ROTARY POLISHERS AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME
Embodiments of a rotary polisher with a spindle lock to allow quick removal of the backplate are provided. In preferred embodiments, the rotary polisher comprises: a body including a neck; a spindle extending down from the body through the neck and coaxial with the neck wherein the spindle has a threaded end extending down below the neck and wherein the spindle has a cavity; a backplate coupled to the threaded end of the spindle; and a button coupled to a pin wherein the button and pin are aligned with the cavity and pass through an outside wall of the neck and wherein the pin is moveable in and out of the cavity.
This application claims priority to U.S. Design patent application No. 29/615,696, filed Aug. 30, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELDThe present patent document relates generally to rotary polishers. More specifically, the present patent document relates to rotary polishers and improved designs for rotary polishers for use with automobiles.
BACKGROUNDFor a very long time, America has had a fascination with the automobile. In 1908, the Ford Motor Company® introduced the Model T, and brought the automobile to the masses. Since that time, America's love for the automobile has been second to none. Because of America's love for the automobile, a large market for car care has been created.
The car care market encompasses numerous products including soaps, waxes, interior cleaners, filters, buckets, sponges, sprayers and rotary polishers. Rotary polishers are used in the application and removal of wax and other polishing substances to the automobile paint surface. Although wax and other solutions may be applied by hand, this is a tedious process. A rotary polisher has a spinning head that is placed in contact with the painted surface and eliminates most of the physical labor of polishing on or off the wax or other polishing solutions.
Numerous rotary polishers exist on the market today. When using a rotary polisher, one problem is the steady application of the polisher such that the buffing is uniform. When the polishing is done by hand, the human naturally controls the level of force and keeps it even such that the polishing is done evenly. However, it is difficult to determine when using a rotary polisher how much force is being applied. One potential solution is offered by Japanese Patent Application JP2016022533A, in which a portable polisher has a meter attached thereto for displaying a torque value. Numerous other solutions are available on the market that have a readout. For example, the WEN 948 10 Amp Variable Speed Polisher has a digital readout that shows a single number, like 1 to 15 for example. This provides the user with some feedback on the speed but does not give accurate feedback. Other similar polishers that lack the required accuracy in the rotational feedback are also available.
The problem is that dividing the speed of the rotary polisher up into large RPM ranges and representing each range with a single number lacks the accuracy necessary to use the rotary polisher with the precision required. What is needed is a more accurate way to receive feedback on the rotational speed of the rotary polisher.
In addition to the ability to closely monitor the speed of the polisher, there is also a need to allow the rotating backing plate of the rotary polisher to be easily changed. Depending on the application, different size backing plates or backing plates made from different materials may be desired. The backing plate rotates rapidly when the rotary polisher is in operation and thus, existing polisher designs have cumbersome connections. What is needed is a rotary polisher that employs a securely connected with a quick disconnect backing plate.
SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTSThe embodiments of the present patent document provide rotary polishers and methods of making rotary polishers. The rotary polishers disclosed herein are designed to eliminate or at least ameliorate the deficiencies of the prior designs. In a preferred embodiment, a rotary polisher is provided. The rotary polishers comprises: a body including a neck; a spindle extending down from the body through the neck and coaxial with the neck wherein the spindle has a threaded end extending down below the neck and wherein the spindle has a cavity; a backplate coupled to the threaded end of the spindle; and a button coupled to a pin wherein the button and pin are aligned with the cavity and pass through an outside wall of the neck and wherein the pin is moveable in and out of the cavity.
In some embodiments, the spindle includes a boss and the cavity is formed in the boss. However, a boss is not required and some embodiments may not use a boss.
Many different overall configurations maybe be used for the rotary polisher. Different embodiments may have different body shapes. In preferred embodiments, the body of the rotary polisher includes a lower handle, center portion and upper handle and the spindle is located on a bottom of the upper handle.
In most embodiments, the backplate includes a releasable surface for connection to an applicator. Applicators are often made from foam and the releasable surface is preferably Velcro or some other hook and loop releasable connector.
In many embodiments, the button used to lock the spindle is round. In many other embodiments, the shape of the button is not round and may be square, or hexagon or some other shape. Although the button may be located anywhere around the circumference of the neck, in the preferred embodiments, the button is located on a front of the neck. Locating the button on the front of the neck allows the user to easily be able to depress the button with one hand while freeing up the other hand to allow rotation of the backplate.
In preferred embodiments, the rotary polisher further comprises a spring wherein the spring biases the pin away from the spindle.
In another aspect of the present patent document, a rotary polisher comprises: a body including a bottom handle, an upper handle and a neck extending down from a bottom of the upper handle; a spindle extending down from the body through the neck and coaxial with a hole through the neck wherein the spindle has a threaded end extending down below the neck and wherein the spindle has a cavity; a backplate coupled to the threaded end of the spindle; and a button coupled to the neck and moveable in a perpendicular direction to a longitudinal axis of the spindle wherein translating the button towards the spindle causes a pin to be inserted into a cavity in the spindle.
In still yet another aspect of the present patent document, a rotary polisher is provided that comprises: a body including a neck; a spindle extending down from the body through the neck wherein the spindle has a threaded end extending down below the neck and wherein the spindle has a hole in the outside surface of the spindle perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the spindle; a backplate coupled to the threaded end of the spindle; and a button and pin coupled to the neck and moveable in a perpendicular direction to the longitudinal axis of the spindle wherein the button and pin are aligned with the hole.
The rotary polishers and methods of use are described in more detail in the detailed description of the drawings below.
In the embodiment shown in
As may be seen in
In addition to the power switch 32, a speed increase button 36 and speed decrease button 34 are located just below the digital readout 30. In operation, the rotary polisher 10 is turned on by sliding the power switch to the on position. The user can then control the rotational speed of the head 12 by increasing or decreasing the speed using the speed increase button 36 and speed decrease button 34. In a preferred embodiment, the buttons 34 and 36 are hooked to an analog circuit such that the speed increases and decreases proportionally. As an example, holding the speed increase button 36 for a certain number of seconds may increase the speed by a proportional amount related to the time the button is depressed. In some embodiments, the amount of speed increase may accelerate the longer the increase speed button 36 is depressed. The decrease speed button 34 may work in a similar manner.
In another embodiment, the increase speed button 36 may increase the speed in block increments. For example, a single press might move the speed from 0 RPM to 300 RPM. An additional press might move the speed from 300 RPM to 600 RPM. In such an example, the speed may be increased by 300 RPM with each press of the button. The speed decrease button 34 may work in a similar manner. In other embodiments, increments other than 300 RPM may be used and different increment amounts may be combined in the same embodiment.
As may be seen in
The spindle 42 also has a cavity 45. In the embodiments shown in
The cavity 45 in the embodiment of
As may be seen, button 41 is located on an outside portion of the neck 46. Neck 46 has a passage 50 that passes through the outer wall of the neck 46 and allows access to the interior of the neck 46 and the spindle 42 by the button 41. The back side or interior facing side of the button includes a pin, plunger, rod or shaft 52 that may be extended into and out of the interior of the neck by pressing on the button 41. Once the pin 52 is pushed in and the pin 52 aligns with the spindle 42 of the polisher 10, the pin 52 will lock the spindle allowing batching plates with different sizes to be easily switched. In preferred embodiments, a spring 54 biases the pin 52 and button 41 such that the pin 52 wants to return to the retracted position and only protrudes into the interior of the neck 46 when the button is pressed 41. In preferred embodiments, the pin 52 and button 41 may be made as a single entity. In other embodiments, they may be comprised of separate elements.
As may be seen in
The pin 52 may be a simple cylindrical pin or may be keyed to prevent rotation. In a preferred embodiment, the pin may have a boss 64 at the end. Similar to the boss on the spindle 42, the boss 64 on the pin 52 adds important strength to the pin 52.
In operation, the button 41 is depressed and forces the pin 52 farther into the interior of the neck 46 such that the pin 52 engages with the outside surface of the spindle 42. The button 41 and pin 52 are vertically aligned with the same level as the cavity 45. Accordingly, when the pin 52 engages the outside surface of the spindle 42, if the shaft is rotated, the pin 52 will eventually find the cavity 45. Once the pin 52 aligns with the cavity 45, the pin 52 is inserted into the cavity 45. The insertion of the pin 52 into the cavity 45 prevents the further rotation of the spindle 42.
As one may appreciate, removing the head 14 including the backplate 16 from the spindle 42 could be very difficult if the spindle 42 was allowed to continuously rotate. This is because anytime the head 14 is spun to try and unscrew it from the spindle 42, the spindle 42 would spin in response instead of the head 14 and backplate 16 rotating against the threads. However, if button 41 is depressed and the pin 52 engages the cavity 45 of the spindle 42, the spindle 42 is now held in place and a torque on the head 14 and backplate 16 may be realized on the threaded interface. To this end, the head 14 may be easily and quickly separated from the spindle 42. Accordingly, the backplate 16 and/or applicator 17 can be removed from the rotary polisher 10 without the use of tools.
If a user is desirous of swapping out the back plate 16 to a different size, or for any other reason, the user can begin by placing the polisher 10 on its back. For safety reasons, it should be confirmed that the rotary polisher 10 is unplugged. The spindle release button 41, located beneath the backing plate, may be gripped with a thumb, placing the remaining figures around the metal housing. By using the thumb placed on the spindle lock button 41 to apply pressure, the spindle lock button may be depressed until it moves completely inward. Pressure should be maintained on the button 41 until the backing plate 16 spins freely. Holding the spindle release button 41 locks the spindle 42 in place so that the backing plate 16 can rotate independently of the spindle 42. With the hand not on the rotary polisher 10, rotate the backing plate 16 counterclockwise. Some resistance will be felt when turning the backing plate 16. A small amount of force is needed to get the backing plate 16 to spin. Continue to turn the backing plate 16 counter clockwise until it is fully dislodged from the spindle 42.
Although the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments and specific examples, it will readily be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many modifications and adaptations of the methods and devices described herein are possible without departure from the spirit and scope of the embodiments as claimed hereinafter. In addition, elements of any of the embodiments described may be combined with elements of other embodiments to create additional embodiments. Thus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of the claims below.
Claims
1. A rotary polisher comprising:
- a body including a neck;
- a spindle extending down from the body through the neck and coaxial with the neck wherein the spindle has a threaded end extending down below the neck and wherein the spindle has a cavity;
- a backplate coupled to the threaded end of the spindle; and
- a button coupled to a pin wherein the button and pin are aligned with the cavity and pass through an outside wall of the neck and wherein the pin is moveable in and out of the cavity.
2. The rotary polisher of claim 1 wherein the spindle includes a boss and the cavity is formed in the boss.
3. The rotary polisher of claim 1, wherein the body includes a lower handle, center portion and upper handle and the spindle is located on a bottom of the upper handle.
4. The rotary polisher of claim 1, wherein the backplate includes a releasable surface for connection to an applicator.
5. The rotary polisher of claim 1, wherein the button is round.
6. The rotary polisher of claim 1, further comprising a spring wherein the spring biases the pin away from the spindle.
7. The rotary polisher of claim 3, wherein the button is located on a front of the neck.
8. A rotary polisher comprising:
- a body including a bottom handle, an upper handle and a neck extending down from a bottom of the upper handle;
- a spindle extending down from the body through the neck and coaxial with a hole through the neck wherein the spindle has a threaded end extending down below the neck and wherein the spindle has a cavity;
- a backplate coupled to the threaded end of the spindle; and
- a button coupled to the neck and moveable in a perpendicular direction to a longitudinal axis of the spindle wherein translating the button towards the spindle causes a pin to be inserted into a cavity in the spindle.
9. The rotary polisher of claim 8, wherein the spindle includes a boss and the cavity is formed in the boss.
10. The rotary polisher of claim 8, wherein the backplate has a releasable surface for coupling to an applicator.
11. The rotary polisher of claim 8, wherein the button is round.
12. The rotary polisher of claim 8, further comprising a spring wherein the spring biases the pin away from the spindle.
13. The rotary polisher of claim 8, wherein the button is located on a front of the neck.
14. A rotary polisher comprising:
- a body including a neck;
- a spindle extending down from the body through the neck wherein the spindle has a threaded end extending down below the neck and wherein the spindle has a hole in the outside surface of the spindle perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the spindle;
- a backplate coupled to the threaded end of the spindle; and
- a button and a pin coupled to the neck and moveable in a perpendicular direction to the longitudinal axis of the spindle wherein the button and pin are aligned with the hole.
15. The rotary polisher of claim 14, wherein the spindle includes a boss and the cavity is formed in the boss.
16. The rotary polisher of claim 14, wherein the body includes a lower handle, center portion and upper handle and the spindle is located on a bottom of the upper handle.
17. The rotary polisher of claim 14, wherein the backplate includes a releasable surface for connection to an applicator.
18. The rotary polisher of claim 14, wherein the button is round.
19. The rotary polisher of claim 14, further comprising a spring wherein the spring biases the pin away from the spindle.
20. The rotary polisher of claim 16, wherein the button is located on a front of the neck.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 20, 2017
Publication Date: Jun 20, 2019
Inventor: Paul Schneider (Gardena, CA)
Application Number: 15/849,522