AU722596B3

AU722596B3 - A handle for an orbital sander

Info

Publication number: AU722596B3
Application number: AU37930/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Allan John Dotta
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-06-06
Filing date: 2000-06-06
Publication date: 2000-08-10
Anticipated expiration: 2001-08-10
Also published as: AU735501B2; AU5192800A

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT Name of Applicaht: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Allan John DOTTA As above CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 239 George Street, Brisbane, QId. 4000, Australia.

Invention Title: A HANDLE FOR AN ORBITAL SANDER The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me: A HANDLE FOR AN ORBITAL SANDER This invention relates to a handle which can be attached in a particular manner to an orbital sander to allow the sander to be used on walls, ceilings, and the like.

The invention will be described with use of the sander and the handle in the field of plastering, but it should be appreciated that no limitation is meant thereby.

In the plastering profession, wall boards, ceiling boards, cornices, and the like are joined in an invisible manner by the use of plaster.

The plaster is applied in several coats and must be sanded down between coats. Sanding is extremely time consuming but great care must be taken in order to ensure a smooth and acceptable finish. Ceilings and ceiling corners need to be sanded as well as walls and this requires the use of ladders, scaffolding or even stilts, all of which are time consuming, clumsy and present an element of danger. Orbital sanders are conventionally used to sand down between coats. For ceilings, the sanders must be held in an upside-down orientation for quite a lengthy time. Similarly, when sanding wall joins, the sander must be held- in a vertical position and must often be held above the person's head.

Attempts have been made to hold the orbital sander in some form of cage or housing. The cage or housing can then be attached to an extension pole. However, the cage or housing tends to be quite heavy and is attached at various points to the sander. Often, holes need to be drilled through the sander body or even sander head which can nullify any warranty to the sander and can also present an electrical shock risk.

The present invention is directed to a handle of special design which can be attached to an orbital sander in a particular manner and can function to at least partially reduce the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the public with a useful or commercial choice.

In one form, the invention resides in a handle for an orbital sander of the type having a dust extractor containing an exhaust outlet, the handle having: a first part in the form of an elongate member having a through passageway with two open ends, one end being attachable to the exhaust outlet to attach the handle to the sander and to allow dust to pass through the first passageway member, the other end being attachable to a dust discharge hose, a second part which is extendable over the top of the sander, and attachment means to allow the handle to be attached to a pole. Suitably, the first part is an elongate tubular member.

The handle may include guide means extending from a portion of the handle spaced from the sander, the guide means being adapted to contact the surface to be sanded and functioning to hold the handle relative to the surface such that, when attached to the sander, the sander is in working alignment with the surface.

In a more particular form, the handle as described above, is attached to the sander only about the exhaust outlet.

In another form, the invention resides in a handle for an orbital sander, the handle being attachable to the sander and having guide means adapted for engagement with the surface to be worked.

The handle has a first part which can comprise a hollow cylindrical tube which can be formed of metal or plastic. The tube is typically straight and has two opposed open ends. One end is attached to the exhaust outlet in such a manner that the dust can pass through the tubular member.

If the exhaust outlet is provided with a collar, the tubular member can be fitted about the collar. If necessary, a coupling or other form of attachment means may be required to allow the tubular member to be attached in such a manner that the exhaust dust passes through the tubular member. The length of the tubular member can vary to suit but a typical length will be between 20-40cm.

The tubular member can have various diameters, or various cross-sections if the tubular member is not circular; it is typical for the diameter to be between 10-30mm to provide a good flow through of dust. The other end of the tubular member can be attached to a dust discharge hose. For instance, this can be in the form of a vacuum hose to suck the dust through the tubular member to a dust bag. The tubular member need not be attached to a vacuum hose in which case the dust will simply pass out the other open end, but if the tubular member is of sufficient length, this will be away from the person's face.

The handle has a second part. The second part may also comprise a tubular member and may be of a length and diameter similar to that above. The second part has a portion which extends over the top of the sander. It is preferred that the second part does not extend past the top of the sander as if it does so, it may damage or scratch an adjacent wall.

An attachment means is provided to allow the handle to be attached to a pole. This allows a person to sand the ceiling while standing on the ground. The attachment means may be in the form of an attachment plate, bracket, collar, and the like. It is preferred that the attachment means is on the second part. It is further preferred that the attachment means is on the second part and generally over the top of the sander, as this allows an attached pole to properly hold the weight of the handle and the sander.

The handle may have a guide means. The guide means extends from a portion of the handle space from the sander and typically is attached to or extends from a rear portion of the first part. The guide means functions to hold the handle at a position such that the sander face is flat on the wall of ceiling to be worked. The guide means can be in the form of one or more slide members which can slide over the surface to be sanded. The slide members may be in the form of rearwardly extending fingers. Other forms of guide means are envisaged. For instance, the guide means comprise one or more rollers which may be castor rollers to allow the rollers to swivel. Alternatively, the guide means may be in the form of a simple knob which may be formed of or coated with a low friction material such as Teflon to facilitate sliding over the surface to be sanded. The guide means may be removable from the handle if not required.

It is preferred that a safety guard is provided to protect the sanding pad. The safety guard may comprise a collar which can be fitted about the sander and which functions to prevent the sander pad from striking an adjacent wall.

To improve the versatility of the handle, it is preferred that the guard is attachable to the exhaust outlet and/or the first part of the handle as this eliminates the need to drill holes into any part of the orbital sander itself in which to mount the safety guard.

An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings in which Figure 1 is a side view of a handle attached to an orbital sander, the sander being commercially available.

Figure 2 is a isometric view of the various parts of the handle and illustrating a safety guard.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a safety guard according to an embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figure 1, there is illustrated a handle which is attached to an orbital sander. The orbital sander is available commercially in the marketplace and comprises a rear handle 11, an on-off trigger 12, a trigger lock button 13, a main. plastic body 14 which houses the sander motor, a lower rotating sanding face 15 on which a sanding pad 16 is attached. In the embodiment, sander 10 is fitted with a known dust extracting unit 17 which extracts dust and passes it through an exhaust outlet 18.

Attached to sander 10 is the handle which forms part of the invention. The handle has a first part which is in the form of a straight cylindrical hollow tube 19. Tube 19 has two open ends 20, 21. In the embodiment, tube 19 has a diameter such that the tube can be press fitted over outlet 18. If required, a clamp can be attached to firmly hold tube 19 to the outlet. Of course, other types of attachments can be used such as brackets and the like depending on the shape of the exhaust outlet 18. Tube 19 has a diameter of 20mm and a length of about 25cm. This can of course vary to suit. Rear end 21 of tube 19 is open and an exhaust hose such as a vacuum hose 22 can be clamped or otherwise attached to the rear end 21 to exhaust any dust passing from the sander.

The handle contains a second part which is in the form of an elongate shaped tube 23. Tube 23 has two end being a rear end 24 and a front end 25. Rear end 24 is rigidly attached to the rear portion of tube 19 to hold the two parts firmly with respect to each other. Tube 23 is shaped such that it overlies the top of body 14 but is not attached to the body by any fasteners. If desired, tube 23 can be shaped to touch or abut against the top of the sander. The length of tube 23 is such that forward end 25 is spaced inwardly with respect to a leading edge of the sander such that forward end will not strike an adjacent wall and cause damage to it.

An attachment means is provided to allow the handle to be attached to a pole. In the embodiment, the attachment means is in the form of a plate 26 which extends transversely over an upper part of tube 19. This is better illustrated with respect to Figure 2. Plate 26 is attached to a sleeve or collar 27. The sleeve or collar being slidable over the end of tube 23.

Collar 27 can be clamped to tube 23 via fasteners in the form of wing nuts 28.

In Figure 2, a number of fastening apertures 29 are provided to provide adjustability to the position of collar 27 and therefore plate 26. Plate 26 has two spaced apart outwardly extending threaded bolts 30. The bolts pass through corresponding openings 31 in a plate 32, the plate being pivotally attached to an extension pole or handle 33. In this manner, the extension pole 33 can be readily attached to the handle which forms part of the present invention. The pole 33 and its pivoting plate 32 is well-known in the marketplace and these poles are available commercially.

The handle has a guide means. The guide means in the embodiment is in the form of a pair of trailing flat fingers 34. Fingers 34 are attached to tube 19 at a position distant from sander 10. Fingers 34 are sized and shaped such that they present a rearmost flat portion 35 which is adapted to abut against and slide against a wall to be sanded. Portion 35 is spaced from tube 19 by a distance which is substantially the same as the distance between pad 16 and tube 19. Thus, when the handle is attached to the sander, the handle can be pressed against the wall or ceiling such that portions 35 ride along the wall of ceiling which ensures that pad 16 is also in a working alignment and will not gouge into the surface to be worked.

A safety guard 40 is fitted about sander 10 and functions to prevent pad 16 from striking an adjacent wall which can damage the pad but can also cause damage to the wall. Guard 40 comprises a buffer or barrier which, when viewed in plan, extends proud of the edges of the pad in a forward area to minimise or prevent the pad from striking an adjacent wall. In the embodiment, guard 40 is attached to exhaust outlet 18 which does away with any need for drilling holes into the sander itself.

Referring to Figure 2, guard 40 is in the form of a shaped strap which has a rear annular collar 41 to allow it to fit to exhaust outlet 18 and/or over or against end 20 of tube 19. A forward portion of guard 40 has an adjustment and locking mechanism which comprises a nut and bolt 43 which can be loosened or tightened to loosen or tighten the guard about the lower part of sander In Figure 3, there is better illustrated how the forward part 45 of the guard extends in front of the outer edge 46 of sanding pad 16.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims

1. A handle for an orbital sander of the type having a dust extractor containing an exhaust outlet, the handle having: a first part in the form of an elongate member having a through passageway with two open ends, one end being attachable to the exhaust outlet to attach the handle to the sander and to allow dust to pass through the first passageway member, the other end being attachable to a dust discharge hose, a second part which is extendable over the top of the sander, and attachment means to allow the handle to be attached to a pole.

2. The handle of claim 1, wherein the handle is attached to the sander only about the exhaust outlet.

3. The handle of claim 1 or claim 2, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings. DATED this 5' day of June 2000 Allan John DOTTA By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.