Sanding apparatus

[0001] The present invention relates to sanding apparatus, and relates particularly, but not exclusively, to belt sanders for sanding wooden floors.

[0002] Belt sanders are known in which an endless abrasive sanding belt passes around a driving roller and a driven roller, and the driving roller is rotated by means of a toothed belt driven by a motor to cause the sanding belt to move over a generally flat base surface located between the driving and driven rollers.

[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 6,174,226 discloses a handheld belt sander which has opposed first and second sanding surfaces.

[0004] JP 2000-280157 discloses a belt sander which provides a pivotable cover which selectively prevents access to an upper sanding surface of the sander. However, this arrangement suffers from the disadvantage that the accuracy with which sanding can be carried out is limited, for a given size of sander.

[0005] Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above disadvantages of the prior art.

[0006] According to the present invention, there is provided a sanding apparatus comprising:

• • [0007] a housing defining a first base surface and a second base surface opposite said first base surface;
  • [0008] at least one first roller and at least one second roller, wherein at least one said first roller has a diameter larger than a diameter of at least one said second roller;
  • [0009] a motor for driving at least one said first roller for causing an endless abrasive belt passing around at least one said first roller and at least one said second roller in use to move across said first and second base surfaces to define first and second sanding surfaces respectively;
  • [0010] at least one guard member moveable between a first guard position preventing access to said second sanding surface and at least one second guard position allowing access to said second sanding surface; and
  • [0011] at least one handle on said housing, wherein at least one said handle is moveable between a first handle position adjacent said second sanding surface and at least one second handle position further from said second sanding surface than said first handle position.

[0012] By providing a sander having at least one first roller and at least one second roller of smaller diameter than the first roller, this provides the advantage of enabling accurate sanding operations to be carried out for a given size of sander, while the provision of a movable guard member provides a further sanding surface which may be selectively accessible.

[0013] At least one said guard member may be pivotable between said first and second guard positions thereof.

[0014] At least one said handle may be pivotable relative to said housing between first and second handle positions thereof.

[0015] The apparatus may further comprise locking means for preventing movement of at least one said handle from a second handle position thereof to said first handle position when at least one said guard member is in a said second guard position thereof, and/or for preventing movement of at least one said guard member to a second guard position thereof when at least one said handle is in a first handle position thereof.

[0016] The locking means may comprise linkage means interconnecting at least one said handle and at least one said guard member such that movement of at least one said handle to the first handle position thereof causes movement of at least one said guard member to the first guard position thereof.

[0017] The locking means may comprise at least one linkage member adapted to engage a respective handle to prevent movement of said handle relative to the housing to said first handle position when a predetermined said guard member is in the second guard position thereof.

[0018] At least one said linkage member may comprise a respective protrusion and/or slot adapted to engage a corresponding slot and/or protrusion on a respective said handle.

[0019] The locking means may comprise at least one linkage member adapted to engage at least one guard member to prevent movement of said guard member to said second guard position thereof when a said handle is in said first handle position thereof.

[0020] At least one said linkage member may comprise a respective recess and/or protrusion for engaging a corresponding protrusion and/or recess on at least one said guard member.

[0021] At least one said linkage member may be pivotable relative to the housing between a first position allowing movement of at least one said guard member to a second guard position thereof and a second position preventing movement of said guard member to said second guard position, wherein movement of said linkage member to said first position is prevented when said handle is in a first handle position thereof.

[0022] A plane defined by said first base surface may be substantially tangential to a predetermined said second roller.

[0023] By arranging a predetermined said second roller to be substantially tangential to a plane defined by the first base surface, this provides the advantage that the limit of the region sanded by the sanding apparatus is now defined by the bottom of the predetermined second, as opposed to the edge of the base surface, as a result of which the region which cannot be sanded by the present invention is as wide as the radius of the predetermined second roller, whereas this region in the prior art is at least as wide as the whole diameter of one of the rollers. As a result, the present invention has the advantage that sanding much closer to the edge of a floor can be carried out.

[0024] The spacing of said predetermined second roller from said first base surface may be adjustable.

[0025] This provides the advantage of enabling the tension in the belt to be adjusted.

[0026] The predetermined second roller and a base portion defining said first base surface may include cooperating engaging means for enabling said predetermined second roller to slide relative to said first base surface.

[0027] This provides the advantage of providing a simple means of adjusting the spacing between the predetermined second roller and the first base surface, while maintaining the predetermined second roller tangential to the plane defined by the first base surface.

[0028] The predetermined second roller may be displaceable towards said first base surface to facilitate mounting and/or removal of said endless belt.

[0029] A first said roller located furthest from the or each said second roller may be substantially tangential to said second base surface but not to said first base surface.

[0030] The apparatus may further comprise a third base surface substantially coplanar with said first base surface, and an inlet between said first and third base surfaces for enabling the endless belt to pass through said inlet and around said first roller located furthest from the or each said second roller.

[0031] In a preferred embodiment, the motor is located in use on a side of the endless belt remote from said first base surface and an output shaft of said motor is substantially parallel to an axis of rotation of a first said roller adapted to be driven by said motor.

[0032] By providing the motor on a side of the endless belt remote from the first base surface and an output shaft of said motor substantially parallel to an axis of rotation of a first said roller adapted to be driven by said motor, this provides the advantage of enabling the apparatus to be constructed more compactly. For example, by passing a toothed belt around gears connected to the ends of the motor output shaft and the first roller axis, the motor does not need to be laterally offset relative to the sanding belt, as a result of which the width of the apparatus is only slightly larger than that of the sanding belt.

[0033] The apparatus may further comprise a drive belt connected between an output shaft of said motor and a said first roller.

[0052] A belt sander 2 has a housing 4 of durable plastics material and having a generally wedge shaped base portion 5 defining a generally flat base surface 6 and a rear handle 8 having a trigger 10. Flat base surface 6 may comprise a separate metal plate attached to base portion 5. A power cable (not shown) extends from the handle 8 for supplying electrical power to the sander 2. A forward handle 12 is pivotable about pivot axis 14 relative to the housing 4 and is lockable in selected angular positions relative to the housing by means of a locking lever 16 which is pivoted outwardly of the housing 4 in the direction of arrow A (FIG. 1) to release the handle 12 and is pivoted inwardly to lock the handle 12. Pivot axis 14 extends substantially transversely to a vertical plane containing the major axis of sander 2 and base portion 5. (The major axis extends horizontally (left to right) on the page of FIG. 2 and the vertical plane containing the axis extends perpendicularly to the page in FIG. 3.) In particular, the handle 12 is provided with suitable engaging means, which will be familiar to persons skilled in the art, which locate the handle 12 at selected angular positions about pivot axis 14. The lever 16 can operate in a number of possible ways, for example by means of cooperating cam surfaces. This enables the user to choose the most ergonomic position of the handle 12 for the particular task.

[0053] The housing 4 also defines a duct 18 (FIG. 9) connecting an inlet 20 in the base 5 of the housing with a motor 22 having an output shaft 24 which also carries a fan (not shown). The fan displaces air radially outwardly through an outlet 28 into a dust bag (not shown). The fan is surrounded by a closely fitting flange to divide the space occupied by the fan into a clean air chamber axially separated from a dirty air chamber. Air drawn into the clean air chamber through air inlets 26 in one or both sides of the housing 4 cools the motor, while air is drawn into the dirty air chamber through inlet 20 via duct 18, and all of the air drawn into the fan is expelled through outlet 28. As a result, dust produced by the sanding operation is drawn through inlet 20 and expelled into the dust bag, in a manner described in greater detail below.

[0054] Housing 4 includes cylindrical motor receiving chamber 41 disposed at a location between the locations of front roller 34 and rear roller 32 taken along a major axis of sander 2. Chamber 41 is disposed at a higher vertical position than both rollers 32 and 34. Motor 22 is received within chamber 41. The output shaft 24 of the motor 22 is rotatable about axis 24a which is substantially transverse to the major axis and carries a gear 25 for driving a toothed belt 30 (FIG. 10) which passes around a gear 33 mounted to a rear roller 32 arranged in a lower part of the housing 4 above inlet 20. The gear 33 is rotatable about axis 32a and has larger diameter than the gear 25, which enables the rotational speed of the rear roller 32 to be chosen. The axes 24a and 32a are generally parallel to each other, which enables the motor 22 to be located above the base portion 5 and laterally in line therewith, which in turn enables compact construction of the sander. A front roller 34, having smaller diameter than the rear roller 32, is arranged in the lower part of the housing such that a lowermost point 36 of the front roller is in line with the base surface 6. The front roller 34 is of concave cross-section to assist in retaining in position an endless sanding belt 38 (FIG. 9) which passes around the front 34 and rear 32 rollers and across the base surface 6 to define a lower sanding surface 40 and an upper sanding surface 42. Front roller 34, rear roller 32 and base 5 jointly define a path for receiving belt 38 of standard size, that is, having a width of seventy five mm (usually expressed as three inches) transverse to the major axis and having a perimeter of either eighteen or twenty one inches. The rear roller 32 is generally tangential to an upper surface 7 of wedge shaped base portion 5, but is offset relative to the flat base surface 6, as a result of which the direction of belt 38 changes as it passes around rear edge 6a of base surface 6, so that the belt 38 is asymmetrically arranged relative to a line joining the central axes of front and rear rollers 34, 32. Housing 4 includes an undersurface 43 which extends at a forwardly downwardly inclined angle from a location above rear roller 32 towards front roller 34. The overall inclination angle of undersurface 43 may be ten degrees relative to the horizontal.

[0055] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the gripping surface of handle 12 is curved and is located generally within a plane which extends in a direction transverse to the major axis of sander 2. Handle 12 is secured to an upper portion of motor receiving chamber 41, at a location between the locations of front roller 34 and rear roller 32 taken along a major axis of sander 2. Like chamber 41, handle 12 is disposed at a higher vertical position than both rollers 32 and 34.

[0056] The front roller 34 is slidably mounted to the front of the base part 5 of the housing 4 by means of a support 44, and the support 44 is urged forwardly by a compression spring (not shown) to maintain the tension in the sanding belt 38. A lever 46 on the base part 5 of the housing can be pivoted outwards in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 1 to place the spring under compression by means of a cam surface to enable the support 44 to be moved inwardly to remove the sanding belt 38 for replacement or for adjustment. The front roller 34 is also provided with an adjustment knob 35 for adjusting the angle of the longitudinal axis of the roller 34 relative to the housing 34.

[0057] The upper sanding surface 42 is covered by a guard 48 which is pivotable relative to the housing about an axis 50 between a lower position and an upper position. In the lower position the guard 48 covers the upper sanding surface 42 and prevents access to it and a front portion 52 of the guard extends forwardly of forwardmost part 54 of the sanding belt 38. In the upper position of the guard 48, access to the upper sanding surface 42 is permitted, for example for sanding the underside of objects such as tables, or for sanding non-level surfaces such as door frames.

[0058] A rear part 56 of the guard 48 has a cam 58 (FIG. 13) having a cam surface 60 on a side thereof which cooperates with a side surface of an end 62 of a linkage member 64 mounted to a pivot 66. As a result, movement of the guard 48 from its lower to its upper position causes the cam surface 60 to displace end 62 of the linkage member 64 to the left in FIG. 13, which then urges the linkage member 64 in a clockwise direction about the pivot 66 in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 13. The linkage member 64 is received in a slot 68 in the handle 12 when the guard 48 is in its upper position and when the handle 12 is pivoted upwardly relative to the housing 4 as shown in FIG. 13 to allow the guard 48 to pivot to its raised position. However, the linkage member 64 is prevented from pivoting in the direction of arrow C when its upper end 70 is not aligned with slot 68, which in turn prevents the guard 48 from being raised when the handle 12 is in its lowered position as shown in FIG. 12. Similarly, location of upper part 70 of linkage member in slot 68 when the guard 48 is in its raised position prevents rotation of the handle 12 relative to the housing 4, as a result of which the handle 12 can not be pivoted to its lowered position when the guard 48 is raised. This minimises the risk of injury to a user's hand through inadvertent contact with the upper sanding surface 42 when the handle 12 is in its lowered position as shown in FIG. 9. Suitable means (not shown) may be provided to retain the guard 48 in its raised or lowered position when the handle 12 is in its raised position to keep the guard 48 stationary during use.

[0059] The operation of the sander 2 will now be described.

[0060] In normal use of the sander 2, i.e. in which sanding is carried out by means of the lower sanding surface 40, the guard 48 covers the upper sanding surface 42, and the handle 12 is locked in any one of its permitted angular positions about axis 14 relative to the housing by means of the locking lever 16. The user actuates the motor by pressing trigger 10 on handle 8, as a result of which the motor 22 drives rear roller 32 to cause movement of the sanding belt 38 around front 34 and rear 32 rollers and upper 40 and lower 42 sanding surfaces in the direction of arrow D shown in FIG. 9. At the same time, rotation of the fan creates an air current entering inlet 20. This causes air containing dust produced by the belt 38 at lower sanding surface 40 to be drawn into inlet 20 as the belt 38 enters inlet 20 to pass around the rear roller 32, and the dust containing air then passes along duct 18 into the dirty side of the fan and is expelled through outlet 28 into the dust bag (not shown).

[0061] Because the forwardmost part of the lower sanding surface 40 is defined by the lowermost 36 part of the front roller 34, only that part of the sander 2 forwardly of the rotation axis of the front roller 34 lies above the forwardmost part of the lower sanding surface 40. As a result, the sander 2 can be used to sand much closer to the edge of floors than is the case with conventional sanders. In particular, by minimizing the diameter of front roller 34 while still maintaining a transverse width of 75 mm for the belt receiving path and providing for the use of standard size belt loops, the present invention provides the material removal capabilities of a full size belt sander but allows sanding much closer to a vertical wall. To minimize the gap between the sanding border and such a wall, front roller 34 may have a maximum diameter of approximately 23 mm and preferably a diameter of 16.5 mm. This structure allows the sander to sand within 15 mm of the vertical wall. Including base surface 6, this structure allows the sanding belt to contact the sanded surface for a length of approximately 195 mm along the major axis. Contact between the front part 54 of the sanding belt 38 and a vertical surface such as a wall (not shown) is prevented by the front portion 52 of the guard 48, which extends forwardly of the front part 54 of the belt 38 by approximately 5 mm when the guard 48 is in its lower position. This prevents inadvertent damage to, for example, skirting boards at the edge of a floor to be sanded.

[0062] In order to use the upper sanding surface 42, the locking lever 16 is pivoted outwardly of the housing 4 to enable pivoting of the handle 12 about axis 14, and the handle 12 is pivoted to its upper position, as a result of which the upper part 70 of linkage member 64 is aligned with slot 68 in the handle 12 to allow the linkage member 64 to pivot about pivot 66. The guard 48 is then pivoted upwardly by means of a suitable actuator member (not shown), for example a lever located adjacent pivot axis 50 to expose the upper sanding surface 42. The guard 48 is then retained in its upper position by suitable means.

[0063] The sander of the present invention also allows for sanding beneath an overhanging edge. The upper surface of base 5 has a forwardly downward inclination. Undersurface 43 has a corresponding downward inclination. This inclination along with the relatively flat upper surface of housing 4 disposed forwardly of motor receiving chamber 41, and the fact that no portion of the housing extends above this flat upper surface permits the forward end of sander 2 to pass readily beneath an overhanging edge. This structure along with the minimized diameter of front roller 34 allows sanding of a horizontal surface to nearly the edge of such a surface extending beneath the overhanging edge. The flat upper surface may extend approximately 64 mm in the rearward direction from the forward end of housing 4, and throughout its extent, the flat upper surface is disposed no greater than approximately 36 mm above the lower sanding surface, with no other portion of the housing disposed or extending above the flat upper surface.

[0064] The diameter of rear roller 32 approximately corresponds to the height of base 5 at the rear edge thereof. The rear roller 32 may have a diameter which is in a range of 2–3 times the diameter of front roller 34. Preferrably the diameter of rear roller 32 is 48 mm, or approximately 3 times the front roller 34. In a preferred embodiment, the flat upper surface of housing 4 is formed by the upper surface of guard 48.

[0065] When the sanding belt 38 becomes worn, the lever 46 is pivoted outwardly of the housing 4 to compress the compression spring (not shown). This allows support 44 to be moved rearwardly, as a result of which the belt 38 becomes slack and can more easily be removed for replacement. When a replacement belt 38 has been placed around the rollers 32, 34, the lever 46 is then pivoted inwardly to cause the spring to urge the forward roller 34 forwards to place the replacement belt 38 under tension.

[0066] With further reference to FIG. 2, housing 4 includes a rear flat upper surface extending rearwardly from motor receiving chamber 41, preferably for a distance of at least 50 mm. Housing 4 then curves downwardly about rear roller 32, and handle support portion 45 extends rearwardly therefrom. Rear handle 8 extends rearwardly from motor receiving chamber 41 and terminates at support portion 45. Therefore, a gripping surface of handle 8 extends above rear roller 32, providing increased control for belt sander 2. Trigger 10 is disposed at the underside of the gripping surface of handle 8. The maxiumum height of sander 2 at the location of the rear flat upper surface may be 68 mm.

[0067] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.