Sander assembly having adjustable sander member

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6533649
  • Patent Number
    6,533,649
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, January 30, 2001
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, March 18, 2003
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Hail, III; Joseph J.
    • Thomas; David B.
    Agents
    • Baxley; Charles E.
Abstract
A sander machine includes a motor coupled to a sander barrel for driving the sander barrel, a sander belt is engaged on a frame with two rollers, one of the rollers is coupled to and driven by the motor. The frame may be adjustably secured relative to the motor for adjusting the sander belt between a vertical working position and a horizontal working position, such that the sander barrel and the sander belt may be used for conducting three or more sanding operations. The sander barrel and the sander belt may be driven by a single motor.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a sander, and more particularly to a sander assembly including an adjustable sander member.




2. Description of the Prior Art




The applicant has developed a typical sander device which has been issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,906 to Wang and which includes a vertical sander barrel provided on top of a work table, and a sander wheel supporting on a supporting base. The sander barrel and the sander wheel may not be adjusted relative to the supporting base such that the sanders may not be conveniently used for conducting various kinds of sanding operations.




The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional sanders.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a sander assembly including an adjustable sander member that may be adjusted between a horizontal working position and a vertical working position for conducting various kinds of sanding operations.




In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a sander assembly comprising a first sander member, a motor coupled to the first sander member for driving the first sander member, the motor including a spindle, a frame, a first roller and a second roller rotatably secured to the frame, the first roller being coupled to the spindle for being driven by the motor, a sander belt engaged around the first and the second rollers, and means for adjusting the sander belt between a vertical working position and a horizontal working position.




The frame includes a shaft rotatably secured therein and secured to the spindle for being driven by the motor, the first roller is secured on the shaft.




A bracket is slidably secured in the frame, the second roller is rotatably secured in the bracket, the bracket is adjustable and movable relative to the first roller for tightening the sander belt.




A seat is further provided and secured on a base and includes a clamping ring, a hub is secured to the frame and adjustably secured to the seat with the clamping ring.




A platform is further provided and secured to the frame for supporting work pieces. One or more covers are further provided and attached to the frame for partially shielding the sander belt.




Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of a detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a sander assembly in accordance with the present invention;





FIGS. 2 and 3

are partial exploded views of the sander assembly; and





FIG. 4

is a perspective view illustrating the adjustment and the operation of the sander assembly.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to the drawings, and initially to

FIGS. 1-3

, a sander assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing


10


disposed on a base


11


, a work table


12


disposed on the housing


10


, a sander member, such as a sander barrel


14


vertically supported above the work table


12


, and a motor


16


disposed on the base


11


and coupled to the vertical sander barrel


14


for rotating and driving the sander barrel


14


to conduct one kind of the sanding operations. An example of a gear coupling for coupling the motor


16


to the sander barrel


14


has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,906 to Wang which is taken as a reference for the present invention. The motor


16


includes a spindle


17


having a key


18


or the like engaged therein. The spindle


17


has one end extended inward of the housing


10


for coupling to the sander barrel


14


, and has the other end extended outward of the motor


16


and extended away from the housing


10


.




A seat


19


is secured on the base


11


and includes a clamping ring


20


provided thereon. The spindle


17


is extended through the clamping ring


20


. A frame


30


has an extension


31


extended from one end thereof and secured to a hub


32


which is engaged in the clamping ring


20


and adjustably secured to the seat


19


by the clamping ring


20


. The hub


32


may further be solidly secured in the clamping ring


20


by a teeth or key engagement for adjustably and stably supporting the frame


30


on the vertical working position (

FIGS. 1-3

) or on the horizontal working position (

FIG. 4

) at least. A platform


40


is pivotally secured to the frame


30


and includes one or more curved slots


41


formed therein. One or more fasteners


42


are engaged through the curved slots


41


of the platform


40


and secured to the frame


30


and slidably received in the curved slots


41


of the platform


40


for adjustably securing the platform


40


to the frame


30


at any selected suitable angular position.




A roller


33


is rotatably secured in one end of the frame


30


with a shaft


34


which is secured to the spindle


17


with such as the key


18


, such that the roller


33


may be rotated and driven by the motor


16


. Another roller


35


is rotatably secured in a bracket


36


which is adjustably secured in the frame


30


and adjustable and movable toward and away from the roller


33


. A sander member, such as a sander belt


37


is engaged around the rollers


33


,


35


. A handle


39


is coupled to the bracket


36


for moving and adjusting the bracket


36


away from the roller


33


and for tightening the sander belt


37


and for solidly engaging and securing the sander belt


37


on the rollers


33


,


35


. The sander belt


37


may thus be rotated or driven by the motor


16


via the roller


33


. One or more covers


38


may be attached to the frame


30


for partially shielding or covering the sander belt


37


and for allowing only the required portions of the sander belt


37


to be exposed for conducting the sanding operations.




In operation, as shown in

FIGS. 1 and 4

, the frame


30


and thus the sander belt


37


may be adjustably secured to the seat


19


either at the vertical working position (

FIG. 1

) or at the horizontal working position (FIG.


4


), by the adjustably securing of the hub


32


in the clamping ring


20


of the seat


19


, in order to selectively conduct two kinds of sanding operations. The platform


40


may be secured to the frame


30


in a horizontal position for supporting the work pieces when the sander belt


37


is supported in the vertical working position (FIG.


2


). The platform


40


may be disengaged from the frame


30


when the sander belt


37


is supported in the horizontal working position (FIG.


4


). The motor


16


may thus be used to drive two sander members


14


,


37


, and the sander member


37


may be adjusted between a horizontal working position and a vertical working position. The sander members


14


,


37


of the sander assembly in accordance with the present invention may thus be used for conducting at least three kinds of sanding operations.




Accordingly, the sander assembly in accordance with the present invention includes an adjustable sander member that may be adjusted between a horizontal working position and a vertical working position for conducting various kinds of sanding operations.




Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.



Claims
  • 1. A sander assembly comprising:a) a base, b) a housing disposed on said base, c) a work table disposed on said housing, d) a sander barrel supported above said work table, e) a seat disposed on said base and including a clamping ring, f) a motor disposed on said base, and including a spindle having a first end extended into said housing and coupled to said sander barrel for driving said sander barrel, and having a second end extended out of said motor and extended away from said housing and extended through said clamping ring, g) a frame including a shaft rotatably secured therein and secured to said second end of said spindle of said motor for being driven by said motor, h) a first roller secured on said shaft and rotatably secured to said frame with said shaft, for allowing said first roller to be driven by said motor, i) a bracket slidably secured in said frame, j) a second roller rotatably secured in said bracket, k) a sander belt engaged around said first and said second rollers, said bracket being adjustable and movable relative to said first roller for tightening said sander belt, l) a hub secured to said frame and adjustably secured to said seat with said clamping ring, for allowing said frame and said sander belt to be rotated and adjusted relative to said seat and said base, m) a platform secured to said frame for supporting work pieces, n) means for adjustably securing said platform to said frame, and o) at least one cover attached to said frame for partially shielding said sander belt.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
5168656 Jolly et al. Dec 1992 A
5199220 Steiner et al. Apr 1993 A
5361546 Jonsson Nov 1994 A
6095906 Wang Jan 2000 A