REMOVABLE GRINDING DISK ATTACHMENT SURFACE FOR GRINDING HEAD
A driver interface for a grinding head includes a center plate having top and bottom surfaces, an outer edge, a mounting channel in the top surface, and mounting pads on the bottom surface, each pad having a raised edge. An upper clamping plate is inserted within the mounting channel. A lower clamping plate defines disk locating apertures and fastens to the bottom surface of the center plate so that each of the disk locating apertures surround the raised edge of a mounting pad. The upper and lower clamping plates are removably fastened to the center plate. A disk attacher having an anchoring portion and a disk receiving portion bends around the outer edge of the center plate so that the upper clamping plate when fastened to the center plate clamps the anchoring portion between the upper clamping plate and the mounting channel, and so that the lower clamping plate when fastened to the center plate clamps the disk receiving portion to a mounting pad and within one of the disk locating apertures.
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This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application 63/212,644 that was filed on Jun. 19, 2021 and which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the InventionThe present invention relates generally to grinding heads for power grinding and polishing machines, and more specifically to a driver interface for a grinding head equipped with quick-connect grinding disks.
Description of Related ArtGrinding heads for power tools have been an object of innovation for many years. A particular application of grinding heads that is more closely concerned with the present invention are grinding heads used for finishing and polishing concrete floors. The grinding heads themselves tend to wear out after prolonged usage, and as a result, much of the innovation has focused on developing removable or replaceable grinding heads for use as a consumable product.
U.S. Patent Application Publications 2018/0333820 and 2020/0108482 of Stark et al. disclose grinding head configurations that represent some of the latest developments in the art. These include rotatable driver plates to which abrasive pads can be permanently attached, or rotatable driver plates to which one or more individual grinding disks can be removably attached. In the former configuration, the entire driver plate assembly must be replaced and discarded after prolonged wear, which is unnecessarily wasteful and which requires disassembly and reassembly of the grinding head. In the latter configuration, hook-and-loop fasteners are used for removable attachment of the grinding disks, so that only individual grinding disks need to be replaced and discarded after prolonged wear. However, after prolonged usage, the hook-and-loop fasteners themselves begin to tear and wear out, so that eventually the user will nevertheless need to suffer the expense of disassembly and replacement of the driver plate assembly.
There remains a need to further perfect the design of machinery for grinding and polishing floors to allow for easy, inexpensive replacement of the consumable abrasive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention meets the aforesaid objectives by composition of various embodiments of a grinding head assembly and driver interface, briefly described in this section in the following paragraphs, and described in more elaborate forms in the subsequent detailed description.
One embodiment of the invention provides a driver interface for a grinding head that includes a center plate having a top surface, a bottom surface, an outer edge, a mounting channel formed in the top surface, and one or more mounting pads formed on the bottom surface, each mounting pad having a raised edge. The driver interface further includes an upper clamping plate configured for insertion within the mounting channel, a lower clamping plate defining one or more disk locating apertures and configured for fastening to the bottom surface of the center plate so that each of the one or more disk locating apertures surrounds the raised edge of one of the mounting pads, a means for removably fastening the upper clamping plate and the lower clamping plate to the center plate, and a specialized disk attachment means or disk attacher. The disk attachment means has an anchoring portion and a disk receiving portion, and is bendable around the outer edge of the center plate so that the upper clamping plate when fastened to the center plate clamps the anchoring portion between the upper clamping plate and the mounting channel, and so that the lower clamping plate when fastened to the center plate clamps the disk receiving portion to one of the mounting pads and within one of the disk locating apertures.
Another embodiment of the invention provides a grinding head assembly having the following salient components: a center plate and a flexible grinding disk attachment means. The center plate has a top surface, a bottom surface, and an outer edge. The flexible grinding disk attachment means has an anchoring portion and a grinding disk receiving portion, configured so that the grinding disk attachment means wraps around the outer edge of the center plate, placing the anchoring portion on the top surface of the center plate and the grinding disk receiving portion on the bottom surface of the center plate.
Another embodiment of the invention provides driver for a grinding head. The driver includes a plate having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a center. The driver further includes means for attaching a rotating shaft to the center of the plate, means imbedded between the top surface and the bottom surface for removably attaching one or more abrasive surfaces to the bottom surface, and means attached to the bottom surface for transmitting rotational motion from the rotating shaft to the one or more removable abrasive surfaces.
Another embodiment of the invention provides a swiveling ball joint assembly for coupling one rotating component to another rotating component. The swiveling ball joint assembly includes a rigid housing having a socket and having a flange extending outwardly from the socket, wherein the flange defines a flange plane. The assembly also includes an elongated shaft that defines a rotational axis and has a ball end and a coupling end. The ball end is enclosed within the socket and the coupling end extends in a direction substantially normal to the flange plane. The assembly also includes a bearing concentrically aligned with the rotational axis and rotatably attached to the shaft between the ball end and the threaded end, and operable to allow the flange to rotate with respect to the bearing.
Another embodiment of the invention provides a removable grinding disk attachment surface for a grinding head having top and bottom surfaces. The removable grinding disk attachment surface includes a flexible patch formed from touch fastener material, wherein the patch has a touch fastening surface and a smooth surface opposite the touch fastening surface. The flexible patch has on the touch fastening surface a disk receiving area configured to receive a complementary touch fastening surface covering one side of the removable grinding disk. The flexible patch also defines one or more anchoring wings that extend outwardly from the disk receiving area. In addition, the flexible patch is bendable around an outer edge of the grinding head to allow at least one of the anchoring wings to lie flush against the top surface of the grinding head while allowing the disk receiving area and at least another one of the anchoring wings to lie flush against the bottom surface of the grinding head.
Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. Component parts shown in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, and may be exaggerated to better illustrate the important features of the invention. Dimensions disclosed or shown are exemplary only. In the drawings, like reference numerals may designate like parts throughout the different views, wherein:
The present invention provides a driver interface for a grinding head for use in a variety of applications for grinding or polishing planar surfaces, and is especially suited for installation on power-operated floor-finishing machines. These machines include walk-behind power trowels, ride-on power trowels, or dedicated rotary-operated floor polishing machines. The invention allows the abrasive surface components of the grinding head to be quickly and efficiently replaced, or changed out for an alternative abrasion grade, to minimize down time during operation. Various subassemblies of the driver interface are also described in detail, and may represent or embody additional independent inventions or separable components.
The driver 2 may be rotationally coupled to a spider arm by means of the swiveling ball joint assembly 3. The ball joint assembly 3 is made swivelable by attachment of the bearing 8 at the top end of a central shaft of the ball joint assembly 3, using the fasteners as shown. The bearing 8 is set into a bearing housing formed near the radial end of each spider arm, while the base of the ball joint assembly 3 is fixedly attached to an upper surface of the driver 2. This arrangement this allows the driver 2 to rotate with respect to the spider arm. Rotation of the driver 2 with respect to the spider arm may be arrested by an anti-rotation device, to be described in further detail in the context of
Driver 2 includes means for removably attaching various grinding or polishing components to the lower surface of the driver 2. In one embodiment, the means for removably attaching components includes one or more permanent magnets formed into the driver 2 or attached to the driver 2. The means for removably attaching components to driver 2 may be used for removable attachment of the driver interface 4, or of the polishing plate 5, or of one or more of the disk holders 6, to the lower surface of the driver 2.
Refer now to
In some embodiments, the center plate 43 may be formed form any of a number of non-metal dielectric materials. Materials suitable for this purpose include but are not limited to ABS, glass reinforced nylon, chemical-resistant polyamide, or other plastic suitable for injection molding.
In
Surface 44 may be specially cut from a sheet of touch fastening surface material into a form such as that depicted in
The surface 44 may also include means for positioning the surface 44 to the driver interface 4. In one embodiment, the positioning means is configured to position the surface 44 to the center plate 43. As shown in the
The elongated shaft 71 defines a rotational axis 77 through its longitudinal center. Shaft 71 has a ball end and a coupling end. The ball end mates with and is enclosed within the socket 79. The coupling end is opposite the ball end and extends away from the ball end in a direction substantially normal to the flange plane. In one embodiment, the coupling end of the shaft 71 has a length approximately equal to the height of the socket 79, measured in the direction of the axis 77. The coupling end of the shaft may thereby embody the “elongated” feature of the elongated shaft 71. Elongation of the coupling end of the shaft provides a means for receiving the bearing 8, which when assembled is placed against the shelf 72. The bearing 8 is thereby concentrically aligned with the rotational axis 77 and rotatably attached to the shaft 71 between the ball end and the coupling end, so that during operation the bearing 8 allows the flange or flanges 74 to rotate with respect to the bearing 8.
The coupling end of the shaft 71 may be configured with a means for coupling to a rotatable arm, such as an arm of the spider 1. The coupling means may comprise threads formed in the coupling end of the shaft 71, or may comprise one or more planar surfaces 78 or other forms of keyed surfaces configured for secure attachment to the rotatable arm of the spider.
The components of the ball joint assembly 3 are assembled and configured so that during operation, with the ball end of the shaft engaged within the socket 79, the coupling end of shaft 71 may be rotated about the axis 77 and impart rotational motion to the flange or flanges 74, while the ball end of the shaft 71 is able to rotate about any of two axes that are perpendicular to the axis 77. A protective boot 73, preferably made of flexible material such as a synthetic rubber, may extend from the shelf 72 to the socket 79 to prevent foreign material from contaminating and interfering with the ball and socket engagement.
To securely hold a grinding disk, the lower surface 85 is made flat so that a removable disk attachment surface may be placed and secured thereto, for example, using a glue or other adhesive. According to the invention, a removable disk attachment surface attached to the lower surface 85 is preferably made from the same touch fastening surface material used for the disk attachment surface 44. So configured, an operator can thereby attach the same grinding disk either to a disk holder 6 or to a mounting pad 50 bearing a disk attachment surface 44. During a grinding operation, when a grinding disk is attached to lower surface 85 of disk holder 6, frictional forces will act on the disk in directions parallel to the plane of the surface being ground. The ridges 83 help to resist the frictional forces and maintain the grinding disk within the disk holder 6. Flat ends 82 allow an operator to manually grasp portions of a disk that extend beyond the edges of the flat ends, to facilitate disconnection of the disk from the touch fastening material on lower surface 85. For example, a circular disk having a diameter greater than the width of the disk holder measured from one flat end to an opposite flat end will be graspable at the disk perimeter adjacent to a flat end 82.
The dog engagement means 81 may be any structure formed on the disk holder 6 which is configured to mechanically engage or grip complementary dogs formed on a driver 2, to transmit motion, parallel to a surface being ground, to the disk holder 6. In one embodiment, the dog engagement means 81 may be one or more holes defined through the lower surface 85 of disk holder 6. In another embodiment, a dog engagement means 81 may be a hole defined all the way through the disk holder 6 from the upper surface 84 to the lower surface 85.
The embodiment in
The means 89 for attaching the rotating shaft is shown in the figure by two concentric circles that represent fasteners, e.g. a bolt and hex nut assembled by complementary threading. Other types and arrangements of common fasteners may be used as the means 89. In exemplary embodiments described herethroughout, the fastening means 89 cooperates with the mounting holes 75 defined through flanges 74 of ball joint assembly 3, to attach the elongated shaft 71 to the center 88.
In one embodiment, the means 91 for removably attaching one or more abrasive surfaces to the bottom surface 86, may include a strong magnet. In one implementation, the magnet of means 91 may be partially or entirely imbedded between the top surface 90 and the bottom surface 86. Or, the magnet of means 91 may lie entirely below the top surface 90 and entirely above the bottom surface 86. In one example, the magnet of means 91 is disk-shaped, and is attached by friction fit within a retaining hole of means 91. The retaining hole of means 91 may be defined through the bottom surface 86 and have a depth formed at least partially through the driver 2. The driver 2 may define a plurality of such retaining holes for magnets of means 91, and these retaining holes may be formed in a configuration that is radially symmetrically arranged about the center 88 of the driver 2. Preferably, the depth of the retaining hole of means 91 is configured so one planar surface of the magnet of means 91 may be aligned with the bottom surface 86. The magnet may be made entirely or at least partially from iron, nickel, neodymium, or other permanent magnetic material.
Multiple magnets of means 91 may be arranged in regular or irregular patterns within the driver 2. As shown in
The means 100 for transmitting rotational motion from a rotating shaft to one or more removable abrasive surfaces is illustrated herein as a pattern of dogs 100 disposed in a pattern on the bottom surface 86 of the driver 2. The term “dog” is used herein in a mechanical sense similar to the definition of a chuck or other device that is used to attach an accessory to a rotating component or that allows the accessory to grip the rotating component. In one embodiment, each dog 100 may be a post having a rectangular, cylindrical, or other geometric shape that allows the post to engage cooperative, complementary holes such as dog holes 52 or dog engagement means 81. For example, each dog 81 may be formed generally as a cap screw having an engagement end and a threaded end, with the threaded end configured for threaded engagement directly within a dog mounting hole 101 or 102. In one embodiment, a driver 2 may include dog mounting holes 101 that have a different configuration than dog mounting holes 102, so that the driver 2 can accommodate different sized dogs 100. In another embodiment, the dog mounting holes 101 and 102 of driver 2 may have the same configuration, but have different purposes.
In one example, an operator may configure the bottom surface 86 of driver 2 specifically for use with a driver interface 4. To do so, the operator can mount multiple dogs 100 only to dog engagement holes 101, and mounts no dogs to holes 102. This provides a configuration of dogs 100 for engaging a complementary configuration of dog holes 52 formed in the upper clamping plate 42 of driver interface 4. In another example, the operator may configure the bottom surface 86 of driver 2 specifically for use with one or more disk holders 6 and without the use of driver interface 4. To do so, the operator can mount multiple dogs 100 only to dog engagement holes 102, and mounts no dogs to holes 101. This provides a configuration of multiple pairs of dogs 100 on the bottom surface 86, whereby each pair can engage a complementary pair of dog engagement means 81 on a disk holder 6.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in an illustrative style. Accordingly, the terminology employed throughout should be read in a non-limiting manner. Although minor modifications to the teachings herein will occur to those well versed in the art, it shall be understood that what is intended to be circumscribed within the scope of the patent warranted hereon are all such embodiments that reasonably fall within the scope of the advancement to the art hereby contributed, and that that scope shall not be restricted, except in light of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1-19. (canceled)
20. A removable grinding disk attachment surface for a grinding head having top and bottom surfaces, comprising:
- a flexible patch formed from touch fastener material, the patch having a touch fastening surface and a smooth surface opposite the touch fastening surface;
- the touch fastening surface defining a disk receiving area configured to receive a complementary touch fastening surface covering one side of a removable grinding disk; and
- one or more anchoring wings extending outwardly from the disk receiving area;
- wherein the patch is bendable around an outer edge of the grinding head to allow at least one of the anchoring wings to lie flush against the top surface of the grinding head while allowing the disk receiving area and at least one other of the anchoring wings to lie flush against the bottom surface of the grinding head.
21. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein one or more of the anchoring wings defines a retaining hole through the patch.
22. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 21, wherein one or more of the retaining holes is a generally rectangular hole.
23. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 21, wherein one or more of the retaining holes is a generally circular hole.
24. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 21, wherein the one or more retaining holes are configured to interface with complementary rails and pegs on a driver interface.
25. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 21, wherein each of the one or more retaining holes are defined substantially at a perimeter of a corresponding one of the one or more anchoring wings.
26. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the removable grinding disk attachment surface is configured to be installed to a center plate of a driver interface between an upper clamping plate and a lower clamping plate.
27. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the touch fastening surface comprises one complementary surface of a re-closable fastener.
28. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 27, wherein the one complementary surface comprises a hook surface or a loop surface of a hook-and-loop fastener.
29. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the anchoring wings extend substantially radially symmetrically about the disk receiving portion of the surface.
30. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the removable grinding disk attachment surface is bilaterally symmetrical.
31. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the smooth surface of at least one of the anchoring wings comprises an adhesive.
32. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the disk receiving area defines a circular area larger than a corresponding grinding disk.
33. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the removable grinding disk attachment surface is sufficiently thin and flexible to bend around the grinding head without loss of integrity.
34. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the removable grinding disk attachment surface is configured for installation on a driver interface.
35. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the disk receiving portion is configured to receive at least one grinding disk.
36. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the removable grinding disk attachment surface comprises a general arrowhead shape with a flat nose.
37. The removable grinding disk attachment surface of claim 20, wherein the one or more anchoring wings further comprises at least one pair of symmetrical anchoring wings.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 3, 2023
Publication Date: Nov 23, 2023
Applicant: Multiquip, Inc. (Cypress, CA)
Inventor: Jordan CARMEAN (Boise, ID)
Application Number: 18/230,149