Patent Application
20100251513
The disclosed device generally relates to devices for maintenance of floors, and more specifically to devices to assist in moving floor maintenance equipment to and from a work site where movement of the equipment over considerable distances, over obstacles, or up and down stairs is required.
The free standing equipment used for sanding, cleaning, polishing and buffing floors by a single operator can be unwieldy and difficult to maneuver. These devices typically comprise a motor unit enclosed within a rotary housing having one or more floor engaging rotary implements. A handle member is pivotally connected to the rotary housing, where the handle member extends to the operator's hands, where controls are located for the operator to guide and control the unit. A variety of different rotary implements may be utilized for maintaining a floor, such as brushes, a sanding disc, a polishing disc, etc. These devices typically have a pair of small wheels extending backwardly from the rotary housing, where the wheels must be small enough so they do not make contact with the floor surface when the rotary implement is in full engagement with the floor surface. While these devices perform a variety of different floor maintenance tasks, they are commonly referred to as “buffers”, which name will be used herein in description for devices which perform all of these tasks.
The above described buffers are typically heavy, with almost all of the weight carried in the lowermost section of the device where the motor, gearing, and rotary assembly are placed. This weight is advantageous when operating the buffer because it imposes a substantial force against the rotary implement as it rotates on the floor surface. Moving the buffer is relatively easy when the motor is on and the rotary implement is rotating on a floor surface. However, moving the buffer when the motor is off can be quite difficult.
Typically, when not in operation, the above-described buffers are moved by pushing down on the handle to lift the rotary implement off of the floor causing the small built-in wheels at the back of the rotary housing to engage the floor or ground surface. However, because the wheels are small and only engage the ground surface when the handle is pushed a sufficient amount downwardly, the built-in wheels are, at best, suited for straight movements of short distances across generally level terrain. Because of the weight of the buffer, turns on the small wheels can cause the wheel on one side to lift off of the floor surface and cause the wheel on the other side to bind and slide through the turn, such that the operator is essentially dragging the device through the turn. Moving the buffer is particularly difficult when it must be moved long distances, lifted over obstacles such as hoses, curbs, bumps, or taken up or down flights of stairs. Because of the small size of the built-in wheels, the buffer is usually carried up flights of stairs, usually requiring at least two people to carry the heavy unit.
For purposes of this disclosure, the aforementioned built-in wheels will hereinafter be referred to as “rollers” to avoid confusion with the wheels of the present invention. However, it is to be appreciated that, as used herein, the term “rollers” refers to the wheels typically found on the various floor maintenance equipment for which the presently disclosed apparatus is suited.
The present invention is used in combination with a buffer to address the problem discussed above. The type of buffer utilized in combination with the present invention comprises a rotary implement coupled to a motor, a rotary housing, a backwardly extending roller assembly comprising a left side roller and a right side roller attached to the rotary housing, and a handle assembly pivotally attached to the rotary housing. The rotary implement may be brushes, a sanding disc, a polishing disc, or other implements known to be used with equipment of this type. The buffer has an operating position in which the rotary implement is in engaging contact with the floor and the rollers do not touch the floor. The buffer also has a traveling position in which the rotary implement is not in full engagement with the floor and the rollers are in full engagement with the floor. It is to be appreciated that these positions are so described without having the disclosed detachable wheel set attached to the buffer, because once the attached wheel set is attached, the rollers do not engage the floor. The present invention is a detachable wheel set used in combination with previously described buffer, the detachable wheel set comprising an attachment bracket which has means for manual attachment to the rotary housing (i.e., without any tools required) and manual detachment from the rotary housing. The attachment bracket comprises a front, back, left side and a right side. A left wheel is disposed on the left side of the attachment bracket and a right side wheel is disposed on the right side of the attachment bracket. The wheels may be attached to individual axles on the left side and right side of the attachment bracket, or to other wheel attachment mechanisms, such as a single axle. The left side wheel and the right side wheel are substantially larger in diameter than the built-in left side roller and the right side roller of the buffer.
Once the attachment bracket is attached to the buffer, the built-in left side roller and right side roller are “captured” by a mechanism on the attachment bracket, such that the rollers do not engage the ground, but are suspended above ground by the attachment bracket, so that the larger wheels of the invention make contact with the ground. Once the buffer is moved to the desired location, the wheel attachment device is easily removed by foot or hand.
Referring now to the Figures,
As shown in
The attachable wheel set 10 further comprises a left side wheel 26 and a right side wheel 28. The left side wheel 26 may be disposed on a left side axle 30 which is attached on the left side 18 of attachment bracket 12. Likewise, right side wheel 28 may be disposed on a right side axle 32 attached to the right side 20 of the attachment bracket 12. As illustrated in
The backwardly extending roller assembly 110 of the buffer 100 is received within the attachment bracket 12, as best shown in
The roller engagement plates 34, 36 may be combined into a single unit, such as roller engagement yoke 42, best shown in
While the above is a description of various embodiments of the present invention, further modifications may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the size, shape, and/or material of the 20 various components may be changed as desired. Thus the scope of the invention should not be limited by the specific structures disclosed. Instead the true scope of the invention should be determined by the following claims.
This application claims domestic priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/212,117 filed on Apr. 6, 2009 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/257,604 filed on Nov. 3, 2009
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61212117 | Apr 2009 | US | |
| 61257604 | Nov 2009 | US |
