Abstract:
A rotatory sander pad includes a rigid inner portion for attaching to a rotary sander tool and a flexible outer portion for accepting an abrasive medium. The flexible outer portion includes a substantially flat bottom surface for accepting the abrasive medium, a through-hole substantially in its center, and a multi-dimensional upper surface that includes air flow channels disposed between the through-hole and a vertically oriented wall that direct air from below the substantially flat bottom surface through the through-hole and away from the abrasive medium.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/703,997 filed Sep. 20, 2012. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field 
         [0003]    This disclosure relates to a system and methods for improving removal of debris generated by a rotational/orbital sander/polisher. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Rotational/orbital sander/polishers offer flexible pads for easy configuration with a variety of sanding/polishing media, yet none facilitate removal of debris generated during use. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    A rotary sander pad that works with currently available sanders and abrasive elements, is adapted to include air flow channels configured into an upper surface of the pad and a debris deflection wall extending upward from the upper surface to direct debris generated by the abrasive element away from the abrasive element work site. 
         [0007]    A rotatory sander pad may include a rigid inner portion for attaching to a rotary sander tool, a flexible outer portion for accepting an abrasive medium, the flexible outer portion comprising a substantially flat bottom surface for accepting the abrasive medium, a through-hole substantially in its center, and a multi-dimensional upper surface that includes air flow channels disposed between the through-hole and a vertically oriented wall that direct air from below the substantially flat bottom surface through the through-hole and away from the abrasive medium. 
         [0008]    A pad for an orbital machine may include a substantially circular pad for holding an abrasive medium, the pad comprising air flow channels that promote air flow as a result of rotating the pad so that debris generated by the use of the abrasive medium is transported from an opening in the center of the pad away from a working surface of the abrasive medium. 
         [0009]    An apparatus may include an upper part configured to attach to an orbital sander drive shaft, the upper part generally circular with substantially a plurality of openings along its circumference disposed to align with air flow ramps of a lower part and a lower part configured to be disposed generally below the upper part. The lower part may include a center circular opening, a circular outer edge that has a vertical wall for capturing the circumference of the upper part, a plurality of air flow ramps shaped into the lower part to direct air flow from the circular opening toward the vertical wall of the outer edge, and a plurality of ramps, each disposed at a junction of an air flow ramp and the vertical wall of the outer edge. 
         [0010]    All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference. References to items in the singular should be understood to include items in the plural, and vice versa, unless explicitly stated otherwise or clear from the text. Grammatical conjunctions are intended to express any and all disjunctive and conjunctive combinations of conjoined clauses, sentences, words, and the like, unless otherwise stated or clear from the context. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  depicts top and bottom views of the tornado pad; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  depicts a top perspective view of the tornado pad; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  depicts a top perspective view of a use example of the tornado pad. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  depicts a top perspective view of an assembled tornado pad. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    The Tornado Pad replaces the current pads supplied by the manufacture of orbital machines. The current pads are used to hold the abrasive mediums and include 5 or 8 smaller holes located near the center to allow the debris removal vacuum system built into the orbital machine to work. The current pads are typically 0.4″ to 0.5″ thick so that the vacuum head is about 0.5″ away from the work areas surface. 
         [0017]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the Tornado Pad has a built in vacuum assist system within the pad itself. Much like current pads, the Tornado Pad is a two-part pad with the upper part (not shown in  FIG. 2 ), also referred to herein as an inner stiff mount blade being a generally stiff frame or platform so that the pad and/or abrasive element does not flex up into the vacuum blades of the orbital sander. The second part  202 , depicted in  FIG. 2 , also referred to herein as a lower part or an outer soft sleeve is located substantially below and somewhat around the outer edge of the upper part and is generally a soft like rubber-foam type material, cork, synthetic cork, or the like to absorb abnormalities in wood or other surface types. The Tornado Pad uses the lower soft part to channel air and debris from the working surface. The lower part  202  may include a circular opening at its center. Air flow generally moves along a path that starts near the center bottom of the pad opening  204  and works its way up and to the outer edge  208  of the pad via channels  210  that are inclined up toward the outer edge  208 . The outer edge  208  may include a vertical wall  214  for generally disposing around the circumference of the upper part. The debris also gets lifted with the air flow, via a ramp  212  disposed substantially at the junction of the channels and the vertical wall  214 , towards the upper stiff plastic part (see  FIG. 4  element  404 ) which has holes (see  FIG. 4  element  402 ) to allow the debris to escape up and into the orbital sander vacuum blades. The shaped air flow channels  210  have a turbo effect due to the rotation of the pad. 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , the debris will float in the air flow from the center hole and then the simple rotation of the pad will cause a vacuum like action and the debris will get sucked into the channels through the openings  402  in the upper stiff part  404  that may be positioned above the ramps  212  (not shown in  FIG. 4 ) toward the sander vacuum blades, ultimately to end up in the bag provided by the orbital sander manufacture. 
         [0019]    By removing approximately 1″ to 2″ from the center of the abrasive element, the air flow generated by the Tornado Pad may facilitate removing swirl marks often left by orbital sanders. The center hole may also work cooperatively with the sander vacuum blades by being aligned with the center hole using the center hole as the head of the vacuum. 
         [0020]    With a large center hole you can also line up the abrasive mediums because you can easily hold the inner rim with thumb and outer rim with fingertips on one hand, leaving your second hand free. 
         [0021]    It is also envisioned that a center tube-like device can be used to align the center 2″ hole of the abrasive element (e.g. disc) with the center of the Tornado Pad. The tube-like device may be fit into the hole of the Tornado Pad to facilitate slipping it down over the abrasive medium until the abrasive medium contacts the bottom surface of the Tornado Pad. 
         [0022]    We also envision using the Tornado Pad for ski/board buffing, thereby creating a new method of applying ski wax to skis and snowboards and other if applicable. This new method is described here. (1) apply wax to ski by rubbing it into the ski base with your hands; (2) use the orbital sander and the Tornado Pad with buffing mediums configured into Tornado Pad compatible abrasive elements (such as Scotch Brite™ and many other type materials) The heat from friction caused by the rotating disc will slightly melt wax into the ski base without the generated heat from spreading deeper into the plastic ski base. This is ideal for the ski itself because skis are glued together with epoxies, so excessive or high heat can be very bad for the ski manufacturing process. 
         [0023]    The ski industry still today rubs wax in because it can generate the best results but it takes a tremendous amount of elbow grease, so most users do not do this and opt for an iron. The Tornado Pad eases the elbow grease to a minimum with the use of an orbital sander. 
         [0024]    The Tornado Pad will have a system to attach heavier mediums to it, such as by attaching the heavier elements to the rigid upper portion via the center hole. Via this more robust attachment system, the Tornado Pad can be used with brushes such as horse hair, brass, nylon and others. This will facilitate using the orbital sander with Tornado Pad for scrubbing type action for skis, floors, the kitchen sink, and the like. A variant of the Tornado Pad heavier medium attachment system may include a center tube extension. 
         [0025]    While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention is not to be limited by the foregoing examples, but is to be understood in the broadest sense allowable by law. 
         [0026]    All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.