EP2147744B1 - Compressed-air polishing device equipped with cooling means - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus (1) has air transporting units for transporting the air between an air exhausting unit and a header (3) and in the form of a flexible pipe (11) connecting the exhausting unit to periphery of a cylindrical skirt (4) in a manner to use the exhaust air to cool the head and an outer surface to be polished. The skirt has concentric internal and external walls, where the outer wall has an opening (20) for transportation of the air from the pipe in a space formed between the walls. The internal wall has a set of holes to radially distribute the air to an interior of the skirt.

Description

The technical field of the invention relates to polishing or polishing apparatus, in particular used for surfaces, on which a paint film has been deposited. These devices are particularly suited to the automotive industry, during the polishing phase involved after paint deposition operations. Generally, the polishing operation generates a series of local heating, located on both the polisher and the surface to be polished, causing degradation of the polishing foam and the surface condition of the piece to be polished. More specifically, the invention therefore relates to a polisher equipped with a cooling system.

For a better understanding of the description, the terms "polishing apparatus" and "polisher" are equivalent.

The polishers exist and have already been the subject of patents. One can, for example, quote the patent EP0691181B1 , which refers to a pneumatic polisher having an air cooling system. The compressed air arrives through a connection zone, then the flow is divided in two: a first port is used to feed the air motor and a second port allows to bring a flow of air to the center of the polishing disc. This type of arrangement makes it possible to cool the tool and the workpiece.

The polishing apparatus according to the invention are also provided with a cooling system for cooling the median of polishing as well as the surface to be polished, said system consisting in puncturing air at the exhaust of said apparatuses, and reinject it at the head of the polisher including the median filtering. This cooling system is based on an existing energy source, resulting in no additional cost related to the implementation of a specific engine, dedicated to this function. In addition, this system does not generate additional space, related to the development of a particular cooling circuit, since a simple air deflection tubing is sufficient.

The median polishing represents the material located at the end of the polisher, which will directly ensure the polishing function against the surface to be treated.

The present invention is defined in claim 1. It relates to a manual polishing apparatus, having a handle and a head, said handle comprising an air supply connector, an air exhaust member , a motor, and a trigger of said motor, said head comprising a skirt and a plate supporting a median polishing. The main characteristic of a polishing apparatus according to the invention is that it comprises means for conveying air between the exhaust member and the head, so as to use the exhaust air for cooling said head and the outer surface to be polished. In other words, the polishing apparatus according to the invention is provided with a cooling system, the main energy source of which consists of the exhaust air of this apparatus. The principle of the invention thus consists in making active a source of fluid, which was intended to be lost. The skirt is cylindrical and has two concentric walls, the outer wall having an opening for conveying air from the hose into the space between the two walls, the inner wall having a plurality of holes, to radially diffuse the air inside the skirt.

Advantageously, the air conveying means is external to the apparatus. This configuration simplifies the manufacture of said apparatus, because it does not require retouching the geometry and arrangement of the constituent parts of said apparatus, to provide an additional circuit for conveying the air inside thereof.

Advantageously, the air conveying means is a flexible hose connecting the exhaust member to the periphery of the skirt.

Preferably, the holes of the inner wall are aligned with each other, and are equitably distributed around a circle. Such a configuration allows a homogeneous distribution of the arrival of air in the skirt.

Advantageously, the two walls are interconnected at their free end by a perforated annular wall.

Preferably, the annular wall comprises a plurality of holes, equitably distributed over its length. In this way, the holes of this annular wall allow an air outlet in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the skirt.

Preferably, the plate is in the form of a solid disk whose axis of rotation coincides with the axis of rotation of the skirt, the plate being traversed, along its length, by a plurality of parallel channels. between them, and whose longitudinal axes are parallel to the axis of rotation of the skirt and the plate. In this way, the air deflected by the hose, first enters the skirt and then passes through the tray to cool it.

Advantageously, the median polishing is in the form of a cylinder traversed, along its length, by a plurality of channels, said median polishing being fixed on the plate so that the channels of the plate and those of said median, be parallel to each other and in continuity with one another. The air, which has thus crossed the plateau, will also cross the median polishing to, in turn, cool. The air coming from this median, will project against the surface to be polished, to cool it.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the plate is traversed by six channels.

Preferably, the median is a luster foam. The glossing foam is particularly suitable for the treatment of surfaces covered by a paint film.

Advantageously, the handle and the head are perpendicular to each other. This gun shape is ergonomic, because it allows better handling of the device and therefore a better control of the buffing action.

Preferably, the trigger is a trigger.

Compared with existing polishers, the polishing apparatus according to the invention have the advantage of having an additional function, which is that of the cooling of its head and the surface to be polished, while remaining of constant bulk. In addition, they have the advantage of being easily designed because they do not present no major structural difference with those already existing, if not the addition of a flexible tubing, commonly used for other functions.

• La figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un appareil de lustrage selon l'invention.
• La figure 2 est une vue en coupe de la tête d'un appareil de lustrage selon l'invention.

The following is a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of a polishing apparatus according to the invention, with reference to the Figures 1 to 2 .

• The figure 1 is a perspective view of a polishing apparatus according to the invention.
• The figure 2 is a sectional view of the head of a polishing apparatus according to the invention.

Referring to the figure 1 , a polishing apparatus 1 according to the invention comprises a handle 2 extended by a head 3, these two elements being arranged at 90 ° to each other. On the handle 2, there is the compressed air connection, the exhaust air located at the free end of said handle 2, and a trigger, in the form of a trigger, a motor housed in the middle of 2. The handle generally has an elongated cylindrical shape, with small surface reliefs, so as to facilitate the gripping of the polisher 1. The head 3 comprises, in particular, a cylindrical skirt 4 provided with a double wall, a plate 5 and a median 6 filter consisting of a filtering foam.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 the skirt 4 therefore has a flat bottom 7, an inner wall 8 and a concentric outer wall 9. The inner wall 8 has a plurality of holes 10, aligned with each other, and equitably distributed around the periphery of this inner wall 8. The outer wall 9 has an opening 20 in the form of a rigid end piece, and intended to receive a flexible hose 11, from the air exhaust, located on the handle 2. The inner 8 and outer 9 walls originate on the flat bottom 7 of the skirt 4, and have the same length, this length representing the dimension of said skirt 4 taken along its axis of rotation. These two walls 8,9 meet at their free end, through an annular wall 12, having a plurality of holes 13 equitably distributed over its length. In this way, the air coming from the exhaust invades the free space 14 between the two walls 8, 9 and escapes, on the one hand, radially through the holes 10 of the inner wall 8, and, d other, longitudinally through the holes 13 of the annular wall 12 connecting the two concentric walls 8,9 of the skirt 4. The plate 5 is in the form of a chamfered cylindrical disc. In other words, this plate 5 has two concentric circular surfaces 15, 16, of different diameters, and whose circumferences are interconnected linearly, in a sectional view. The plate 5, which has an axis of rotation coinciding with that of the skirt 4, is pierced with six longitudinal channels 17, parallel to said axis of rotation, these six channels 17 being equitably distributed around a circle. The filtering foam 6, which is supported by the plate 5, is cylindrical, and has a diameter substantially equal to that of the largest circular surface 16 of the plate 5. This filtering foam 6, which has an axis of rotation coincident with that of the skirt 4 and the plate 5, is pierced with six longitudinal channels 18, parallel to said axis of rotation, these six channels 18 being equitably distributed around a circle. The foam 6 is implanted on the plate 5, so that the channels 18 of said foam 6 are in the extension of the channels 17 of said plate 5. The plate 5 is positioned on the head 6 of the polisher 1, so as to emerge from the skirt 4.

Referring to the figure 1 , the polisher 1 comprises a flexible pipe 11, conventional, connecting the air exhaust located on the handle 2, the opening 20 formed in the outer wall 9 of the skirt 4. This pipe 11, which one of ends is inserted into the opening 20 in the form of a rigid end piece, is intended to convey the exhaust air of the polisher 1, to the skirt 4, in order to cool the filtering foam 6, as well as the surface of the object to be polished.

The mode of operation of a polishing apparatus 1 according to the invention is as follows. The operator seizes the polisher 1 by the handle 2, and approaches the head 3 of said polisher 1, the surface to be treated. It actuates the trigger to start the device 1. The plate 5 and the filtering foam 6 begin to rotate in contact with the surface to be polished, while the exhaust air is punctured by the hose 11 to The air is then blown inside the skirt 4, via the holes 10 of its inner wall 8, and towards the surface to be treated, via the holes 13 of the annular wall 12. is also blown inside the plate 5 and the filtering foam 6, via the longitudinal channels 17,18 which pass through them. In this way, the surface to be polished is cooled, as well as the filtering foam 6 and the plate 5 which supports it, this cooling being able to result in a temperature drop of the order of 20 ° C. on these various elements.

Claims (11)

1. Manual polishing device (1) equipped with a handle (2) and a head (3), said handle (2) comprising an air supply connection, an air exhaust member, a motor, and a tripping device for said motor, said head (3) comprising a skirt (4) and a plate (5) supporting a polishing medium (6), said device comprising a means (11) for feeding air between the exhaust member and the head (3) in the form of a flexible tube (11) connecting the exhaust member to the periphery of the skirt (4) in such a way that the exhaust air is used to cool said head (3) as well as the external surface to be polished, characterised in that the skirt (4) is cylindrical and has two concentric walls (8, 9), the outer wall (9) comprising an opening (20) which makes it possible to feed the air coming from the flexible tube (11) into the space (14) located between the two walls (8, 9), and in that the inner wall (8) has a plurality of holes (10) for distributing the air radially inside the skirt (4).
2. Polishing device according to claim 1, characterised in that the air feed means (11) is outside the device.
3. Polishing device according to claim 1, characterised in that the holes (10) in the inner wall (8) are aligned with one another and are distributed uniformly over a circle.
4. Polishing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the two walls (8, 9) are joined together at their free end by a perforated annular wall (12).
5. Polishing device according to claim 4, characterised in that the annular wall (12) comprises a plurality of holes (13) which are distributed uniformly over the length thereof.
6. Polishing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the plate (5) is in the form of a solid disc, of which the axis of rotation coincides with the axis of rotation of the skirt (4), and in that the plate (5) is penetrated, along its length, by a plurality of mutually parallel ducts (17), of which the longitudinal axes are parallel to the axis of rotation of the skirt (4) and of the plate (5).
7. Polishing device according to claim 6, characterised in that the polishing medium (6) is in the form of a cylinder which is penetrated, along its length, by a plurality of ducts (18), said polishing medium (6) being fixed to the plate (5) in such a way that the ducts (17) in the plate and those (18) in said medium (6) are mutually parallel and continuous with one another.
8. Polishing device according to either claim 6 or claim 7, characterised in that the plate (5) is penetrated by six ducts.
9. Polishing device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the medium is a foamed polishing material (6).
10. Polishing device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the handle (2) and the head (3) are perpendicular to one another.
11. Polishing device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the tripping device is a trigger.

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