Abstract:
A handheld material conditioner including at least three orbital head assemblies. The handheld material conditioner including a motor, where the motor is connected to the at least three orbital head assemblies. The handheld material conditioner including a housing to house the motor. The housing having at least one handle and having an on/off device to send power to the motor. The handheld material conditioner including a base to which the at least three orbital head assemblies are attached. The base having a top, bottom and at least one side extending down from the base. The handheld material conditioner including a conditioning pad attached to each of the at least three orbital head assemblies.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/766,683 filed Feb. 6, 2006 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Conditioning or reconditioning of a material usually requires polishing or sanding of the material. Examples of materials to be polished include materials such as marble and stainless steel. Examples of materials to be sanded include wood of a furniture top or hardwood floors. Hardwood floors are especially difficult to sand in areas along walls, where it is cumbersome to sand with the large commercial sanding machines. It has been found that the many of the handheld sanders available are difficult to control and use by an inexperienced do-it-yourselfer type of operator. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for conditioning materials which is easier to operate for the do-it-yourselfer that lacks the operating experience of such devices. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A handheld material conditioner including at least three orbital head assemblies. The handheld material conditioner including a motor, where the motor is connected to the at least three orbital head assemblies. The handheld material conditioner including a housing to house the motor. The housing having at least one handle and having an on/off device to send power to the motor. The handheld material conditioner including a base to which the at least three orbital head assemblies are attached. The base having a top, bottom and at least one side extending down from the base. The handheld material conditioner including a conditioning pad attached to each of the at least three orbital head assemblies. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a handheld material conditioner according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a handheld material conditioner according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a base of a handheld material conditioner according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a base of a handheld material conditioner according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a base of a handheld material conditioner according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of an orbital head assembly according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view of an orbital head assembly according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a base of a handheld material conditioner according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a base of a handheld material conditioner according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a cut-away view of an orbital pulley, base attachment collar, and base attachment collar bearing assembly of a handheld material conditioner according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a motor housing of a handheld material conditioner according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention is a handheld material conditioner  10 . The handheld material conditioner  10  is shown and described as a sander for sanding materials. The handheld material conditioner  10  can be easily converted to do other types of material conditioning, by changing the type of conditioning pad that is employed. The handheld material conditioner  10  improves the ease of use as compared to currently available devices due to a random rotating orbital action and the number of conditioning pads. Thereby, allowing the unsophisticated do-it-yourselfer to use the handheld material conditioner  10 . The handheld material conditioner  10  is shown in  FIGS. 1-2 , and components of the handheld material conditioner  10  are shown in  FIGS. 1-11 . The handheld material conditioner  10  provides a random rotating orbital sanding action, which greatly improves the ability to control the handheld material conditioner  10  and provides a much nicer job of conditioning the wood material of a floor. The handheld material conditioner  10  includes a base  14 , belt cover  16 , belt  18 , dust collection tube  20 , motor assembly  22 , and three orbital head assemblies  24  with conditioning pads  26 . 
     The base  14  is to which all the other components of the handheld material conditioner  10  are connected. The base  14  includes a top  28 , bottom  30  and continuous side  32  extending from the bottom  30  of the base  14 . The continuous side  32  acts as shield for safety. The base  14  includes orbital head assembly holes  34 , motor spacer holes  36 , belt cover holes  38  and a dust collection hole  40 .  FIG. 3  shows the dust collection tube  20  with a threaded base end  42  and a vacuum end  44 . The base end  42  treads into the dust collection hole  40  to allow mounting of the dust collection tube  20  to the base  14 . The vacuum end  44  is for attachment of a vacuum to the dust collection tube  20  for the collection of dust during use of the handheld material conditioner  10 . The motor spacer holes  36  allow for the mounting of motor spacers  46 , as shown in  FIGS. 2 ,  4 , and  8 - 9 . The motor spacers  46  include a base end  48  and a motor end  50 . Both the base end  48  and motor end  50  include a threaded opening  52 . The threaded opening  52  of the base end  48  of each motor spacer  46  is placed over one of the motor spacer holes  36  on the top  28  of the base  14 . A bolt  54  is inserted into the motor spacer hole  36  at the bottom  30  of the base  14  and threaded into the threaded opening  52  of the base end  48  of each motor spacer  46  to secure the motor spacer  46  to the base  14 . 
     The three orbital head assemblies  24  are shown in more detail in  FIGS. 5-7 . The three orbital head assemblies  24  each include a rotating orbital head  56 , orbital head bearing assembly  58 , conditioning pad shaft  60 , base attachment collar  62 , base attachment collar bearing assembly  64  and an orbital pulley  66 . The base attachment collar  62  includes a threaded end  68  on the top  70  of the base attachment collar  62 .  FIG. 7  shows a bearing cavity  72  within the base attachment collar  62 . The orbital head bearing assembly  58  and the base attachment collar bearing assembly  64  are shown as sealed bearings. The base attachment collar bearing assembly  64  is press fitted into the bearing cavity  72  of the base attachment collar  62 . The orbital head  56  includes a threaded pulley shaft  74  extending from the top  76  of the orbital head  56 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the bottom  78  of the orbital head  56  includes a bearing cavity  80  in the orbital head  56 . The bearing cavity  80  of the orbital head  56  is offset from the center of the orbital head  56 . The orbital head  56  is shaped such that there is additional material to form an enhanced weight section  82  away from the bearing cavity  80 , as shown in  FIGS. 6-7 . The orbital head bearing assembly  58  is press fitted into the bearing cavity  80  of the orbital head  56 . The conditioning pad shaft  60  includes a pad end  84  and a bearing end  86 . The bearing end  86  of the conditioning pad shaft  60  is press fitted into the orbital head bearing assembly  58  that is fitted into the orbital head  56 . The threaded pulley shaft  74  is inserted into and thru the base attachment collar bearing assembly  64  that is fitted into the base attachment collar  62 , such that threads of the threaded pulley shaft  74  extend beyond the base attachment collar bearing assembly  64 . The conditioning pad  26  includes a threaded stud  88 . The pad end  84  of the conditioning pad shaft  60  includes a threaded cavity  90  to allow attachment of the conditioning pad  26  by threading the threaded stud  88  of the conditioning pad  26  into the threaded cavity  90  of the pad end  84  of the conditioning pad shaft  60 . 
     The threaded end  68  of the base attachment collar  62  of each of the orbital head assemblies  24  threads into one of the orbital head assembly holes  34  from the bottom  30  of the base  14 . The base attachment collar  62  is threaded into the orbital head assembly hole  34  until the base attachment collar  62  is tightened against the bottom  30  of the base  14 . The orbital pulley  66  includes a threaded hole  92  which threads onto the threads of the threaded pulley shaft  74 . The orbital pulley  66  includes a contact ring  94 , which faces the base attachment collar bearing assembly  64  in the base attachment collar  62 , as shown in  FIG. 10 . The orbital pulley  66  is tightened against an inside race  96  of the base attachment collar bearing assembly  64 , which locks the inside race  96  and contact ring  94  together. The tightening of the orbital pulley  66  against the inside race  96  holds the orbital head  56  in place in an upward position within the orbital head assembly  24  and to the base  14 . The belt  18  attaches around the three orbital pulleys  66 , as shown in  FIG. 8 . The belt cover  16  includes a motor opening  98  to receive the motor assembly  22 . The belt cover  16  includes mounting tabs  100  with bolt holes  102 . Bolts  104  are inserted into the bolt holes  102  of the mounting tabs  100  and are threaded into the belt cover holes  38  of the base  14  to secure the belt cover  16  to the base  14 . 
     The motor assembly  22  includes a housing  106  with a motor (not shown) mounted within the housing  106 . The motor assembly  22  includes a first handle  108  in the shape of a pistol grip with a trigger  110 . The trigger  110  is an on/off device connected to the motor and is used to activate the motor. A power cord  112  extends out from the first handle  108  and provides power to the trigger  110 , and hence power to the motor. A second handle  114  is mounted to the housing  106  to allow a two hand grip for added control the handheld material conditioner  10 . The motor assembly  22  includes a motor pulley  116  attached to a shaft  118  of the motor, as shown in  FIGS. 8 and 11 . When the motor assembly  22  is fitted to the base  14 , the motor pulley  116  is inserted into the motor opening  98  of the belt cover  16  and pushes against the belt  18 , as shown in  FIG. 8 . The motor assembly  22  includes a motor collar  120  attached to the housing  106 . The motor collar  120  includes bolt holes  122  which align with the threaded openings  52  of the motor end  50  of the motor spacers  46 . Motor bolts  124  are inserted into the bolt holes  122  of the motor collar  120  and threaded into the openings  52  of the motor end  50  of the motor spacers  46  to secure the motor assembly  22  to the base  14 . The motor spacers  46  provide the proper positioning and clearance to allow for the motor pulley  116  to align with the belt  18  and orbital pulleys  66 , without contacting the base  14 . 
     When power is applied by pulling the trigger  110 , the motor rotates the motor pulley  116 . Rotation of the motor pulley  116  turns the belt  18  and rotates each of the orbital pulleys  66  of the orbital head assemblies  24 . Rotation of the orbital pulleys  66  of the orbital head assemblies  24  causes the threaded pulley shafts  74  to rotate, and hence the orbital heads  56  to rotate. The attachment of the conditioning pad shafts  60  in an offset position from the center of the orbital heads  56  and the ability of the conditioning pad shafts  60  to rotate independently of the orbital heads  56  causes the conditioning pads  26  to rotate in a random orbital pattern. The rotation of the conditioning pads  26  in a random orbital pattern makes the handheld material conditioner  10  easier to control by the user and produces an improved conditioning action. Since the handheld material conditioner  10  is easier to control, the user is less likely to make a mistake during material conditioning. 
     While different embodiments of the invention has been described in detail herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to the embodiments could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements are illustrative only and are not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of any and all equivalents thereof.