The present invention relates generally to sandpaper dispensers, and more particularly, to sandpaper dispensers adapted to couple to a sander.
Sandpaper and sanders are well known and have been in use for hundreds of years. Sandpaper is formed from a strong paper or other material coated on one surface with a layer of sand or other abrasive. A sander is used to hold and move a piece of sandpaper across a surface, to smooth or polish the surface. As a surface is sanded, inevitably the sand or other abrasive affixed to the sandpaper becomes dislodged from the sandpaper or the abrasive becomes clogged with removed material, significantly decreasing the effectiveness of the sandpaper. Thus, a user is forced to remove the piece of spent sandpaper attached to the sander, cut a new piece of sandpaper, and attach the sandpaper to the sander. As one can imagine, the process of sandpaper replacement is frequent, time consuming, labor intensive, and therefore expensive.
To facilitate the replacement of the sandpaper, and thus help to mitigate the labor required to replace sandpaper, sandpaper dispensers have been developed. In one previously developed sandpaper dispenser, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,657, issued to Hopkins, a box shaped housing is used to contain a roll of sandpaper therein. The sandpaper dispenser is remotely located from the sander, i.e., is positioned upon a workbench and accessed as needed. The sandpaper is dispensed through a slot in the housing. A cutting blade is attached to the housing to permit a user to pull from the box a selected length of sandpaper, and then cut the selected length off of the roll by use of the cutting blade.
Although effective, this previously developed sandpaper dispenser is not without its problems. For instance, a user must still stop the sander and remove the attached piece of spent sandpaper. The user must then locate the sandpaper dispenser, measure the appropriate length of sandpaper needed, and cut off the required length from the roll. The user then returns to the sander and attaches the new length of sandpaper to the sander. Only then may the user commence sanding. Therefore, although the previously developed sandpaper dispensers are effective, they still do not alleviate the labor intensive process necessitated by the frequent removal and attachment of sandpaper to the sander. Thus, a need exists for a sandpaper dispenser that dispenses sandpaper such that the sandpaper does not need to be measured, is coupled directly to the sander, applies new sandpaper rapidly, is inexpensive to manufacture, reliable, and meets the performance requirements of the end user.
One embodiment of a sandpaper dispenser formed in accordance with the present invention is provided. The sandpaper dispenser includes a frame adapted to couple to a sander and a sanding pad coupled to the frame. The sandpaper dispenser also includes a sandpaper dispensing assembly coupled to the frame and adapted to store a length of unused sandpaper, wherein the sandpaper dispensing assembly is adapted to selectively dispense the length of unused sandpaper to extend over the sanding pad.
Another embodiment of a sandpaper dispenser and sander combination formed in accordance with present invention is provided. The sandpaper dispenser and sander combination includes a sander having a moving portion adapted to move in a sanding motion and a frame coupled to the moving portion. A sandpaper dispensing assembly and a sanding pad are coupled to the frame. The sandpaper dispensing assembly is adapted to selectively dispense a length of sandpaper to extend over the sanding pad.
Yet another embodiment of a sandpaper dispenser formed in accordance with the present invention is provided. The sandpaper dispenser includes a frame adapted to couple to a sander and includes sandpaper dispensing means for selectively dispensing sandpaper. The sandpaper dispensing means and the sanding pad are coupled to the frame. The sandpaper dispensing means is adapted to selectively dispense a length of sandpaper to extend over the sanding pad.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In light of the above general description of the sandpaper dispenser 100, a more detailed description of the sandpaper dispenser 100 will now commence. The frame 102 of the sandpaper dispenser 100 is preferably made of a rigid material, such as steel. The frame 102 may be comprised of three distinct sections: a dispensing assembly housing 116, a tray portion 118, and a restraining wall 120.
Referring to
Returning to
Although the illustrated embodiment depicts the sandpaper dispenser 100 as coupled to the sander 105 through the use of four fasteners, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the sandpaper dispenser 100 may be attached by any suitable means, such as by clips, by integrally forming the sandpaper dispenser 100 with the sander 105, by clamps, by locking mechanisms, to name a few.
The sanding pad 110 may be coupled to an outer surface 132 of the bottom wall 126 as best seen in
The sandpaper dispenser 100 may further include a sandpaper restraining device 134. The sandpaper restraining device 134 includes an engagement member 136. The engagement member 136 is pivotally coupled to the frame 102 along the side wall 128 and is moveable between a first position and a second position. In the first position, shown in
Coupled to the engagement member 136 is a gripping device 138, as shown in
Although a particular sandpaper restraining device 134 is depicted and described, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that any device able to impede the movement of the sandpaper in at least one direction is suitable for use with the present invention. For instance, the sandpaper restraining device 134 may alternatively be formed by a clamping device, by a ratchet system which allows the sandpaper to move through the sandpaper restraining device 134 in a first direction, but not in a second direction opposite the first, etc. Or the sandpaper restraining device 134 may include a hand of a user applying hand pressure upon the sandpaper to sandwich the sandpaper between a portion of the sandpaper dispenser 100 and the hand of the user to impede movement of the sandpaper.
The restraining device 134 may also include a cutting surface 114 adapted to cut off a distal end of the length of sandpaper 108 (See
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Referring now to
The tensioning system 150 of the illustrated embodiment includes a cogwheel 152 coupled to one end of the support member 146 such that rotation of the support member 146 causes a corresponding rotation of the cogwheel 152. The cogwheel 152 may be disposed on an exterior side of a sidewall of the sandpaper dispensing assembly housing 116. The cogwheel 152 may be acted upon by a locking lever 154 or pawl normally biased about a pivot pin 158 to engage the cogs of the cogwheel 152 by a biasing device, which in the illustrated embodiment is a spring 156. The engagement of the locking lever 154 with the cogs of the cogwheel 152 holds the roll 124 of sandpaper stationary. When the locking lever 154 is disengaged from the cogwheel 152, such as by rotating the locking lever 154 about the pivot pin 158 by pressing on knob 159, the roll 124 of sandpaper is free to rotate.
Turning to
Referring to
The sander 106 may be turned on, such that a driver, such an electric motor, of the sander 106 imparts a sanding motion to the moving portion 104 of the sander 106. The sanding motion may take many suitable forms such as orbital, vibration, random, linear, rotary, etc. The sanding motion is transferred from the sanding pad 105 of the sander to the frame 102. As the frame 102 moves in the sanding motion, the sanding pad 110 of the sandpaper dispenser 100 is moved across a surface 160 to be sanded, moving the length of sandpaper 108 across the surface 160 in the sanding motion. The abrasive material on the length of sandpaper 108 smoothes or polishes the surface 160 to be sanded, resulting in the loss or clogging of the abrasive material of the sandpaper in the process. When the sandpaper 108 looses effectiveness, the user may release the locking lever 154 from the cogwheel 152 and pull on the first end 112 of the length of sandpaper 108. As the user pulls on the distal end 112, unused sandpaper is dispensed from the sandpaper dispensing assembly 116 and positioned to extend across the sanding pad 110. The spent sandpaper extending beyond the engagement member 136 of the sandpaper restraining device 134 is removed by tearing the length of spent sandpaper across the cutting surface 114.
Referring to
Although a mechanically driven sanding device is depicted in the illustrated embodiment, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that sanding devices driven by other than mechanical means are suitable for use and within the spirit and scope of the present invention. For instance, the sanding device may include a sanding block manually driven in a sanding motion by a user.
Although a rectangular sanding pad is depicted and described in the illustrated embodiment as attached to both the sander and bottom wall 126 of the frame 102, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the sandpaper dispenser 100 may be adapted to interface with sanding pads of other geometries, such as round or pointed sanding pads, to name a few.
Although a manually operated sandpaper dispensing assembly 144 is depicted and described in relation to the illustrated embodiments, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the sandpaper dispensing assembly 144 may be suitably driven by other means, such as by electric or pneumatic drivers, to name a few.
Although the illustrated sandpaper dispenser is preferably a reusable item loaded with new sandpaper on an as needed basis, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that a disposable, preloaded sandpaper dispenser is suitable for use with and is within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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2447518 | Marinsky | Aug 1948 | A |
2465194 | Brouty | Mar 1949 | A |
2475476 | Champayne | Jul 1949 | A |
2489005 | Bourdunis | Nov 1949 | A |
2809476 | Bourdunis | Oct 1957 | A |
3034267 | Feeney | May 1962 | A |
4275827 | Cole | Jun 1981 | A |
4316563 | Turner et al. | Feb 1982 | A |
4416410 | Herrmann | Nov 1983 | A |
4454974 | Cooke | Jun 1984 | A |
4466563 | Zuss | Aug 1984 | A |
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4781316 | Freeberg | Nov 1988 | A |
4858807 | Cvek | Aug 1989 | A |
5975999 | Nitta | Nov 1999 | A |
6083091 | Anderson | Jul 2000 | A |
6092657 | Hopkins | Jul 2000 | A |
6145771 | Santa Cruz et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
6419571 | Ueno | Jul 2002 | B2 |