the buffing of articles and, more particularly, to buffing apparatus which provides a buffing action to articles of different types in a minimum of time and without operator attention.
It is well known that shoes are generally shined by brushing them by hand with a bristle brush or buffing them with a cloth of a suitable buffing material. This requires a considerable amount of energy and time for busy people who consider this an inconvenience, especially if they have other things to accomplish in a given day. Moreover, to hold a shoe in one hand while the shoe is being brushed by a brush in the other hand causes both hands to become soiled or dirty, requiring that the hands be washed immediately afterwards.
Buffing a shoe with a buffing cloth requires the shoe to be worn or to be mounted on a fixed support. It is no wonder that shining of shoes is simply a job which is put off for much too long a time. Eventually, the appearance of the person wearing the shoes suffers and requires some sort of immediate action which the wearer does not wish to do.
While it is possible to get shoe shines at a shoe shine stand, these are found only at locations in a commercial area, such as in a downtown area or at an airport. A professional shoe shine costs money and takes time because the shoes typically remain on the feet of the wearer while being shined. This also is time consuming and an inconvenience which is to be avoided generally.
Because of these drawbacks, a need has arisen for improvements in the buffing of articles, such as shoes and goods of various types.
This present invention satisfies the aforesaid need by providing an improved buffing apparatus wherein the apparatus is simple in construction and the method is easy to practice. Moreover, the invention permits the buffing of articles of different types without operator attention. Thus, during the buffing operation, the user can turn his attention to other tasks and need not be present while the buffing action is taking place.
The apparatus of the present invention provides a holder or container for receiving the article or articles to be buffed, the container being closeable after the article is therewithin. Also, within the container is a buffing material which buffs and thereby shines the article as the container is moved about, such as when the container tumbles about or rotates within a shiftable bin, such as the rotary drum of a conventional clothes dryer.
In one form of the invention, the container has a flexible bag therewithin for receiving the article or articles to be buffed. The bag, which may be of buffing material also has one or more buffing elements therewithin, each element being a soft vinyl ball or hollow member having buffing material means thereon. The bag is of a sufficient size to allow relative movement between the buffing element and the article in the bag as the container itself moves about. The relative movements of the element and the article cause the buffing material means of the element to buff or shine the article in a minimum of time. During this time, the container is being moved about continuously and without the need for user attention. Thus, the user can turn his attention to other tasks and not need to be present during the buffing operation.
In the buffing of a pair of shoes, for instance, each shoe is prepared for buffing by applying a polish or wax to it. Then, the shoe is inserted into a bag with one or more buffing elements. The polish or wax may be omitted, if desired. Usually only a single shoe is placed in the bag although a pair of shoes can be placed in the same bag if the bag is large enough. In the alternative, two such bags can be used in the container for a pair of shoes, assuming the container is large enough to accommodate both bags.
Once the movement of the container starts, the user can walk away from the buffing location and do other things. Usually in 5 to 15 minutes, a shoe or pair of shoes will be properly buffed to provide a high gloss to the surfaces of the shoes.
Various other features of the apparatus include the use of weights in the container to effectively cause a higher degree of frictional engagement between the buffing material and the article to be buffed. This feature assures the proper amount of buffing action for a particular article. Moreover, the container itself can be moved about randomly within a shiftable bin such as a rotary bin as the bin rotates. In the alternative, the container can be held in fixed position in a shiftable bin with the container spaced inwardly from or against the inner periphery of the bin, depending upon the way in which it is desired that the container be moved about in buffing the articles in the container.
Another feature of the present invention is the provision of a shiftable bin that is coin actuated so that the bin and the container can be placed in a commercial establishment for shining of shoes. This feature does not require any operator attention, and customers can shine their shoes quickly and easily without doing anything more than taking off their shoes and placing them into the container and into the shiftable bin and then actuating the bin.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved buffing apparatus for use in buffing articles of different types, including shoes, wherein the apparatus includes a container for receiving an article to be buffed and the container is provided with buffing material therewithin for frictional engagement with the article so that that, as the container is moved about, such as when the container is rotated or tumbled in a rotary bin, the article and the buffing material are moved relative to each other so that the exposed surfaces of the article can be buffed to a high gloss without requiring any effort on the part of the user of the invention except to put the article into and take the article out of the container.
Other objects of this invention will become apparent as the following specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings for an illustration of the invention.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 246157 |
Feb 1911 |
DEX |
| 538333 |
Feb 1971 |
CHX |
| 0626941 |
Aug 1978 |
SUX |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
790300 |
Oct 1985 |
|
| Parent |
502433 |
Jun 1983 |
|
Patent Grant
4800605
