Abstract:
A grinding tool for natural stone floors, artificial stone floors and industrial floors allows a greatest possible adaptation to the unevennesses of worn natural and artificial stone floors to be restored by using diamond tools that are flexibly attached. The diamond tools are fixed on a mat so that each individual diamond tool can adapt individually to the grooves and unevennesses of an animated natural stone and stone floor. The grinding pattern of a surface machined with said grinding tool corresponds to a newly produced natural stone or artificial stone floor.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention concerns a grinding tool for natural stone, artificial stone, and industrial floors. The grinding tool has a power-driven machine with at least one driven shaft journal, and a robust haseplate connected to each. 
     Floor slabs made of natural stone (marble, granite, basalt, etc.), artificial stone (terazzo on a cement, PU, or epoxy base), and industrial floors (concrete, cast asphalt, polished composition floors, etc.), without surface glazing were previously described before delivery. In particular, we often grind on natural stone again in its laid-down condition. The opinion is held that such a grinding of the floor produces a good appearance just on the “last grinding”. After a certain length of time, the gaps and pores in such stone floors fill up with dirt, which naturally can be removed to a certain degree by cleaning. After some length of time, dirt remaining in gaps and pores accumulates, which is no longer removed by normal cleaning. Then one has the choice of replacing the whole floor with new slabs or grinding the existing slabs in place so that these dirt remnants together with a certain amount of the material of the floor slabs is removed by grinding. 
     Basically, natural, laid stone floors are naturally viewed as flat surfaces, although the tile layer in his work lays the slabs differently with nuances of height. Every natural stone acquires not as the least a better structure and acts more lively if the slabs exhibit different heights themselves and also with respect to one another. In common with this, stumbling points are not constructed as height differences and they are dangerous, since unevennesses in the range of 0.5-1 mm which lend structure and liveliness to the floor. 
     Grinding machines known from prior art for cleaning and renovating natural and artificial stone floors are as a rule equipped with diamond tools, which are fastened to fixed disks. Natural and artificial stone floors exhibit the dips and unevennesses described above. Diamond tools fixed to a level and rotating disk do not grip onto deeper lying positions and dissimilar heights, and the whole plane is ground down to a monotonous virtually flat surface. But for the visual liveliness of the appearance which a natural or artificial stone tile offers, this is not desirable. 
     Conventional systems are fixed. In US patent publication No. 2005/0172428, a tool is provided which makes a cellulose rubber fast to the disk of a power-driven machine, which is connected to a robust plate which for its part carries the holder with diamonds. The robust plate is thereby kept flexible. The diamond tool mounted firmly on this fixed disk always moves however in the given plane of this fixed plate. But such a tool that helps the diamonds adjust the differently bent natural or artificial stone tiles does not help for dips and unevennesses in individual slabs or for cleaning gaps, in particular it does not help at all where gaps cross. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention aims not only to improve a grinding tool for natural stone, artificial stone, and industrial floors of prior art that has retained the advantage of known grinding tools but that the equipment can grind and work on dips and gaps in slab floors. 
     This objective is resolved with a grinding tool for natural stone, artificial stone, and industrial floors with the characteristics of patent claim  1 . Further characteristics according to the invention are given in the related claims and the advantages of which are clarified in the following description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  a grinding tool with a power-driven machine and drive 
         FIG. 2  section through a grinding tool 
         FIG. 3  section through a grinding tool with grinding insert 
         FIG. 4  section through a grinding insert 
         FIG. 5  view of a grinding insert 
         FIG. 6  section through a grinding insert 
         FIG. 7  view of a grinding insert 
         FIG. 8  section through a grinding tool with a multiple support and insert 
         FIG. 9  section through an insert in the multiple support 
         FIG. 10  section through a insert 
         FIG. 11  section through the connection element 
     
    
    
     The figures represent preferred exemplary embodiments, which are clarified in the following description. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  depicts a power-driven machine such as, for example, is used for grinding natural and artificial stone floors. For large surfaces, self-operating power-driven machines  45  are used which are operated by an operator sitting on top. Power-driven machines  45  are not further introduced here, because they use the function of the invention objective that coincides with all of the models offered on the market. A drive  44 , for example, operates an electric motor or combustion engine with one or several shaft journals  2 . This shaft journal  2  is connected to a baseplate  3 . The baseplate  3  is set in rotation by the shaft journal  2  in the middle of the drive  44 . 
     On this baseplate  3  is fastened a detachable connector element  10  ( FIG. 2 . Preferably it is for example a Velcro fastening ( FIG. 11 ). But a detachable glued connection can also be used, such as are used for fastening furs onto skis. In the case of the use of a Velcro fastening, the side with the base  13  for example is fastened onto the baseplate  3 , while for fastening a mat  4  ( FIG. 11 ) an appropriate Velcro  14  is provided for this, for example a felt. The use of a detachable connector element  10  offers the great advantage for mats  4  and diamond tool  5  to be rapidly and simply changed out. This is an unalterable improvement, because for renovating with the grinding inserts that were described, large surfaces have to be able to be worked on in a short time. Rapid tool replacement is of decisive significance for the economical use of such grinding machines. This also holds true both for the rapid replacement of mats  4  used and diamond tools  5  and for simply using a whole other grain size of diamond tool  5 . A mat  4  detachably connects directly through the connector element  10  or by a support  12  ( FIG. 2 ) to the baseplate  3 . The mat  4  is for example an elastic polyester and is called by the tradename of “Polyester Pad”. The Velcro of the connector element  10  is firmly fastened to the mat  4 . 
     The diamond tool  5  is glued onto the mat  4  with a special adhesive material. The entire unit consisting of support  12 , membrane  11 , mat  10 , and diamond tool  5  can be rapidly connected by means of the detachable connector element  10  to the baseplate  3 . If the support  12  and the membrane  11  are omitted, the mat  4  is constructed with the Velcro  14  and the glued diamond tool  5  as a unit, which is detachably fastened by the connector element  10  onto the baseplate  3 . This arrangement is entirely sufficient for simple application and tools. 
     In the type described above, fitted-out grinding tools  1  offer the advantage that the diamond tool  5  can be replaced very rapidly. Even if this is important for the grinding process, different grain sizes of diamond tool  5  are still used at the beginning and the end finish of a surface area. Independent of grain size and characteristics of the diamond tool  5 , the construction of the tool with baseplate  3 , connector element  10 , and mat  4  on the diamond tool  5  offers the possibility that each diamond tool  5  is automatically adjusted for the respective situation for concavities, gaps, and slightly uneven surfaces. 
     It is seen from  FIG. 2  how a support  12  is used, so the Velcro  14  of the connector element  10  is firmly fastened to the support  12 . The support  12  for example is made of a quick-set synthetic or hard rubber. In using quick-set synthetic for the support  12 , an optimal result is attained, if a membrane  11  made of cellulose rubber is still used between support  12  and mat  4 . The membrane  11  constructed with the support  12 , the Velcro  14 , and the mat  4  is a firmly connected unit ( FIG. 2 ). In order to offer high flexibility for the insert of the diamond tool  5 , several such units are used on a baseplate  3 . In  FIG. 3  it is for that reason shown how a baseplate  3  with several such units, called a grinding insert  20 , can be fitted out. This grinding insert ( FIGS. 4 to 7 ) consist of a connector element  10 ′, support  12 ′, membrane  11 ′, mat  4 ′, and a diamond tool  5 ,  5 ′. 
     In the baseplate  3  spare parts for example are provided, in which the cam  21  of the grinding insert  20  ( FIGS. 4 to 7 ) is received. The grinding inserts  20  can thus clearly be positioned on the baseplate and can be individually changed out. In this way grinding inserts  20  can also used with diamond tools  5  of a different grain sizes or grinding inserts  20  with a harder mat  4 . Particularly on highly damaged natural stone floors, it is recommended to work with diamond tools, which are fastened to a firm or at least hard elastic underlayer. 
     For highly damaged floors, the use of a soft mat is proven to be a disadvantage. The diamond tool  5  follows each unevenness in the floor, but with actually large height differences, it no longer grinds all of the area. In this case a harder underlayer is used for the diamond tool  5  and this is fastened for example to the membrane  11  or even directly to the baseplate  3 . The flexibility of the grinding tool introduced makes this possible. 
     Around a particularly brittle diamond tool  5  to protect against breaking off the corners, the diamond tool as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  can be provided with a synthetic upper part  32 . 
     Since several grinding inserts can be used on one baseplate  3 , the idea arises of using several supports  30  on one baseplate  3  ( FIG. 8 ), but this support  30  can be constructed as a multiple support  30  which can accommodate several fingers ( FIG. 9 ). There are several fingers  31  in a multiple support  30 . This multiple support  30  is detachably fastened by means of a connector element  10  to the baseplate  3 . The advantage of such an arrangement is that first of all individual fingers  31  can be individually changed out in case of an accident and secondly a mixture of fingers  31  with different diamond tools  5  can be used in a multiple support  30 . 
     The construction of this device differs very slightly from that stated above, however the basic principle is always the same, since the diamond tool  5  is glued directly or indirectly to a flexible and elastic underlayer in this presentation on a mat  4 . The multiple support  30  exhibits in the openings provided for the receipt of the fingers  31  as shown in  FIG. 10  a mat  4 ′ and a connector element  10 ′. To this connector element  10 ′ are detachably fastened the fingers  31  with the multiple support  30 . The opening in the multiple support  30  is chosen to be large enough that the fingers  31  can move on the mat  10 ′ in a known area. 
     The fingers  31  are provided with a synthetic upper part  32 . The upper part can surround the diamond tool  5  as shown in  FIG. 6  or the diamond tool can be connected with a synthetic upper part as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 10 . Certain diamond tools  32  must be especially hard and are brittle for that reason. Because the fingers  31  exhibit a certain height and the synthetic upper part  32  is easy to paint, the user can rapidly recognize by means of this method from the corresponding color which grain size of diamond tool  5  is being used. This facilitates the rapid replacement of the diamond tool  5 . 
     The connector element  10 ,  10 ′ can be a Velcro fastening as previously mentioned ( FIG. 11 ). The base  13  is normally fastened to the baseplate  3  and the textile Velcro  14  is attached to the mat  4 , to the support  12 ,  12 ′, or to the multiple support  30 . The synthetic upper part  32  is provided with fingers  31  with the Velcro and the base  13  is attached to the mat  4 ′ which is connected to the multiple support  30 . This arrangement however is not important. Certain uses may inversely favor the arrangement. 
     A much greater advantage of the tool of this sort being manufactured and used is the possibility of their insertion. While conventional tools can normally be used only for so-called “wet grinding”, the tool presented here is used even for so-called “dry grinding”. With the appropriate suction devices, dry grinding offers the possibility of different grinding appearances, which is a very great advantage for the beauty of a stone floor.