GB2342033A

GB2342033A - A surface treating implement

Info

Publication number: GB2342033A
Application number: GB9821213A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Phillip Joseph Bouic
Original assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: 3M Co
Priority date: 1998-09-30
Filing date: 1998-09-30
Publication date: 2000-04-05
Also published as: GB9821213D0

Abstract

A surface treatment implement comprises a support 10 with an upper portion 12 shaped to facilitate gripping by hand and a working head. The working head comprises sheets 16, 18 of flexible material having working surfaces 20, 21 and non-working surfaces 22, 23 have a first portion 24, 25 of each non-working surface connected to each other to form a flap which is pivotable relative to the support 10. When the surface treatment implement is moved from right to left (Figure 2) the flap displaces allowing sheet 16 to present its entire working surface 20 to the area to be treated, similarly when the implement is moved from left to right (Figure 3) the flap is displaced so that the working surface 21 is presented to the surface to be treated.

Description

2342033 SURFACE TREATING IMPLEMENTS This invention relates to surface

treating implements, and in particular to such implements capable of performing at least two separate tasks on a surface e.g. application of a treatment composition to a surface and subsequently removing the composition.

There are many surface treatments which involve the performance of multiple separate tasks conducted sequentially. For example, polishing or buffing a surface requires the application of polish or buffing compound with a cloth or pad followed by polishing or buffing with a clean cloth or pad. Degreasing a surface, e.g. automobile body, in preparation for painting etc.

involves the application of solvent with a cloth or pad which is wiped off with a clean cloth or pad before the is solvent evaporates. Sanding may involve the sequential use of abrasive materials of different grades. Sanding operations may also require the removal of swarf with a tack-cloth or the like after the abrading stage.

The present invention provides a surface treating implement capable of performing multiple separate tasks on a surface.

According to the present invention there is provided a surface treating implement comprising:

support having a planar attachment surface and working head comprising:

one or more sheets of flexible material which are folded and attached so as to provide:

(a) two attachment surfaces which can be brought into a mutually co-planar configuration and which are capable of attachment to the planar attachment surface of the support, and (b) one or more flaps projecting away from the attachment surfaces in their mutually co-planar configuration, each flap comprising two laminated layers of flexible material and each flap is pivotable relative 2 to the support about a linear axis generally along the attachment surface of the support and between the attachment surfaces of the flaps.

Preferably each of the attachment surfaces of the working head and each of the flaps are substantially identical shape and size.

The working head generally comprises at least two sheets of flexible material each having a working and a non-working surface, wherein a first portion of the non working surface of the first sheet is connected to a first portion of the non-working surface of the second sheet to form a flap and a second portion of the non working surface of the first and second sheets is secured to the attachment surface of the support member, such is that the working surface of each sheet may be sequentially exposed by folding the flap formed by the connected portions of the sheets.

The invention provides a simple, effective implement for surface treatment. The implement of the invention allows the entire working surface of each sheet to be exposed for contacting the surface to be treated by a simple fold which can be achieved by movement of the implement in an appropriate direction. Movement of the implemnt in one direction will expose the working surface of the first sheet. Subsequently the entire working surface of the second sheet may be exposed to contact the surface to be treated by movement in the opposite direction causing the connected portions of the sheet to pivot through 1800.

The flexible sheets used in the invention may comprise woven or non-woven fabrics, foam sheet, abrasive sheet materials and the like.

The fabric materials may be impregnated with liquids, pastes, or solids for application to the surface to be treated. The portions of the non-working surfaces to be secured to the attachment surface of the support member may have a layer of a pressure sensitive adhesive 3 or may form one part of a hook and loop fastening system.

Each flap of the working head may be formed either by folding and laminating a single sheet of flexible material, or by lamination of two sheets of flexible material which may different from each other. Each flap thereby has two opposed surfaces, and these constitute working surfaces which may be brought into use separately and sequentially for separate surface treatments of a workpiece. If a flap is formed by folding and lamination of a single sheet, its individual working surfaces are necessarily identical to each other, but if a flap is formed by laminating two sheets of different materials together, then the working surfaces can have differing properties. In preferred embodiments, the opposed surfaces of each flap are separated by an impermeable layer, so that fluid applied to one surface is prevented from contaminating the other. This is readily achieved by inserting a suitable plastics film between the layers of flexible material which are laminated together to form the flap.

In one embodiment of the invention the sheets of flexible material comprise woven or non-woven fabric or foam so that the surface treating implement may act as a double-sided wiping cloth having two working surfaces with an impermeable layer separating the working surfaces. The arrangement allows one of the sheets to be impregnated with liquids to be wiped onto a surface with one action and thereafter wiped off with the other sheet.

Such a situation arises with the application of degreasing solvents to automobile body work. The solvent is wiped onto a panel with one sheet and wiped off with another before it has had time evaporate. In the past this was commonly done with two separate cloths, one in each hand. The central layer can be of any impermeable substance which will resist the migration of the solvent from one layer to the next.

The second portion of the non-working surface of 4 each sheet is releasably attached to a support member which may conveniently be configured to be hand-held.

once mounted, the wipe on/wipe off arrangement is simply achieved by wiping the cloth in opposite directions.

Wiping from left to right displaces the connected first portions to the left, presenting the working surface of one sheet for applying the solvent. By wiping from right to left, the connected first portions are displaced to the right presenting the working surface of the second sheet i.e. a clean surface for the removal of the solvent. The second sheet may be made from a more absorbent material than the first sheet. After the whole surface has been cleaned in this fashion, the sheets can be released from the support member, discarded and fresh is sheets attached.

other combinations of working surfaces may readily be employed e.g. different grades of abrasive, polish application and buffing, wiping and application of primer, abrasion and cleaning etc. It is also possible for the working surface of a single sheet to have two or more functions. For example, one portion of a working surface may be absorbent and contain a working liquid e.g. water, and the other portion may comprise an abrasiye for wet sanding.

Implements of the invention may comprise three or more flexible sheets. For example, a third flexible sheet having a working and non-working surface may be connected by its non-working surface to portions of the non-working surfaces of the first and second sheets in such a manner that the entire working surfaces of the first, second and third flexible sheets may be sequentially exposed for treatment of a surface by suitable folding.

The supports used in the invention may be hand-held or for attachment to machine e.g. a rotary or orbital sanding, polishing or buffing apparatus. The supports are preferably hand-held and comprise a shaped portion to facilitate gripping and a planar attachment surface. The attachment surface may be rigid e.g. of plastics, metal, wood etc., or may be resiliently flexible e.g. rubber, foam etc.

The working surface of the flexible sheets generally corresponds to the attachment surface of the implement.

The shape of the attachment/working surface is generally circular although other shapes having an axis of symmetry may be used e.g. deltoid, hexagonal, square, rectangular, triangular and other polygons etc. The size and shape of the planar support is preferably such that each of the attachment surfaces of the working head covers precisely one half of the planar support when applied thereto, i.e.

when the attachment surfaces are brought together in a is mutually co-planar configuration, they should together match the planar support in size and shape and the flap is arranged to fold about an axis of symmetry of the working surface.

The invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a surface treating implement according to the invention; Figure 2 shows the implement of Figure 1 being applied to a surface and being moved from right to left; Figure 3 shows the implement of Figure 1 being applied to a surface and being moved from left to right; Figure 4 shows an exploded perspective view of the implement of Figure 1 and Figure 5 shows an alternative wasting head in accordance with the invention.

Figure 1 shows in diagrammatic form a surface treating implement. A support member 10 is provided with is an upper portion 12 shaped to facilitate gripping by a hand. A working head comprising two flexible sheets 16, 18 having working surfaces 20, 21 and non-working surfaces 22, 23 have a first portion 24, 25 of each non- 6 working surface connected to each other to form a flap by any appropriate means e.g. by using adhesive, by stitching or by flame laminating. A means for releasably connecting a second portion of each non-working surface to face 14 of the support member is provided e.g. by a hook and loop fastening system although any other means, for example, pressure sensitive adhesive, may be used.

The hook part 40 of the system as shown in Fig. 4 is attached to the face 14 of the support member 10 and the loop part 42, 43 of the system is attached to or formed by the second portion of two sheets. An impermeable layer 26 is shown between the first portions of the two sheets of material 16, 18 to provide a barrier between the two sheets but this layer is not essential.

In a preferred embodiment the sheets of material 16, 18 are cloth, surface 16 being impregnated with solvent, and the other 18 being dry. Figure 2 and Figure 3 illustrate that the working surfaces of each sheet of material can be applied independently to the surface.

When the implement is being moved from right to left as shown in Figure 2 the flap displaces allowing sheet 16 to present its entire working surface 20 to the surface to be treated, e.g. to apply a solvent. When the implement is moved in the other direction as shown in Figure 3, the flap is displaced so that the working surface 21 of sheet 18 is presented to the surface to be treated. In a preferred embodiment this surface will remove the solvent.

When the implement is in use as shown in both Figures 2 and 3 the sheet being presented to the surface has its entire working surface area exposed. In this orientation the area of the under side 14 of the support member 10 can be seen to be large enough to apply pressure to the entire area of the working sheet of material.

Figure 4 illustrates an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the invention. From this it can be seen 7 that two sheets of material are substantially circular.

The embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 4 uses sheets of material for the specific purpose of applying a solvent to a surface and then removing the solvent. It is possible to use a variety of different materials for the two sheets depending upon the intended use. Examples include, sheet impregnated with polish, antistatic, primer etc., abrasive paper or cloth, tack wipe cloth etc.

The sheets of material may need to be replaced or exchanged during the lifetime of the implement. It is therefore desirable that replacement or alternative sheets of material be provided. The old sheets which are releasably connected to the attachment member may be removed and the new sheets fitted with ease.

Although the embodiment depicted in Figures 1 to 4 comprises two sheets of material, it is within the scope of this invention to replace the two sheets with a single sheet folded in such a way so as to operate in a comparable manner.

Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings illustrates a working head in accordance with the invention comprising three sheets of flexible material 50, 52 and 54. Sheets and 54 provide attachment surfaces 56 and 58 respectively which may be releasably secured to the attachment surface of a support member (not shown).

Flaps 60, 62 are formed by bonding flexible sheet 52 to portions of the flexible sheets 50, 54. The flaps 60, 62 may be folded about the axis generally shown at 64.

The working head is capable of presenting three different working surfaces to the surface to be treated.

Folding folds 60 and 62 to the right exposes the working surface 66 of the flexible sheet 54. Folding flap 62 to the left and flap 60 to the right exposes the working surface 68 of the sheet 52. Folding flaps 62 and 60 to the left exposes the working surface 70 of flexible sheet 50.

8

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A surface treating implement comprising:

a support having a planar attachment surface and a working head comprising:

(a) two attachment surfaces which can be brought into a mutually -D-planar configuration and which are capable of attachment to the planar attachment surface of the support, and (b) one or more flaps projecting away from the attachment surfaces in their mutually co-planar configuration, each flap comprising two laminated layers of flexible material and each flap is pivotable relative is to the support about a linear axis generally along the attachment surface of the support and between the attachment surfaces of the flaps.

2. A surface treating implement as claimed in Claim 1 in which each atachment surface of the working head and each of the flaps are substantially identical in size and shape.

3. A surface treating implement as claimed in Claim 1 in whi,,h the working head comprises at least two sheets of flexible material each having a working and a non working surface, wherein a first portion of the non working surface of the first sheet is connected to a first portion of the non-working surface of the second sheet to form a flap and a second portion of the non working surface of the first and second sheets is attached to the attachment surface of the support member, such that the working surface of each sheet may be sequentially exposed by folding the flap formed by the connected portions of the sheets.

4. A surface treating implement as claimed in any preceding Claim further comprising an intermediate layer disposed between the two sheets of flexible material at 9 least in the region of the flap.

5. A surface treating implement as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the intermediate layer is impermeable.

6. A surface treating implement as claimed in Claim 1 of Claim 2 comprising three sheets of flexible material wherein the third sheet of material has a non-working surface attached to portions of the non-working surfaces of the first and second sheets of flexible material to form two flaps.

7. A surface treating implement as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the shape of each sheet is deltoid, circular, hexagonal, rectangular or square.

8. A surface treating implement as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the working head is releasably connected to the support by a hook and loop fastening system.

9. A surface treating implement as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 7 wherein the working head is releasably connected to the support by pressure sensitive adhesive.

10. A surface treating implement as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein each individual sheet of material is selected from woven or non-woven fabric, foam, an abrasive material or a tack wipe material.

11. A surface treating implement as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the sheets are made of the same material or are made of different materials.

12. A surface treating implement as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the support member is a hand held pad.

13. A surface treating implement as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the support member is adapted to be fitted to a machine held pad.

14. A surface treating implement substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.