US2475189A

US2475189A - Liquid dispenser for floor waxing machines

Info

Publication number: US2475189A
Application number: US653737A
Authority: US
Inventors: Scala Michael P La; Joe A Wilber
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1946-03-12
Filing date: 1946-03-12
Publication date: 1949-07-05
Anticipated expiration: 1966-07-05

Description

July 5, 1949. LA SCALA HAL 2,475,189

LIQiIID DISPENSER FOR FLOOR WAXING HACHINES Filed March 12, 1946 under tension 22 INVENTORS JOE A.\A/lLBE-R FHCHAEL P. LASCALA Patented July 5,1949

2,475,189 LIQUID DISPENSER FOR FLOOR WAXING MACHINES Michael P. La Scale. and Joe A. Wilber, Compton, Calif.

Application March 12, 1946, Serial seesaw g 1 Claims. (01. 222-323) This applicationrelates to a device for applying liquid surfacing materials to fioors. Its general object is to provide a successful reservoir type wax applicator.

Many attempts have been made to provide a successful applicator in which liquid wax is fed from a reservoir to a spreading device. Such devices have almost invariably been unsatisfactory,

largely because of the nature of the liquid wax. Being a floor covering material, liquid wax must necessarily be capable of coalescing to a hard tough substance. Consequently. it will cake and harden in any fluid channels that are provided for delivering it to a floor surface.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide an applicator including distributing means for conveying liquid from a reservoir to a floor surface and having a spreader adapted to pick up the liquid thus conveyed to the floor surface and spread it into a uniform film. The spreader is separate from the .distributing means and is removable so that it may be immersed in a cleaning solution for washing out the accumulation of wax therein. An object of the invention is to provide an applicator of this type having a spreader that can thus be easily cleaned and having distributing means that is relatively free from clogging and can be cleaned without difficulty in the event of clogging.

An important characteristic of the invention is the provision of distributing means in the form of a plurality of fingers which direct the liquid wax to the floor surface by the flowing of the wax along the exterior surfaces of the fingers as contrasted to the flowing of a liquid wax through a hollow duct. It will be readily apparent, that any cakiug that takes place on the spreader fingers will be on the exterior surfaces which are fully exposed for cleaning. Furthermore, even though the spreader fingers are not cleaned, the liquid wax can continue to flow to the floor surfaces over the'layers of hardened wax already collected on the fingers.

Another object of the invention is to provide an applicator having spreader fingers that are adapted to flex in a manner to remove the layers of hardened wax thereon, the layers of wax being loosened and separated from the surfaces of the fingers by the flexing action.

Another object of the invention is to provide an applicator having a spreader and a plurality of distributing fingers s arranged with reference to the spreader than in the normal back and forth movement of the applicator it will ride upon the spreader, tilting backwardly and forwardly Just 2 sufilciently to bring the distributor fingers into contact with the fioor surface during one stage of the movement and to lift the distributor fingers from the floor surface during another stage of the movement.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent in the ensuing specifications and appended drawings, in which: Y

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of .a wax applicator embodying our invention;

- Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the applicator;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the applicator in a'diiferent stage of operation;

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view of one of the distributor units;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modified-form of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a detail of a spreader.

As an example of one form in which the invention may be embodied, we have shown in the drawings awax applicator embodying generally a reservoir 5 for liquid wax, a spreader 6 attached to the underside of the reservoir, a plurality of dis- 25 tributor fingers 1 for conveying liquid wax from the reservoir 5 to a floor surface 8, and a handle 9 by means of which the applicator is manipulated.

The reservoir 5 is elongated and of sufllcient length to traverse the width of a strip of wax that is to be laid by the applicator. It embodies a lateral wall 9 which may be cylindrical, and end walls It. Attached to its lower side, as by soldering at 'l I, is a curved yoke i2 having downwardly extending flanges l3 that converge downwardly and toward each other.

A spreader 6 embodies a back l4 havin inwardly converging slots l5, receiving the flanges l3. To the lower side of the back It is secured a. pad l6 which may be, for example, of sheepskin.

In the upper side of the reservoir 5 is a filling neck II which is normally closed by a cap I8 threaded thereon. The handle 9 is secured in a socket 19 which in turn is secured to the reservoir 5.

The distributor fingers 1 are elongated and molded from soft rubber or equivalent material so as to be flexible. The fingers may have any'crosssectional shape although they are preferably of cylindrical shape as shown.

The upper end of each distributor finger 1 is attached to the reservoir 5 through the medium of a collar 20 the lower extremity of which is turned inwardly to define a valve seat 2| and terminates in an annular flange 22 inside of and spaced from 5,5 the main wall of the collar. The upper end of the modification of the a 22, and theupper end of the body portion of the finger I, at .the lower extremity of the neck 25, I

defines a shoulder 21 which is engaged normally against the valve seat.2l. The finger is installed in the collar with the neck under tension,

which results in the shoulder 21 being yieldinglydrawn against the valve seat 2|.

The wall 9 of the reservoir is provided with a 4 manner, it is possible to place the neck 25 under initial tension which maintains the resilient engagement of the shoulder 21 against the valve seat 2|.

The bore 36 has another function. As a distributing finger I is pressed downwardly against the floor 9, it will flatten out to a greater extent by reaso'nof being hollow than if it were solid. Thisiflatte'ning out assists in'initially spreading the wax.

' The distributor finger I, instead of being arranged forwardly of the spreader pad 8, may be arranged to project downwardly and rearwardly plurality of openings 28 communicating with the sumps 29 defined within the respective collars 29. The sumps 29 in turn communicate, through openings 39 in the flange 22, with annular valve chambers 3| defined between the flanges 22, the necks 25 and the shoulders 21. The sumps 29 and valve chambers 31 are filled with liquid wax at all times (as long as some wax remains within the reservoir) and consequently the openings do not become clogged.

In operation, the applicator is drawn back and forth in a path parallel to the vertical plane of the handle 9. As the applicator is pushed away from the operator, it will approach a position somewhat as shownin Fig. 2. That is, the applicator will tend to tilt rearwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3 toward the position shown inF'ig. 2 (resulting in the distributor fingers i being lifted off of the floor) as the natural result of pushing the applicator forwardly, pro- 'vided that in the beginning of the stroke the 'operators. arm extends rearwardly from the shoulder in order to grasp the handle 9. As the arm swings forwardly toward a position depending vertically, the hand will swing downwardly, moving the handle 9 downwardly and tilting the applicator rearwardly. This forward stroke is indicated by the arrow 33 in Fig. 2.

0n the return stroke, indicated by the arrow 34 in Fig.3, the upward and rearward swinging of the hand will cause the handle 9 to be raised, bringing the distributing fingers 1 into contact with the floor surface. This will cause the fingers 1 to flex as indicated in Fig. 3 and will-also cause the neck 25 to stretch on the lower side, pulling the shoulders 21 away from the valve seats 21 to produce gaps 35 through which the liquid wax may flow onto the under surfaces of the fingers. The liquid wax will follow the surfaces of the fingers downwardly onto the floor. and will thence be spread onto the floor in a plurality of relatively narrow ribbons corresponding to the distributor fingers I. As the applicator is again moved forwardly, the pad l6 of the spreader will pick up these ribbons of liquid wax and spread them into a film extending uniformly the width of the applicator.

as shown in Fig. 5, with the spreader pad 8 disp'osed on the forward side of the reservoir Hi.

This makes it possible for the spreader 6 to be pushed entirely into a corner of a room. into contact with a vertical wall 35 as indicated in Fig. 5.

In this form of the invention, a contact of the distributor fingers I is made at the forward extremity of the stroke instead of at the rear extremity as in Fig. 3. The forward extremity of the stroke would in this case be arrived at when the operator's arm is extending substantially vertically downwardly, the rear extremity of the stroke occurring when the arm is extended rearwardly.

A preferred form of spreader structure is shown in Fig.6. Instead of a wooden block, we provided a sheet metal spreader head l4 having rounded side walls 31 terminating in upwardly and outwardly flared flanges 38. The flanges 38 are engaged between the flanges l3 of the yoke 12. The retention of the spreader head within the flanges 13 may be improved by forming the spreader head with the flanges normally spaced farther apart with the distance between the inner sides of the flanges l3, and springing the flanges 38 toward each other as the head is forced between the flanges l3. Thus the spreader head is held between the flanges l3 under compression.

The spreader head H is formed by first con-- structing a sheet metal channel having the annular end extremity constituting a valve seat,

said inturned portion terminating in a reentrant flange provided with an opening, an integral distributor finger of resilient, compressible elastic' material including a head portion engaged against The distributor fingers 1 are each formed with an axial bore 36. A finger is inserted into a collar 20 by inserting a rod into a bore 39 and then pushing the head 24 through the'opening defined within the, flange 22. Being'of soft rubber, the head 24 will be compressed so as to pass through this restricted opening and such compression is assisted by the restriction of the pressure against the head to the small central area at the end of the bore 38. After it has passed the flange 22.

the head 24 will of course expand to its natural size, engaging the end of the flange as shown in Fig. 4. By' applying the spreader finger, in. this the inner edge of said flange, a neck portion normally under tension and extending'through the flange, and a shoulder normally held in seating engagement with the seat by the tension in said neck portion; said distributor finger being adapted to flex laterally of the collar under pressure against the surface to which the liquid is to be applied, and thereby to pull one side of the shoulder away from the seat and provide an opening through which liquid may flow from within the collar to the 'exteriorsu'rfaceof theme- 2. A distributing device'as'deflned' inclaim 1'. wherein said distributor finger is of soft'r'ubb'er.

"3. A distributing de'vice'as defined in claim 2. wherein said distributor finger hasan' axial socket adapted to receive a'rodfor forcing 'said"head through the flange in'th installation of the dis-' 4. In a floor waxing device having a reservoir, a collar projecting from the reservoir and having an inwardly and upwardly turned portion terminating in a reentrant annular flange and defining a valve seat at the lower end of the collar, said flange having an upper edge spaced from said valve seat, and a distributor finger of compressible, resilient material carried by said collar and having a head engaging the upper edge of said annular flange, a neck portion under tension and extending through the flange, and a shoulder held by the tension of said neck portion in sealing engagement with said valve seat, said flange having an opening through which liquid from the reservoir flows downwardly to the valve seat, and the distributor finger having a body portion projecting downwardly from the valve seat and adapted to be pressed against the floor and thereby moved laterally so as to stretch said neck portion and pull said shoulder away from the valve seat at the lower side thereof, whereby to permit the liquid to flow down the exterior surface of the distributor finger to reach the floor surface.

5. In a floor waxing device having a reservoir, the reservoir having a part forming an annular valve seat, a distributor finger of compressible, resilient material having a reduced neck portion defining spaced head and shoulder portions, the

shoulder being normally engaged with said valve seat, a support for the head passing the neck portion and having a lateral opening passing material from the reservoir to the seat, the support having a portion spaced from said valve seat and engaged by said head portion of said finger to hold said neck portion under tension, whereby said shoulder is normally yieldingly held in sealing engagement with said valve seat, said distributor finger also including a body portion projecting downwardly from the valve seat and adapted to be pressed against the floor and thereby moved laterally to stretch said neck portion and pull said shoulder away from said valve seat at the lower side thereof permitting liquid to flow from the reservoir, through said opening and through said seat, and down the exterior surface of the distributor finger to reach the fioor.

6. An applicator for applying liquid to a surface including, a container carrying liquid and having an outlet opening at the lower portion thereof defined by an inturned part establishing a downwardly faced annular seat and an upwardly faced support spaced above the seat axially of the opening, there being a fluid passage through said part between the seat and the support, a unitary body of rubber having a part projecting downwardly and presenting a face normally supported on said seat, a head above said body and carried by the support and a neck under tension between the body and head, and a handle projecting from the container, the projecting part of the body being exposed for movement into pressure engagement with the surface to deflect the body and partially disengage the face from the seat.

7. An applicator for applying liquid to a surface including, a container carrying liquid and having a sheet metal section at the lower portion of the container with an opening defined by an inturned portion of said section establishing a downwardly faced annular seat and an upwardly faced support spaced above the seat axially of the opening, there being a fluid passage through said portion between the seat and support, a unitary body of rubber having a part projecting downwardly and presenting a face normally supported on said seat, a head above said part and carried by-the support and a neck undertension between said part and head, and a handle projecting from the container, the said downwardly projecting part being operable into pressure engagement with the surface to deflect said part and partially disengage the face from the seat.

MICHAEL P. LA SCALA. JOE A. WILBER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 621,936 Nevius Mar. 28, 1899 722,281 Brown Mar. 10, 1903 798,532 Sanders Aug. 29, 1905 1,383,731 Leigh July 5, 1921 1,729,934 Fraser Oct. 1, 1929 1,735,262 Carpenter Nov. 12, 1929 2,102,749 Salvesen Dec. 21, 1937 2,106,280 Sandhop Jan. 25, 1938 2,240,419 Rose Apr. 29, 1941 2,252,543 Beeh Aug. 12, 1941 2,264,736 Baker Dec. 2, 1941 2,339,767 Chandler Jan. 25, 1944 2,389,276 Rogovin Nov. 20, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Germany Oct. 6, 1932