Patent Application
20170259392
Metal finishing tools are commonly used in multiple industries to strip, polish, clean, and otherwise prepare metal surfaces for finishing. Current tools utilize abrasive wheels for paint removal without damaging metal finishes, abrasive paper bands for corrosion removal or for use on areas of polyester body fillers, and abrasive bands to remove coatings from wood surfaces such as wooden decks, railings, stairs, etc.
Current tool designs on the market have a rotating drum off-set to the left or right of the drive motor. The off-set design offers ease of manufacturing but leads to user fatigue as the spindle, during operation, applies a torque load (gyroscopic precession) to the motor housing/handle assembly. This loading requires the user to constantly apply a counter force to the torque load. After extended periods of operation the user experiences hand and wrist fatigue. The offset design also positions the rotating drum out-of-line of the operator, requiring additional time and attention to properly align the drum or drive wheel.
In view of the foregoing background, a metal finishing tool is disclosed. The metal finishing tool comprises a tool body having a proximal end, a distal end, and a motor axis, wherein the proximal end defines a handle section and the distal end defines a motor housing. The tool body further includes a support arm that extends laterally from the distal end to an elbow located on one side of the motor axis and longitudinally from the elbow to an arm end. A motor is located within the motor housing and a drive train is located within the support arm, and the motor and drive train are operatively coupled.
The metal finishing tool further includes a spindle coupled to the support arm and operatively coupled to the drive train. The spindle extends from a spindle base located proximate to the arm end of the support arm to a spindle end that is free and has a spindle axis that overlaps the motor axis. The spindle also includes a rotatable drum extending from a first drum end located proximate to the spindle base to a second drum end located proximate to the spindle end. The vertical plane of the motor axis intersects the drum at a location between the first drum end and the second drum end, thereby “balancing” the drum across the motor axis.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description of an embodiment considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The following disclosure is presented to provide an illustration of the general principles of the present invention and is not meant to limit, in any way, the inventive concepts contained herein. Moreover, the particular features described in this section can be used in combination with the other described features in each of the multitude of possible permutations and combinations contained herein.
All terms defined herein should be afforded their broadest possible interpretation, including any implied meanings as dictated by a reading of the specification as well as any words that a person having skill in the art and/or a dictionary, treatise, or similar authority would assign particular meaning. Further, it should be noted that, as recited in the specification and in the claims appended hereto, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural referents unless otherwise stated. Additionally, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” when used herein specify that certain features are present in that embodiment, but should not be interpreted to preclude the presence or addition of additional features, components, operations, and/or groups thereof.
The following disclosure is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description of the invention. The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale and certain features of the invention may be shown exaggerated in scale or in somewhat schematic form in the interest of clarity and conciseness. In this description, relative terms such as “horizontal,” “vertical,” “up,” “down,” “top,” “bottom,” as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally,” “downwardly,” “upwardly,” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing figure under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description and normally are not intended to require a particular orientation. Terms including “inwardly” versus “outwardly,” “longitudinal” versus “lateral” and the like are to be interpreted relative to one another or relative to an axis of elongation, or an axis or center of rotation, as appropriate. Terms concerning attachments, coupling and the like, such as “connected” and “interconnected,” refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both moveable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise, and includes terms such as “directly” coupled, secured, etc. The term “operatively coupled” is such an attachment, coupling, or connection that allows the pertinent structures to operate as intended by virtue of that relationship.
Turning now to
The tool body 4 further includes a support arm 16 having an L-shape that extends laterally from the distal end 8 to an offset elbow 18 and longitudinally from the elbow 18 to an arm end 20. A spindle 22 is coupled to the support arm 16 and includes a rotatable drum 24 that is cylindrical and rotates about the axis of the spindle 22 (i.e., the spindle axis 26). The spindle axis 26 overlaps the motor axis 14 and the drum 24 is positioned such that it is in-line with the handle section 10 and the motor housing 12 and “balanced” across the motor axis 14, as will be discussed in further detail below. The support arm 16 is sized and shaped to house a drive train (not shown) that is operatively coupled to both the motor at one end and the drum 24 at the other, thereby allowing the motor's rotary motion to drive the rotation of the drum 24.
In this disclosure, the term “vertical” refers to the direction that is orthogonal to the motor axis 14 and the spindle axis 26. Accordingly, the “vertical plane” of the motor axis 14 refers to the plane created by the motor axis 14 and the vertical vector that is orthogonal to the motor axis 14 and the spindle axis 26. In addition, the term “lateral” refers to a direction that is orthogonal to the motor axis 14, while “longitudinal” refers to a direction that is parallel to the motor axis 14.
In one embodiment, the drum 24 is sized and shaped to receive a finishing accessory 28 thereon, and the spindle axis 26 is spaced a distance c away from the distal end 8 that is sufficient to allow the finishing accessory 28 to not make contact with the tool body 4 when in use. The finishing accessory 28 can be configured to provide any one of a number of functions, including, but not limited to, stripping, grinding, polishing, and sanding. In one embodiment, the finishing accessory 28 is releasably coupled to the drum 24 by a friction fit. Examples of a finishing accessory 28 suitable to be fit on the drum 24 include a sanding drum attachment having a 3.5″ diameter×4.0″ length, a polishing drum attachment having a 4.0″ diameter×4.0″ length, and/or any other suitable releasable attachment and dimensional size (length and/or diameter).
Still referring to
In one embodiment, the metal finishing tool 2 includes a drum shield 36 that is sized and shaped to cover a portion of a finishing accessory 28 that has been fitted on the drum 24 while not touching the finishing accessory 28. The drum shield 36 protects the user's hand which is gripping the overhead handle 30 from accidentally coming into contact with a rotating finishing accessory 28 while the metal finishing tool 2 is in use. In this regard, the positioning of the overhead handle 30 enables the drum shield 36 to cover only a small portion of the finishing accessory 28 (i.e., between ¼ and ½ of the surface area of the finishing accessory 28) in order to adequately protect the user's hand gripping the overhead handle 30. This allows the user greater freedom to position the metal finishing tool 2 over prior art devices because the finishing accessory 28 has a more usable surface area. In one embodiment, the drum shield 36 is formed integrally with the spindle 22. In another embodiment, the drum shield 36 is removable.
Referring now to
In one embodiment, the motor 38 comprises a variable speed motor having one or more speed settings. A speed setting can be correlated with a predetermined number of rotations per minute (RPM) of the motor. In one embodiment, the motor 38 is a variable speed motor configured to switch between a first speed (e.g. “low speed”) having a first RPM and a second speed (e.g., “high speed”) having a second RPM, where the second RPM value is higher than the first RPM value. For example, in one embodiment, the first RPM value is 1600 RPM and the second RPM value is 2900 RPM. In other embodiments, the variable speed motor can include a progressive control that allows the variable speed motor to have any RPM value within a range of RPM values.
As seen in
Referring now to
In one embodiment, the intersection area 50 is located in the middle 50% of the drum 24 (i.e., between ¼d and ¾d). In another embodiment, the intersection area 50 is located in the middle 20% of the drum 24 (i.e., between ⅖d and ⅗d). In another embodiment, the intersection area 50 is located at the true middle of the drum 24 (i.e., the first drum end 46 and the second drum end 48 are equidistant from the intersection area 50). The closer the intersection area 50 is to the true middle of the drum 24, the more balanced the drum 24 is relative to the motor axis 14.
In one embodiment, the drive train 40 comprises a plurality of gears that enable the motor 38 to drive the drum 24 on the spindle 22.
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor in furthering the art. As such, they are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.
It is to be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make many variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention, as defined by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62306335 | Mar 2016 | US |
