US3695222A

US3695222A - Paint striper

Info

Publication number: US3695222A
Application number: US85636A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kearney D Arrant
Original assignee: Monsanto Co
Current assignee: Astroturf Industries Inc
Priority date: 1970-10-30
Filing date: 1970-10-30
Publication date: 1972-10-03
Anticipated expiration: 1989-10-03

Abstract

A paint striper is provided with an adjustable cable guide means which constrains movement of the striper along one or more cables laid adjacent to a predetermined path on a surface. The striper moving on the cables then applies a continuous straight stripe on the surface along the predetermined path.

Description

United States Patent 1 1 3,695,222

Arrant Oct. 3, 1972 [54] PAINT STRIPER FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [721 lnvemofi Kearney Ami", St Louis, M9 386,098 1/l933 Great Britain ..1 18/207 63933 W 568,279 6/1958 Belgium ..118/207 [73] Assignee: Monsanto Company, St. Louis. Mo. 22 m Oct. 30 970 Primary Examiner-John P. McIntosh Attorney-Vance A. Smith, Russell E. Weinkauf, John l 85,636 D. Upham and Neal E. Willis [52] US. Cl. ..ll8/207, 15/1035 [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. CL. ..B05c 1/00 58 Field 61 Search ..1 18/207, 305; 401/48, 218, A Pamt smpe' Pmvded adlustable cab'e 40 2 9 93; 15/49 C, 50 C7 3 5 guide means which constrains movement of the striper along one or more cables laid adjacent to a predeter- [56] References Cited mined path on a surface. The striper moving on the cables then applies a continuous straight stripe on the UNITED STATES PATENTS surface along the predetermined path. 2,476,926 7/1949 Stocks 18/207 2,555,693 6/1951 Heltzel ..1 18/305 4 Chums 4 Drawmg Flgures 2,706,302 4/1955 Kratz ..l5/l03.5

PATENTEDums I972 3.695.222

sum 1 OF 2 1 v lama I f 58 E J FIGJ.

INVENTOR. KEARNEY D. ARRANT ATTORNE-Y' PATENTEDnm m2 3.695.222

' SHEET 2 BF 2 FIG.3. F/G.4.

INVENTOR.

KEARNEY D. ARRANT BY: MQQM ATTORNEY .PAINT STRIPER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improved striper used to mark stripes on athletic fields and other similar surfaces.

2. Background of the Invention There are a number of stripers in the prior art used to stripe boundaries and playing areas on athletic fields and surfaces. One example of a striper is found in US. Pat. No. 2,706,302 to A.B. Kratz filed Aug. 4, 1950 and issued Apr. 19, 1955. The striper of Kratz employs a series of contacting rollers which transfer paint from a receptacle to a surface when the striper is moved over the surface. It is difficult, however, for the operator to move a prior art striper such as the Kratz striper in a straight line since the only constraint on the striper is the operator. Slight movements to the left or right of 'the predetermined direction of movement results in wavy lines or stripes which are readily apparent to spectators. Artificial turf which has received increasing acceptance is particularly difficult to stripe because of the high denier of the material.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide for an improved paint striper which is easily constrainedto move in a predetermined straight line while applying stripes to a surface.

SUMMARY Briefly, the present invention is an improvement in a paint striper. The improvement includes a guiding means mounted on the striper for removably engaging a cable orcabl es laid adjacent and essentially parallel to a predetermined path or line on a surface. The guiding means constrains the striper to move along the path while the paint rollers apply a stripe to the surface.

The features of the present invention are pointed out with particularity inthe appended claims. The invention itself together with further objects and advantages thereof, may be best understood by reference to the detailed description taken in connection with the following drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross section of an improved striper in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of FIG. 1 taken along line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic representations of the wheels and rollers shown in FIG -l in striping application and non-application positions.

A pair of rear wheels and 11 are mounted on axles l2 and 13 mounted beneath a pair of vertical supporting

plates

14 and 15 which comprise the supporting frame for the striping apparatus. A roller 16 is mounted on shaft 17 which extends through

plates

14 and 15. Roller 18 in touching contact with roller 16 is similarly mounted between supporting

plates

14 and 15 on a shaft 19 extending therethrough.

Rocking plates

20 and 21 are pivotally mounted on the portions of shaft 19 extending through supporting

plates

14 and 15. A roller 22 rotatably contacting roller 18 is mounted upon shaft 23 which extends through

rocking plates

20 and 21.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the striper also includes a pivoting assembly comprising a pivot handle 23 and a lock handle 24. Pivot handle 23 is pivotally secured'to plate 14 by shaft 25. Handle 23 is connected to lever member 26 by pin 27. A rocking arm 29 is connected to lever member 26 by pin 30 and is pivotally mounted on shaft 23. The forward end of rocking arm 29 supports a front guide wheel 31 attached to the arm by a shaft 32 passing between plate 33 integral with the arm 29. Front guide wheel is shown in phantom outline in FIG. 1.

Lock handle 24 has an elongated member 35 which slides in shaft 36 of pivot handle 23. The lower end of elongated member 35 contains an outwardly extending pin 37 which is biased downward by connecting spring 38 fixed to the pivot handle 23. A lock plate 39 secured to supporting plate 14 is provided with a pair of

notches

40 and 41 for pin 37.

Notches

40 and 41 may both be seen in FIG. 2.

As illustrated in FIG. 2,

front wheels

42 and 43 are rotatably secured by

shafts

44 and 45 to

front arms

46 and 47, respectively.

Front arms

46 and 47 arefixedly secured to shaft 48 which rotates in shaft housing 49 attached to the underside of

plates

14 and 15. Rear arm 49 is also fixedly secured to shaft 48.

A pair of vertical standards or shafts 51 are secured to a horizontal portion 52 of

plates

14 and 15 forward of

axles

12 and 13. Standards 51 support a sleeve 53 which is adapted to hold receptacle 54. Receptacle 54 has a removable top 55 for receiving striping paint.

As best seen in FIG. 2,

wheels

10 and 11 and 42 and 43 have grooves in the periphery region thereof which are adapted to engage and ride upon a pair of cables 56. Generally speaking, the cables 56 are laid adjacent to a predetermined path over which it is desired to move the apparatus. The cables constrain the apparatus to move along the predetermined path thereby providing a straight stripe.

In a first mode of operation, that is, when all four wheels are in contact with guiding cables 56, roller 22 is in contact with the surface. This may best be seen in the schematic of FIG. 3. As roller 22 rotates along the surface it in turn rotates contacting roller 18 which in turn rotates roller 16. Although it is not shown for the sake of clarity, roller 16 is in contact with paint contained in a trowel there below, the trowel receiving its paint from receptacle 54. Roller 16 then acts as a pickup roller and transposes the paint thereon to roller 22 via transport roller 18. All rollers are covered with a yieldable cover which may be wool, felt, or the like. The constraining guidance of the cables provides a smooth relatively straight stripe along the predetermined path on the surface over which the apparatus is moving. However, if it is desired not to stripe a particular surface, for example, when moving from stripe to stripe, the positions of the wheels and rollers are easily changed. To remove the roller 22 from the surface, lock handle 24 is moved upward in the direction of the arrow as seen in FIG. 1 thereby removing pin 27 from one of the notches in lock plate 39. This allows pivot handle 23 to be moved in the direction shown, thereby pushing lever member 26 forward causing rocking arm 29 to move front guide wheel 31 downward against the surface. Simultaneously, rocking plate 20 is caused to rock upward, taking roller 22 out of contact with the surface.

It is generally desirable when moving from stripe to stripe to disengage

wheels

42 and 43 from the guiding cables. The schematic of FIG. 4 illustrates this arrangement.

Arms

46 and 47 are biased downward by springs 57 when

wheels

42 and 43 are engaging the cable. When, however, foot pedal 58 of rear arm 50 is depressed, shaft 48 is rotated such that

front arms

46 and 47 move upward thereby disengaging

wheels

42 and 43 from the guiding cables. The torque then exerted by springs 57 on arm 46 is in the opposite direction thereby biasing the front arms in an upward

direction keeping wheels

42 and 43 off the surface. The apparatus is then easily moved to a different location as desired.

Having described an improved paint striper with guiding means capable of constraining the striper to move in a predetermined path, it is believed that those skilled in the art may derive variations and changes in the improved striper that fall within the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims:

What I claim is:

1. A paint striper including:

a. a receptacle for receiving paint;

b. a support means for supporting said receptacle;

0. a pair of wheels rotatably mounted on the rear of said support means, said rear wheels having grooves in the perimeter thereof for engaging cables laid adjacent to a predetermined striping path; applicating means including applicator roller for receiving paint from said receptacle and applying the paint as a stripe along the predetermined path, said applicating means being pivotally mounted on said support means;

e. first lever means pivotally supported by said supporting means, a guide wheel rotatably supported by the forward end of said first lever means, said first lever means connected to said applicating means for pivoting said applicating means in a substantially upward direction away from the surface when said guide wheel contacts the surface.

2. The striper of claim 1 including second lever means pivotally mounted on said support means and a pair of wheels rotatably mounted on said second lever means forward of said rear wheels, said forward wheels having grooves in the perimeter thereof for engaging the cables, said second lever means for moving said forward wheels in and out of engagement with the cables.

3. The stnper of claim 2 wherein said applicating means includes a pair of rocking plates pivotally connected to said supporting means, said applicator roll mounted between said rocking plates, said first lever means connected to one of said rocking plates and causing said plates to pivotwhen said lever means is moved.

4. The striper of claim 3 wherein said second lever means comprises an arm extending rearwardly of said rear wheels and adapted to be elevated and depressed, a pair of forwardly extending members each rotatably supporting one of said front wheels, and a shaft rotatably supported by said supporting means, said arm and members being fixedly connected to said shaft and adapted to be pivoted about said shaft, said forwardly extending members being biased downward when said front wheels engage the cables and biased upward when said arm is depressed.

Claims

1. A paint striper including: a. a receptacle for receiving paint; b. a support means for supporting said receptacle; c. a pair of wheels rotatably mounted on the rear of said support means, said rear wheels having grooves in the perimeter thereof for engaging cables laid adjacent to a predetermined striping path; d. applicating means including applicator roller for receiving paint from said receptacle and applying the paint as a stripe along the predetermined path, said applicating means being pivotally mounted on said support means; e. first lever means pivotally supported by said supporting means, a guide wheel rotatably supported by the forward end of said first lever means, said first lever means connected to said applicating means for pivoting said applicating means in a substantially upward direction away from the surface when said guide wheel contacts the surface.

3. The striper of claim 2 wherein said applicating means includes a pair of rocking plates pivotally connected to said supporting means, said applicator roll mounted between said rocking plates, said first lever means connected to one of said rocking plates and causing said plates to pivot when said lever means is moved.