Stacked sanding wheel for radical profiles

A stacked sanding wheel for wooden panels with radical profiles. The sanding wheel has two sanding members stacked atop one another and mounted to a drive means for rotation about an axis. Each sanding member has a relatively rigid backing portion with an outer surface corresponding in profile to one of the surfaces on each side of the profile edge. The flexible sanding strips assume the shape of the outer surface of each backing portion which, in turn, corresponds to one of the surfaces of the profile to be sanded. The separate sanding members are secured to the drive means in a stacked relationship with their separate sanding strips abutting one another to form a sharp edge corresponding to the sharp edge of the wooden panel's profile.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to the field of sanding apparatus and more 
particularly, to the field of sanding wheels for radical profiles. 
2. Discussion of the Background 
Wooden panels with a sharp edge in their profiles present difficult sanding 
problems. Commonly, these radical profiles are rough cut by shaping or 
coping heads and include angled surfaces meeting to form a sharp edge. In 
the sanding operation, the problem is then presented of how to sand the 
profile without ruining or dulling the sharp edge and putting an 
undesirable radius or curve in it. 
Presently, such profiles with sharp edges in them are sanded by either 
doing multiple passes of the panel by the sanders (wherein only one 
surface on each side of the edge is sanded with each pass) or having a 
special, one-piece sanding wheel custom made. The first approach of having 
to do multiple passes is time consuming. The second approach of having a 
special, one-piece wheel made is expensive. Typically, such wheels are 
custom cast is plastic with the desired profile and then sprayed with an 
adhesive glue and abrasive particles. The problem subsequently arises that 
when the adhesive wears out, it is very difficult and time consuming to 
reapply new abrasive and often, it is necessary to replace the entire 
wheel with a new, custom-made one. 
In general sanding operations, a currently popular and relatively 
inexpensive design for sanding wheels involves using removable sanding 
strips which are fastened to profiled backing portions (e.g., by hook-loop 
arrangements). Such strips can be easily and quickly removed and replaced 
as they wear out and are relatively inexpensive. Unfortunately, to date, 
such wheels with removable sanding strips could not be used to sand 
radical profiles such as ones with a sharp, linear edge in them. The 
problem is that although such radical profiles can be created in the rigid 
backing portion (e.g., metal), the removable sanding strip could not be 
bent (see FIG. 6) or pushed into the sharp angle of the radical edge on 
the backing portion. Rather, the strip would end up curving (see FIG. 6) 
across the angle of the edge in the backing portion and dulling or putting 
an undesirable radius or curve on the edge of the wooden panel or other 
workpiece. 
In this light, the modified sanding wheel of the present invention was 
developed. With it, radical or sharp edged profiles can be quickly and 
easily sanded using sanding wheels with relatively inexpensive and easily 
removable and replaceable sanding strips. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention involves a stacked sanding wheel for wooden panels with 
radical profiles. Such profiles typically have angled surfaces that meet 
to form a relatively sharp edge. The sanding wheel has two sanding members 
stacked atop one another and mounted to a drive means for rotation about 
an axis. Each sanding member has a relatively rigid backing portion with 
an outer surface corresponding in profile to one of the surfaces on each 
side of the profile edge. Flexible sanding strips are then removably 
attached about the outer surfaces of the backing portions of each of the 
sanding members. The flexible sanding strips assume the shape of the outer 
surface of each backing portion which, in turn, corresponds to one of the 
surfaces of the profile to be sanded. The separate sanding members are 
secured to the drive means in a stacked relationship with their separate 
sanding strips abutting one another to form an edge. The edge is 
relatively sharp and corresponds to the sharp edge of the profile formed 
where the first and second surfaces of the wooden panel's profile meet. In 
this manner, the sanding wheel assumes a profile corresponding to the 
radical profile of the wooden panel and does so using relatively 
inexpensive and easily removable and replaceable sanding strips.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the stacked sanding wheel 2 of the present 
invention includes two sanding members 4 and 6. These bottom and top 
sanding members 4 and 6 (see FIG. 2) are stacked atop one another and are 
removably secured to each other and to the disc-shaped base support 8 by 
screws 10. The base support 8, in turn, is removably secured by nut 12 and 
washer 14 to and about the shaft 16 of the drive means 18. In this manner, 
the sanding wheel 2 is removably mounted to the drive means 18 for 
rotation about the axis 20. 
The bottom or smaller diameter sanding member 4 as shown in FIG. 2 includes 
backing portion 22 and flexible sanding strip means 24. The sanding strip 
24 is removably attached to and about the outer surface 26 of the backing 
portion 22. The backing portion 22 is preferably made of metal or other 
relatively rigid and inflexible material that will hold and maintain its 
shape during the sanding operation. The sanding member 4 itself as shown 
in the exploded view of FIG. 3 is preferably composed of two C-shaped 
sections 4' (but could be three or more pieces or even a single, unitary 
piece). Similarly, the sanding strip means 24 preferably has a separate or 
individual strip segment for each C-shaped backing portion 22 (see FIG. 3) 
with the segment ends 28 of each strip segment wrapped around the ends of 
each C-shape. However, if desired, the sanding strip means 24 could be a 
single strip or band wrapped completely about the assembled and abutting 
C-shaped back portion 22. 
Regardless of whether the annular sanding member 4 is a unitary piece or 
made up of a number of separable pieces or sections, the outer surface 26 
of the backing portions 22 of the assembled sanding member 4 is 
substantially continuous about the axis 20. Further, at least the part 26' 
(see FIG. 5) of the outer surface 26 of the backing portions 22 is 
profiled to match or correspond to one of the surfaces (e.g., the lower, 
straight surface E) of the profile P, P' of the wooden workpiece or panel 
30. The flexible sanding strip means 24 with its outer, abrasive surface 
32 can then be removably attached as a single piece directly to the 
backing surface 26 by glue or more preferably by the hook-loop arrangement 
of pieces 35 and 37 (see FIG. 5). In this preferred arrangement, hook 
piece 35 of the sanding strip means 24 is glued or otherwise attached to 
the backing surface 26 with the outer piece 37 of the sanding strip means 
24 having a mating loop on it. The outer abrasive piece 37 of the sanding 
strip means 24 can then be easily and quickly removed and replaced as 
desired. In this manner, the abrasive outer surface 32 of the flexible 
sanding strip means 24 assumes the profile of the outer surface 26 of the 
backing portions 22. This outer surface 26, in turn, matches and 
corresponds (at least at the working part 26') to the profile of the 
surface E on the lower leg or side of the edge E (see FIG. 5) of the 
profile P, P' of panel 30. 
Similarly, the second or upper sanding member 6 can be a single, unitary 
piece or made up of one or more sections such as the C-shaped sections 6' 
of FIG. 3. Regardless of whether the sanding member 6 is composed of one 
or more pieces or sections, the assembled sanding member 6 has a backing 
portion 42 and sanding strip means 24' attached thereto. Like sanding 
member 4, the abrasive portion of the sanding strip 24' is preferably 
removably attached (e.g., hook-loop arrangement) to and about the outer 
surface 46 of the backing portion 42. However, unlike lower sanding member 
4, the outer surface 46 of the sanding member 6 (at least at part 46' in 
FIG. 5) is profiled to match and correspond to the upper surface P' on the 
other leg or side of edge E of the profile P, P' of panel 30. 
In operation, the first and second sanding members 4 and 6 are first 
secured to the drive means 18 in the stacked relationship of FIG. 2. In 
doing so and as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 5, the sanding members 4 and 6 
are positioned adjacent one another along the axis 20 (see FIG. 2) with 
their respective outer, abrasive surfaces 32 and 32' (FIG. 5) extending 
about and along the axis 20 and abutting one another. In this manner, the 
abutting sanding strips 24 and 24' form a relatively sharp edge E' 
matching or corresponding to the desired edge E of the panel 30 profile P, 
P' (see again FIG. 5). Since the sanding profile of the sanding wheel 2 is 
made up of two separate sanding strips 24 and 24', nearly any desired 
sharp edge at E' can be created. This is particularly true as shown in 
FIGS. 2 and 5 when the non-abrasive surface 38 or thickness of the side of 
piece 37 of the sanding strip means 24 is directly abutting against the 
sanding strip 24' and its abrasive surface 32'. As best illustrated in 
FIG. 5, the angle so created results in a linear edge E' with no gap or 
spacing between the abrasive surfaces 32 and 32'. The profile surfaces P 
and P' of the panel 30 can then be sanded virtually to the linear edge E' 
formed where straight surface P and curved surface P' meet. 
This degree of sharpness at the sanding edge E' is preferably achieved by 
extending a part 25 of the sanding strip means 24' on member 6 inwardly of 
the edge E' (i.e., to the left in FIG. 5) over surface 47 of backing 
portion 42. Consequently, when the sanding wheel 2 is assembled (see FIGS. 
2 and 5), this part 25 of the sanding strip 24' is then pinched between 
the outwardly extending surfaces 27 and 47 of the backing portions 22 and 
42 of sanding members 4 and 6. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the 
surfaces 27 and 47 extend outwardly of and substantially perpendicular to 
the axis 20 (FIG. 2) and substantially abut one another. In use, the part 
25 of the sanding strip means 24' is then substantially pinched and held 
in place between surfaces 27 and 47. As stated above, this helps to create 
and to maintain in use a clean and sharp edge E' between the abutting, 
abrasive outer surfaces 32 and 32' of the sanding strips 24 and 24'. 
This edge E' as illustrated in FIG. 5 is essentially a linear edge in 
contrast to, for example, the radius or curved "edge" E" of the prior art 
approach of FIG. 6. That is, if a continuous strip of sandpaper such as 1 
in FIG. 6 is applied directly (or by a hook-loop arrangement) along the 
entire height of the profile of the backing portion 3, the strip 1 cannot 
be effectively bent or pushed into the sharp angle of the radical edge 5 
between surfaces 7 and 9. Rather, the strip 1 ends up curving (see again 
FIG. 6) across the angle between surfaces 5 and 7 thereby dulling or 
putting an undesirable radius or curve on the sharp linear edge E of the 
panel 30 to be sanded. In contrast, the use of two separate sanding strips 
24 and 24' on separate, stacked sanding members 4 and 6 as disclosed above 
overcomes this problem. Additionally, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 7, the 
sharp edge E' of the sanding wheel 2 can be used to sand radical profiles 
on both straight sides 50 and curved sides 52 of the workpiece or panel 
30. In other words, the linear edge E of the panel 30 can be one that 
extends along or about the panel 30 either as a straight linear edge (side 
50) or a curved linear edge (side 52) and the sanding wheel 2 of the 
present invention can be used to sand both types of radical profiles. 
While several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and 
described in detail, it is to be understood that various modifications and 
changes could be made to them without departing from the spirit of the 
invention. For example, the invention of FIGS. 1-7 has been shown and 
described with the profile of the outer surface 26 of the member 4 being 
substantially cylindrical about axis 20 and the profile of sanding member 
6 extending along the axis 20 in a curve. This results in the very common 
and popular radical profile E, E' but the individual profiles of the 
sanding members 4 and 6 could obviously be varied. The sanding member 4 is 
also preferably distinct from the base support member 8 but could be 
integral therewith if desired. Preferably, the sanding wheel components 
are distinct adding to the ease of assembly, disassembly, and individual 
component replacement, all of which are critical to an efficient and cost 
effective operation. The larger diameter sanding member 6 is also shown as 
being on the top but it could obviously be on the bottom and its diameter 
varied as desired. Each sanding member 4 and 6 of the preferred embodiment 
is shown and described as being two, substantially identical C-shaped or 
arcuate sections extending respectively 180 degrees about the axis 20; 
but, the annular ring or other arrangement formed by them could be divided 
into any number of a plurality of identical or non-identical sections or 
parts which were attached individually or collectively to the support 
member 8.