EP2340915A2

EP2340915A2 - Polishing pad having a tricot mesh fabric as a base

Info

Publication number: EP2340915A2
Application number: EP09819329A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Myung Mook Kim
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-10-10
Filing date: 2009-09-10
Publication date: 2011-07-06

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a polishing pad having a substrate woven in a network form, capable of adsorbing dust generated during polishing of an object into meshes formed in the substrate to discharge the adsorbed dust to an external dust suction system or receive the dust in the meshes in a pocket form, in turn improving polishing efficiency of the polishing pad. In addition, polishing yarns are solidly adhered to a face part with relatively wider area on one side of the substrate so as to enhance durability of the pad. The polishing pad according to an exemplary embodiment includes a tricot mesh fabric 10 having a flat face part 12 formed by densely weaving fiber yarns in a network form, as well as meshes 14 formed between such flat face parts 12, a polishing yarn layer 20 having polishing yarns adhered to the flat face part on one side of the tricot mesh fabric 10 by an adhesive, and a top layer 30 consisting of a Velcro fabric attached to the other side of the tricot mesh fabric 10, so as to detachably combine the polishing pad with a hook type male Velcro component formed on a surface of a polishing pad holder mounted on a power tool (such as a sander).

Description

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a polishing pad, more particularly, to a polishing pad having a tricot mesh fabric as a base material (or substrate), wherein the tricot mesh fabric consists of fiber yarns densely woven in a network form to form a flat face part and meshes formed between such flat face parts, and polishing yarns adhered to the flat face part on either or both sides of the tricot mesh fabric.

[Background Art]

In manufacture of wood furniture or other wood products, a rough surface of the furniture or wood product is generally subjected to polishing and painting. For the polishing process, the rough surface is usually treated using sandpaper.
The sandpaper is used for surface polishing not only wood but also stone, synthetic resin, metal materials, etc. For brevity, the following description will be given of wood polishing.
Typical sandpaper consists of a paper or fabric having abrasive sand adhered to a surface thereof and is fixed into a vibration type power sander for use. Alternatively, after attaching a loop type female Velcro fabric to a rear side of a paper or fabric having abrasive sand adhered to a surface thereof, the prepared paper or fabric is used by detachably combining the female Velcro component of the paper or fabric with a male Velcro component placed on a polishing pad holder of an orbital sander. However, when such existing sandpaper (that is, polishing pad) is used to polish a surface of wood furniture, fine dust is generated and floats in air or accumulates on a surface of an object to be processed, in turn deteriorating workplace environment and adversely affecting worker health, especially, the respiratory system and eyes of the worker. Consequently, some problems including decreased workability and tendency of workers to avoid polishing work have been encountered.
In recent years, an apparatus for vacuum inhalation and removal of dust generated during polishing in order to prevent dispersion of the dust in air, wherein a polishing pad holder of a sander has suction holes perforated to adsorb dust and the polishing pad has holes corresponding to the suction holes of the holder, has been developed and used. Where using a polishing pad made of paper or fabric material having perforated holes, the polishing pad may become torn due to punching work and a punched part around the hole may often cause an undesirable finish, that is, scratches on a surface of an object to be polished. Furthermore, the dust becomes trapped between apertures of polishing yarns adhered to the surface of the polishing pad, thus drastically deteriorating polishing performance of the polishing pad. As a result, polishing efficiency may be considerably decreased.
Korean Utility Model Reg. No. 436,999 describes a polishing pad developed by the present inventors in order to solve such problems described above, wherein polishing yarns are adhered to one side of a net body having fiber yarns woven in a network form while a female Velcro component is integrated with the other side of the net body.
The foregoing Utility Model Reg. No. 436,999 may attain excellent effects of increasing polishing efficiency and preventing dust scattering by suctioning the dust generated during polishing into meshes of the net body. However, since the polishing yarn is adhered to a surface of a fine fiber thread in the net body, the polishing yarn is readily detached by resistance generated during polishing, thus deteriorating durability of the polishing pad. In addition, where the proposed polishing pad is employed in alternative uses other than dust inhalation, the dust generated during polishing may become trapped in fine meshes with a very small size, thus causing difficulties in shaking the dust off as well as deterioration of polishing performance.

[Technical Problem]

The present invention is directed to solving conventional problems described above and an object of the present invention is to provide a polishing pad with improved texture, characterized in that the polishing pad may replace any general polishing pad or a belt type polishing pad as well as a dust inhalation system, dust generated during polishing may be rapidly removed from a polishing face of the polishing pad, in turn enhancing polishing efficiency, and the polishing pad may be repeatedly used for a long time.

[Technical Solution]

In order to accomplish the above purpose, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is to provide a polishing pad comprising: a tricot mesh fabric having a flat face part formed by densely weaving fiber yarns in a network form, as well as meshes formed between such flat face parts; a polishing yarn layer having polishing yarns adhered to the flat face part on either side of the tricot mesh fabric by an adhesive; and a Velcro fabric attached to the other side of the tricot mesh fabric, so as to detachably combine the polishing pad with a hook type male Velcro component placed on a surface of a polishing pad holder mounted on a power tool (such as a sander).
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, after forming an epoxy coating layer on the flat face part at one side of the tricot mesh fabric to improve adhesion to the polishing yarn, the polishing yarn is adhered thereto. Also, a top coating layer comprising phenol resin and an anti-fouling coating layer comprising calcium stearate are formed on a surface of the polishing yarn layer.
Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention is to provide a double-sided polishing pad, comprising: a tricot mesh fabric having a flat face part formed by densely weaving fiber yarns in a network form, as well as meshes formed between such flat face parts; and a polishing yarn layer having polishing yarns adhered to the flat face parts on both sides of the tricot mesh fabric by an adhesive.

[Advantageous Effects]

A polishing pad of the present invention has polishing yarns adhered to a flat and relatively wide face part of a tricot mesh fabric as a substrate so as to have excellent adhesion, in turn exhibiting improved durability sufficient to minimize detachment of the polishing yarns. Such flat face part may occupy at least 50% of a total area of the polishing pad, thus increasing polishing performance. Dust generated during polishing is collected into an external dust suction system through meshes formed in the tricot mesh fabric wherein the mesh has relatively large depth and area, or carried in pocket type meshes. Consequently, the inventive polishing pad has advantages in that the dust does not remain on a polishing face of the polishing pad so as to improve polishing performance and the dust is easily removed from the meshes after polishing, thereby enabling repetitive use of the polishing pad.

[Description of the Drawings]

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view and a partially enlarged view showing a polishing pad according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view showing main components of the polishing pad according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a micrograph showing a tricot mesh fabric used as a substrate of a polishing pad according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a laminate structure of the polishing pad according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a laminate structure of the polishing pad according to anther exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 6 is a micrograph showing a real scale polishing pad according to the present invention.

[Best Mode]

Details of the above object and other features of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description.
FIGS. 1 to 4 are views or full size photographs illustrating a polishing pad according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The inventive polishing pad 1 comprises: a tricot mesh fabric 10 having a flat face part 12 formed by densely weaving fiber yarns in a network form, as well as meshes 14 formed between such flat face parts 12; a polishing yarn layer 20 having polishing yarns adhered to the flat face part on one side of the tricot mesh fabric 10 by an adhesive; and a top layer 30 consisting of a Velcro fabric attached to the other side of the tricot mesh fabric 10.
The top layer 30 made of a typical Velcro fabric (in general, a loop type female Velcro component) in the inventive polishing pad 1 is detachably combined with a hook type male Velcro component formed on a surface of a polishing pad holder fixed to a power tool (not shown).
However, the top layer used in the present invention is not particularly restricted to such Velcro fabrics. The polishing pad of the present invention be fabricated by attaching a fabric or synthetic resin sheet with favorable durability or an attachable/non-attachable paper to an upper side of a substrate (that is, a tricot mesh fabric) having polishing yarns adhered thereto and cutting the laminate into a long band shape, so as to form a belt type polishing pad. Alternatively, the inventive polishing pad may be fabricated into a sandpaper type polishing pad. It is obviously understood that such modifications fall within the scope of the present invention described below.
The tricot mesh fabric 10 according to preferred embodiments of the present invention is a well known fabric used in manufacturing internal linings of sports wear requiring desired ventilation, wherein the fabric has a specific texture configured of a flat face part 12 with relatively larger width (ranging from 1 to 3mm) formed by densely weaving natural or synthetic fiber yarns, as well as independent and elliptical meshes 14 with relatively large diameter (ranging from 1 to 3mm) formed between such flat face parts 12, as shown in the micrograph of FIG. 3.
The flat face part 12 may be at least 50% of a total area of the polishing pad. Accordingly, a real polishing area of a polishing yarn layer attached to the flat face part 12 may occupy at least 50% of the total area of the polishing pad, thereby enhancing polishing performance of the polishing pad.
Woven texture of the tricot mesh fabric according to the present invention is not particularly restricted to those shown in accompanying drawings, instead being woven in various forms and having meshes 14 with different sizes.
The tricot mesh fabric 10 according to the foregoing embodiments of the present invention has a fabric thickness of about 0.3 to 0.5mm, therefore, a depth of each mesh 14 may range from at least 0.3 to 0.5mm. The polishing yarn layer 20 is formed by adhering polishing yarns to the flat face part 12 on one side of the tricot mesh fabric 10, followed by formation of a top coating layer above the polishing yarn layer 20. Accordingly, the depth of the mesh 14 may be deeper than a thickness of those layers, in turn increasing a volume of the mesh 14. Consequently, such meshes 14 may sufficiently carry or receive dust generated during polishing.
A first benefit of the present invention is that the polishing yarns are attached to the entirety of the flat face part 12 of the tricot mesh fabric 10, in turn being stably combined with the flat face part 12 having relatively wider area. Compared to a conventional polishing pad having a typical net body as a substrate wherein polishing yarns are adhered to outer sides of fine fiber threads and entails a problem in that such combination of polishing yarns with fine fiber threads is easily collapsed by friction applied to the polishing yarns, the polishing yarns of the inventive polishing pad form a solid polishing yarn layer and are not readily detached during polishing, thereby favorably improving durability of the polishing pad.
Another benefit of the present invention is that a region of the polishing pad, to which polishing yarns are adhered, occupies at least 50% of a total area of the polishing pad so as to improve polishing performance of the polishing pad, in turn considerably reducing a time required for polishing.
An additional benefit of the present invention is that a size of each mesh 14 is relatively large so that a volume of the mesh is sufficiently increased, thereby allowing easy discharge of dust through the mesh to an external dust suction system during polishing, and shaking off the dust when using the inventive pad as a general polishing pad without suction behavior, compared to a net body described in Korean Utility Model Reg. No. 436,999 which has a dense gap between fiber yarns of the net body, causing decrease in mesh size and volume as well as difficulties in removing dust when the dust enters into the gap, thus considerably deteriorating polishing performance and preventing repeated use thereof.
Accordingly, the present invention has various advantages such as improved polishing performance, minimum dust scattering during polishing and repeated use of a polishing pad.
A process for attachment of polishing yarns used in the present invention is substantially the same as described in Korean Utility Model Reg. No. 436,999 by the present applicant, wherein an adhesive may be applied to combine the polishing yarns with a substrate after forming an epoxy coating layer on the flat face part 12 of the tricot mesh fabric 10 as the substrate in order to improve adhesion. Furthermore, a top coating layer comprising phenol resin is formed above the polishing yarns and an anti-fouling coating layer comprising calcium stearate is preferably formed above the top coating layer.
FIG. 5 illustrates a double-sided polishing pad according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, which comprises a tricot mesh fabric 10 having a flat face part 12 formed by densely weaving fiber yarns in a network form, as well as meshes 14 formed between such flat face parts 12; and a polishing yarn layer 20 having polishing yarns adhered to the flat face parts on top and bottom sides of the tricot mesh fabric 10 by an adhesive.
The polishing yarn layer in the foregoing embodiment is formed by the same procedures as described in the above first embodiment and, therefore, a detailed description thereof would be omitted for brevity.
For the double-sided polishing pad fabricated according to the above embodiment, both the top and bottom sides of the tricot mesh fabric 10 on which the polishing yarn layers 20 are formed can be used, thus enabling maximum polishing work with minimum cost and effort. Therefore, such double-sided polishing pad may be suitably used for manual tasks or a clip type polishing tool equipped with a polishing pad.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged micrograph showing a real scale polishing pad having polishing yarns adhered to a flat face part 12 except for meshes 14 of a tricot mesh fabric. From the photograph, it can be seen that a surface of a polishing yarn layer 20 is rough. Surface roughness of the polishing yarn layer 20 may be desirably adjusted by selecting a particle size of the polishing yarn.

Claims

A polishing pad based on a tricot mesh fabric as a substrate, comprising:
the tricot mesh fabric 10 having a flat face part 12 formed by densely weaving fiber yarns in a network form, as well as meshes 14 formed between such flat face parts 12;

a polishing yarn layer 20 having polishing yarns adhered to the flat face part on one side of the tricot mesh fabric 10 by an adhesive; and

a top layer 30 consisting of a Velcro fabric attached to the other side of the tricot mesh fabric 10.
The polishing pad according to claim 1, wherein the top layer 30 is formed using at least one selected from a fabric, a synthetic resin sheet and an attachable or non-attachable paper.
The polishing pad according to claim 2, wherein the top layer 30 is formed using a Velcro fabric.
A polishing pad based on a tricot mesh fabric as a substrate, comprising:
the tricot mesh fabric 10 having a flat face part 12 formed by densely weaving fiber yarns in a network form, as well as meshes 14 formed between such flat face parts 12; and
a polishing yarn layer 20 having polishing yarns adhered to the flat face parts on top and bottom sides of the tricot mesh fabric 10 by an adhesive.