WALL SCRAPER

Abstract

A scraper, such as a wall scraper using a standard replaceable blade, is provided with an adjustable scraper head for changing the attack angle of the blade to suit the user and/or the job. Embodiments include a scraper having an elongated handle and a scraper head for fixedly holding a blade, the scraper head being pivotably mounted to an end of the handle for positioning the scraper head at a selected angle to the handle. A lock, engageable with the handle and the scraper head, fixes the scraper head at the selected angle. The lock has a knob for gripping the scraper, and the handle has a rear grip, thus allowing the user greater control of the scraper.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION

The present invention claims priority of provisional patent application No. 61/006,754 filed Jan. 30, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a scraper. The present disclosure has particular applicability to wall scrapers with replaceable blades.

BACKGROUND

Wall scrapers, also called wall strippers, are used to remove paint, wallpaper, etc. from walls. They are typically used with two hands. All such scrapers provide a grip at the rear of the handle, and some have a knob on the front of the housing to provide an additional grip. A typical conventional design, as shown in FIG. 1, uses a standard replaceable blade, such as a 4″ stripper blade held in place to a head by screws and a flat plate that mates with the head. The position of the head is fixed at an angle to the handle, to accommodate right-handed people. Disadvantageously, the fixed angle is often not quite right for the user (e.g., if the user is left-handed) or for a particular work situation, which may require a greater or lesser angle for scraping effectiveness and/or efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An advantage of the present disclosure is a scraper with an adjustable scraper head whose angle with respect to its handle can be changed according to the user and/or to the job at hand.

According to the present disclosure, the foregoing and other advantages are achieved in part by a scraper comprising an elongated handle; a scraper head for fixedly holding a blade, the scraper head being pivotably mounted to a first end of the handle for positioning the scraper head at a selected angle to the handle; and a lock engageable with the handle and the scraper head for fixing the scraper head at the selected angle.

Additional advantages and other features of the present disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from the practice of the disclosure. The advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

As will be realized, the present disclosure is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference is made to the attached drawings, wherein elements having the same reference numeral designations represent like elements throughout, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a prior art scraper;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a scraper according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the scraper of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an end cap of the scraper of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the scraper of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the scraper of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of the scraper of FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 8a-c are views of the rear grip and end cap according to a further embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A scraper according to the present disclosure addresses the disadvantages of conventional wall scrapers having a head at a fixed angle to the handle. The present disclosure provides a scraper with an adjustable scraper head whose angle with respect to the handle can be changed to suit the user and/or the job. The scraper of the present disclosure also has textured grips for both the user's hands for better control, and storage space for extra blades inside its handle.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a wall scraper 10 according to the disclosure has a tubular metal handle 11 with an overmolded rear grip 11a and an end cap 26. In certain embodiments, handle 11 has an oval cross-section. A scraper head assembly 15 holds a blade 17, such as a standard 4″ scraper blade, between metal head halves 16, 18. A knob 12 is provided on the scraper head assembly 15 having an overmolded grip 12a for better control and pressure.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 6, and 7, the head assembly 15 has a metal attachment member 19 which is securely fitted into the front end of handle 11. Attachment member 19 includes a splined circular detent ring 19a which mates with a corresponding splined circular detent ring 16a of upper head half 16. Knob 12 has a threaded shaft 12b which passes through aligned holes in upper head half 16 and attachment member 19, and threads into a fastener, such as captivated nut 20, at the bottom of attachment member 19. Thus, handle 11 is pivotably mounted to scraper head 15 via knob 12. The knob 12 acts as a lock to tighten and securely fix the upper head half 16 to the attachment member 19, after their corresponding detent rings are engaged as desired by the user for selecting the blade attack angle (i.e., the angle of blade 17 relative to handle 11).

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 6, the blade 17 is captured in a conventional manner between upper head half 16 and lower head half 18, such as via screws that pass through holes 16b in upper head half 16 and corresponding through-holes in blade 17, and thread into holes 18a in lower head half 18.

In one embodiment of the disclosed scraper, the rear grip 11a has two opposed side buttons 22 which extend through corresponding holes 11b to hold the end cap 26 in place (see FIGS. 2, 3, 5, and 7). As shown in FIG. 4, end cap 26 is integral with buttons 22, and made of a plastic that allows buttons 22 to act as resilient spring tabs which flex when end cap 26 is inserted into grip 11a, to engage holes 11b, and allow removal of the end cap 26 from the rear grip 11a when the user depresses the buttons 22. End cap 26 holds spare blades (not shown) inside the hollow handle 11. In other embodiments, end cap 26 is a screw-on arrangement or friction fit. In further embodiments, rear grip 11a has a recessed portion 11c for the user's thumb when the user is gripping the rear grip 11a.

In still further embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 8a-c, instead of a removable end cap, a hinged end cap 30 is provided, along with a latch to secure the cap 30 in a closed position. Cap 30 includes a hinge half 30a which engages a mating hinge half 11d of rear grip 11a. Cap 30 also includes a resilient push point 30b and a finger with a detent 30c attached thereto which mates with a through hole 11e in rear grip 11a to retain the cap 30 in a closed position. To open end cap 30, the user pushes down on push point 30b in the top of cap 30, moving finger and detent 30c down, thereby releasing detent 30c from through hole 11e. Cap 30 also has an internal positioning section 30d to hold the spare blades (not shown) in position when the end cap 30 is closed.

The scraper of the present disclosure allows the blade 17 to be adjusted to any comfortable angle by unscrewing the knob 12, moving the head 15, and tightening the knob 12. The disclosed adjustable blade angle enables comfortable use of the scraper by right and left handed users. Moreover, the grip 12a of knob 12 enables increased pressure to be applied to the scraper during use, because it allows the user to use both hands. Still further, enabling the use of both hands by the user allows greater control of the tool during scraping.

The present disclosure can be practiced by employing conventional materials, methodology and equipment. Accordingly, the details of such materials, equipment and methodology are not set forth herein in detail. In the previous descriptions, numerous specific details are set forth, such as specific materials, structures, chemicals, processes, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it should be recognized that the present disclosure can be practiced without resorting to the details specifically set forth. In other instances, well known processing structures have not been described in detail, in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present disclosure.

Only a few examples of the present disclosure are shown and described herein. It is to be understood that the disclosure is capable of use in various other combinations and environments and is capable of changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concepts as expressed herein.

Claims

1. A scraper comprising:

an elongated handle;

a scraper head for fixedly holding a blade, the scraper head being pivotably mounted to a first end of the handle for positioning the scraper head at a selected angle to the handle; and

a lock engageable with the handle and the scraper head for fixing the scraper head at the selected angle.

2. The scraper of claim 1, wherein the lock comprises a shaft which engages respective through-holes in the handle and the scraper head to pivotably mount the scraper head to the handle, and

wherein the shaft further engages a fastener for fixing the scraper head at the selected angle.

3. The scraper of claim 2, wherein the lock further comprises a knob at one end of the shaft for engaging the shaft and the fastener, and for secure gripping of the scraper by a user.

4. The scraper of claim 3, wherein the shaft is threaded, and the fastener has threads for engaging the threads of the shaft, and the knob is for tightening the shaft to the fastener.

5. The scraper of claim 2, wherein the handle has a first splined detent ring, and the scraper head has a second splined detent ring for engaging the first splined detent ring, for positioning the scraper head at the selected angle when the shaft engages the through-holes in the handle and the scraper head.

6. The scraper of claim 1, wherein the blade is removable.

7. The scraper of claim 1, wherein the handle comprises a rear grip at a second end of the handle remote from the first end, for gripping of the handle by a user.

8. The scraper of claim 7, wherein the rear grip comprises a recessed portion for accommodating a thumb of the user when the user is gripping the handle.

9. The scraper of claim 7, wherein the handle is hollow, and comprises a blade storage compartment inside the rear grip.

10. The scraper of claim 9, wherein the rear grip comprises a removable end cap for accessing the blade storage compartment.

11. The scraper of claim 10, wherein the end cap comprises an opposing pair of resilient tabs having buttons which engage a pair of corresponding through-holes in the rear grip to retain the end cap on the rear grip, and to allow removal of the end cap from the rear grip when the user depresses the buttons.

12. The scraper of claim 10, wherein the end cap has threads, and the rear grip has threads for engaging the end cap threads to removably attach the end cap to the rear grip.

13. The scraper of claim 10, wherein the end cap attaches to the rear grip via a friction fit.

14. The scraper of claim 9, wherein the rear grip comprises a hinged end cap for accessing the blade storage compartment.

15. The scraper of claim 14, wherein the end cap comprises a resilient latch which engages a through-hole in the rear grip to retain the end cap on the rear grip, and to allow removal of the end cap from the rear grip when the user depresses the latch.

16. The scraper of claim 14, wherein the end cap comprises an internal positioning section to hold spare blades in position in the blade storage compartment when the end cap is closed.

17. The scraper of claim 10, wherein the end cap comprises an internal positioning section to hold spare blades in position in the blade storage compartment when the end cap is closed.