Belt/disc sander with dust pickup means

A dust collection system for both a belt sander and a disc sander in which the dust collector for the belt sander has a removable upper section to enable a workpiece longer than the belt bed to be sanded and the disc dust collector has the front lower one-half removable therefrom to expose the entire disc for sanding. In addition, and end stop is associated with the belt sander which is formed in the shape of an elongated rectangular plate having a plurality of U-shaped orifices at the bottom thereof to form a comb-like structure that allows a greater amount of dust to enter the dust collector for the belt sander.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to belt/disc sanders in general and in 
particular to belt/disc sanders that have dust pickup and collector means 
associated with the belt sander and with the disc sander. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Belt/disc sanders are well known in the prior art. They have a belt table 
with a motor-driven shaft at one end and an idler wheel at the other. The 
idler wheel is adjustable towards and away from the driving shaft so that 
an endless loop sanding belt can be placed over the drive shaft and the 
idler wheel. The idler wheel is then adjusted away from the drive shaft to 
tighten the belt to a proper tension. On one end of the shaft driving the 
sanding belt is a plate which has a circular sandpaper disc placed thereon 
for a circular disc sander. Thus both the belt sander and the disc sander 
are driven by a common motor. 
In the prior art, a dust collector is placed around and encompasses the end 
of the belt table in which the drive shaft is located. Thus the sanding 
belt passes into and under the cover of the dust collector and carries 
into it dust generated by the sanding operation. A vacuum system is 
connected to the essentially C-shaped dust collector which encompasses the 
one end of the belt and suctions the dust out of the collector. To protect 
the dust collector and provide support for the workpiece, an end stop is 
mounted to the belt bed in front of the dust collector. It is an elongated 
rectangular plate whose lower edge is spaced just above the sanding belt 
to allow the dust to pass under. The end stop supports the workpiece being 
sanded so that it does not engage the dust collector and damage it. The 
problem with this type of arrangement, of course, is twofold. First, all 
of the dust being generated by the sanding operation does not pass under 
the end stop and the end stop itself has a tendency to prevent some of the 
dust from entering the dust collector. In addition, if one wishes to sand 
a workpiece longer than the sanding belt bed, the dust collector is in the 
way as well as the end stop and thus prevents a long workpiece from being 
sanded. In addition, in the prior art, there is no dust collector 
associated with the disc sander. 
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by 
providing a dust collector for the belt sander that is formed in two 
sections, an upper section and a lower section. The upper section is 
easily detachable from the lower section along with the end stop such that 
workpieces that are longer than the belt bed can be sanded with no 
interference from the dust collector. The lower half of the dust collector 
is still surrounding the lower end of the belt and is still removing dust 
by a vacuum system. In addition, in the present invention the end stop is 
formed with a plurality of spaced U-shaped orifices that extend downwardly 
toward the belt. The open end of the U merges with the lower edge of the 
elongated rectangular plate to form a comb-like structure through which 
greater amounts of dust can pass to the dust collector. 
The lower section of the dust collector for the belt bed has its upper flat 
surface just below the surface of the sanding belt so that an elongated 
workpiece being sanded will not touch the lower section of the dust 
collector. The upper section has two L-shaped latching members extending 
downwardly from a mating flat surface which extend into orifices in the 
top flat surface of the lower section. A single screw attaches the upper 
forward end of the upper section to the end stop. Another bolt attaches 
the end stop to the belt bed such that the end stop can be removed by one 
bolt from the belt bed and the entire top section of the dust collector 
plus the end plate be removed simultaneously from the sander. 
In addition, the present invention has a dust collector associated with the 
disc sander and which encompasses the entire back side of the disc sander 
and the lower front side so that essentially only the front upper half of 
the disc sander is exposed for sanding. A vacuum attachment orifice is 
formed in the lower front section of the dust collector so that dust 
generated by the disc sanding operation can be removed from the dust 
collector. 
Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a belt/disc sander 
having a dust collection system for both the belt sander and the disc 
sander. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a belt/disc sander 
that has a dust collection system for the belt sander that is formed in 
two sections so that the upper section can be removed and a workpiece 
longer than the belt bed can be sanded since it can extend beyond either 
end of the belt sander. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a belt/disc 
sander in which an end stop is associated with the upper section of the 
dust collector and which is formed with a comb-like structure to allow a 
greater amount of dust generated by the sanding operation to pass into the 
collector. 
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a belt/disc 
sander which has a dust collector associated with the disc sander and 
which collector encompasses the upper and lower rear portions of the disc 
sander and the lower half of the front portion, thereby enabling sanding 
to take place only on the upper half of the sanding disc. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Thus the present invention relates to a dust collection system for a belt 
sander comprising a dust collector associated with the belt sander that is 
formed with a removable upper section to enable a workpiece longer than 
the belt bed to be sanded and a dust collector associated with a disc 
sander which has a rear section enclosing the entire back of the disc 
sander and a front lower one-half which, in conjunction with the rear 
section, encloses the back upper half and substantially the entire lower 
one-half of the sanding disc. 
The invention also relates to a dust collection system for a belt sander 
comprising a frame, a belt bed mounted to the frame for carrying an 
endless sanding belt that moves in a horizontal plane across the top of 
the bed from one end to the other end, a two-section elongated 
substantially U-shaped dust collector mounted to the bed so as to 
substantially surround the other end of the bed and sanding belt for 
receiving dust generated from sanding, an upper section of the dust 
collector being removably attached to a lower section such that by 
removing the upper section, a workpiece being sanded can be placed on the 
belt while extending beyond both ends of the bed and over the lower 
section, thereby enabling workpieces longer than the sander bed to be 
sanded, and an outlet in the lower section for attachment to a vacuum 
system to remove the dust. 
The invention also relates to an end stop for mounting over the moving belt 
on the belt bed of a belt sander near one end thereof for providing a stop 
for a workpiece being sanded, the end stop comprising an elongated 
rectangular plate, a plurality of orifices formed in the rectangular plate 
just above the belt to allow dust generated by the moving belt to pass 
through the orifices in the plate, and means for attaching the plate to 
the belt bed for supporting a workpiece being sanded against horizontal 
movement. 
The invention also relates to a dust collector for a disc sander comprising 
a frame, a motor-driven shaft, a circular plate attached to one end of the 
motor-driven shaft for receiving a sanding disc, a housing enclosing the 
entire plate except for the front upper one-half of the plate which is 
exposed to enable a workpiece to be sanded, and an outlet in the lower 
half of the housing for attachment to a vacuum system to remove the dust.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
Referring now to FIG. 1, the novel belt/disc sander of the present 
invention is shown and designated generally by the numeral 10. It has a 
belt sander 12 and a disc sander 14. The belt sander 12 includes a belt 
bed 16 with an endless belt of sandpaper 18 placed thereon. An adjustment 
mechanism 20 allows a front idler pulley 21 to be moved inwardly 
sufficient to release pressure on the endless sand belt 18 to allow it to 
be removed and replaced as needed. A dust cover shown generally by the 
numeral 22 covers the drive shaft 60 as shown in FIG. 2 to collect the 
dust generated as the sandpaper belt 18 moves toward the dust collector 22 
in FIG. 1. An end stop 24 is mounted directly in front of the dust 
collector 22 and is positioned slightly above the sandpaper belt 18 to 
allow the dust generated by the sanding operation to be carried under the 
stop 24 into the dust collector 22. The end stop 24 supports the items 
that are being sanded with the belt sander. It prevents the item being 
sanded from being moved along with belt 18. 
In like manner, the disc sander 14 has an adjustable stop 26 which can be 
used to position the piece being sanded by the sandpaper disc 27. A dust 
cover housing 28 surrounds the sandpaper disc 27 and allows only the front 
portion thereof to be exposed for the purpose of the sanding operation. A 
vacuum attachment may be connected to orifice 30 coupled to the lower 
portion 154 of the dust cover 28. As will be seen later, the disc sander 
dust cover 28 is comprised of three portions. It has an upper back portion 
184 (FIG. 13), a lower back portion 128 (FIG. 6) and a lower front portion 
154 (FIG. 10) which has the orifice 30 for attachment to the vacuum 
system. Thus the disc 27 is surrounded on the lower half both front and 
back and the upper half on the back, thereby making a complete and 
effective dust collection system. Brackets 138-140 and 142-144 (FIG. 6) 
are formed on the lowest part of the lower back portion of the dust cover 
28 for receiving an allen wrench 34 which will be used as described 
hereafter to operate a quick release to allow the belt sander bed to be 
moved from the horizontal position as shown to the vertical position. 
Switch 36 on the frame 11 turns the belt and disc sanders on and off. Both 
the belt sander 12 and the disc sander 14 are driven by the same drive 
shaft and therefore both rotate together when switch 36 is actuated. 
A partially exploded schematic view of the belt sander 12 and its 
associated components is illustrated in FIG. 2. As can be seen in FIG. 2, 
belt bed 16 has orifices 62 and 64 at one end through which drive shaft 60 
may be mounted. A cylindrical-type pulley 66 is mounted on shaft 60 to 
carry the sanding belt 18. End 61 of shaft 60 extends through bearing 70 
and circular support wheel 74 which is rigidly attached to the belt bed 16 
in any well-known manner such as by bolts or screws. The other end of 
shaft 60 is mounted in bearing 68 that fits in a recessed cup in mounting 
bracket 72 which is mounted to the other side of belt bed 16. 
Circular support wheel 74 has a wide outer surface 75 which mates with the 
interior of a C-shaped clamp or collar 76 which also has a wide inner 
surface 77. The wide outer surface 75 of support structure 74 and the wide 
inner surface 77 of the C-shaped collar 76 are in mating contact. A recess 
78 in the upper portion of C-shaped collar 76 has an orifice 79 therein. 
Recess 80 in the lower portion of C-shaped collar 76 has an orifice (not 
shown) that is in alignment with orifice 79. A hex bolt 90 inserted in the 
aligned orifices contacts nut 92 in recess 80 and can be used to compress 
or loosen the outer ends of C-shaped collar 76 to tighten the C-shaped 
collar 76 or loosen the C-shaped collar 76 about the circular support 
structure 74. When the belt bed 16 is in the horizontal position, the hex 
screw 90 can be tightened to lock the bed to the frame 11. If it is 
desired to raise the bed 16 to the vertical position, the hex wrench 34 on 
the lower front portion of the dust cover for the disc sander 14 can be 
used to loosen bolt 90 as a quick release and allow bed 16 to be moved to 
the vertical position. The bolt 90 can then be retightened and C-shaped 
collar 76 will engage circular support wheel 74 and lock the bed 16 in the 
vertical position. 
An indexing pin 100 is rigidly fit in orifice 102 in C-shaped collar 76 to 
provide a positive stop for both the horizontal and vertical positions of 
the sander bed 16. An indexing plate 104 is associated with indexing pin 
100 for enabling the belt sander bed 16 to be accurately positioned at the 
0.degree. and 90.degree. positions. Plate 104 has an annular surface 106 
that extends through the center of the C-shaped collar 76. A first 
inwardly extending flange 108 on a first end of the annular surface 106 on 
the inside of the C-shaped collar 76 attaches to the circular support 
wheel 74 which is of course attached to the belt bed 16. A second 
outwardly extending flange 110 on the other end of the annular fixture 106 
is on the outside of the C-shaped collar 76 such that when the belt bed 16 
is rotated from 0.degree. to 90.degree., the second flange 110 rotates 
with the belt bed. An arcuate recess 111 is formed in the second flange 
110 for receiving the indexing pin 100. A first shoulder 112 in the recess 
111 engages the indexing pin 100 at 0.degree. horizontal belt bed 16 
position and a second shoulder 114 engages the indexing pin 100 at a 
90.degree. vertical position of the belt bed 16 so as to provide automatic 
stops at the correct 0.degree. and 90.degree. belt bed positions. 
The details of the end stop 24 are illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. FIG. 3 
is a front view of the end stop 24 which has an elongated rectangular 
plate 116 in which a plurality of U-shaped orifices 118 are formed. When 
the end stop 24 is mounted to the belt bed 16 by a bolt or screw through 
orifice 122 in side extension 120, the bottom surface of the rectangular 
plate 116 is just above the belt to allow dust generated by the moving 
belt to pass through the orifices 118 to the dust collector. The U-shaped 
orifices 118 have the open end of each U extending downwardly to the lower 
edge of the rectangular plate 116 thereby forming a comb-like structure. A 
transversely extending plate 124 extends to the rear of the rectangular 
plate 116 as shown in FIG. 5 and has an orifice 126 therein as shown in 
FIG. 4 for attaching the outer end of the upper dust collector section 38 
to the end stop for support of both the upper dust collector section 38 
and the rectangular plate 116. 
As stated earlier, shaft 60 that drives the sanding belt extends through 
C-shaped collar or clamp 76 where it is driven by a motor, not shown. The 
outer end of the shaft 60 also has attached thereto the disc sander 27. A 
dust collection system is provided for the sander 27 as illustrated in 
FIGS. 6-15. In FIG. 6, the lower back housing 128 is shown. It comprises a 
semicircular portion 132 having orifices 134, 135, 137 and 139 thereon for 
attachment to the top back portion and front lower portion of the dust 
collector. The dust is collected only in the semicircular portion 132 
because the sanding disc rotates therein. The housing portion 148 below 
the semicircular portion 132 is on the outside of the sander and does not 
collect the dust. The housing 148 is integrally formed with semicircular 
housing portion 132 and extends downwardly therefrom. An orifice 130 is 
formed in the center portion of the semicircular housing portion 132 
through which the end of shaft 60 protrudes with its centerline along 
point 152. Orifices 136 and 146 are used for bolts to attach the lower 
back housing 128 to the frame 11. Projections 138 and 140 are in alignment 
on the outside of the lower housing 148 as are projections 142 and 144. 
These projections have hexagonal orifices therein for receiving and 
retaining wrenches that can be used for the bed quick disconnect and bed 
adjustment bolts as partially shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a rear view of 
the lower rear portion 128 of the dust collector 14. All of the elements 
mentioned in relation to FIG. 6 can be seen from the back of unit 128 in 
FIG. 7. 
FIG. 8 is a side view of the lower rear portion 128 of the dust collector 
14. It will be noted in the side view that the semicircular portion 132 
extends in front of the extended housing 148. The sander disc 27 will 
rotate with the flat axis of the disc being encompassed by semicircular 
portion 132. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the portion 128 of the 
dust collector 14 taken along lines 9--9 of FIG. 7. In FIG. 9, the bolt 
attachment orifices 136 and 146 can be clearly seen. In addition, the 
semicircular portion 132 is shown clearly in front of the portion 148 
where the shaft 60 would extend through orifice 130 along centerline 152. 
Note that the plane 150 of the rotating disc sander is encompassed within 
the semicircular portion 132. 
The lower front portion of the dust collector 14 is shown in FIG. 10 and is 
indicated by the numeral 154. It can be removed, if necessary, to expose 
the entire disc for sanding purposes. In such case, there would be no dust 
collection. It has a substantially semicircular portion 156 from which a 
vacuum nozzle 162 extends and with which it is integrally formed. Orifices 
158 and 160 allow attachment of the front lower portion 154 to the rear 
lower portion 128 by attachment to orifices 135 and 139 respectively as 
shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 11 is a side view of the lower front portion 154 of 
the dust collector 14. The inside shoulder 166 mates with and is under 
bottom surface 151 (FIG. 9) of the semicircular portion 132 of the lower 
rear section of the dust collector 128. FIG. 12 is a rear view of the 
lower front portion of the dust collector 154 illustrating the finger 
guard 164 that is placed in the orifice of the vacuum connection 162 to 
prevent one from inserting the fingers in the vacuum connection 162 and 
encountering the sander. 
The upper rear portion of the dust collector is designated by the numeral 
184 and is shown in FIG. 13. It also may have strengthening ribs 192 and 
is formed with an arcuate section 186. Orifice 188 mates with orifice 134 
in FIG. 6 and orifice 190 mates with orifice 137 in FIG. 6 to attach the 
upper rear portion to the lower rear portion of the dust collector 14. 
FIG. 14 is a rear view of the upper rear portion 184 of the dust collector 
14. Again, the arcuate section 186 can be seen along with the orifices 188 
and 190 and the centerline 152 for shaft 60. FIG. 15 is a side view of the 
upper rear portion 184 of the collector 14. It has a first flange section 
192 which tapers downwardly at 194 to a rear section 196. The centerline 
152 of the shaft 60 which drives the disc sander is illustrated. 
FIGS. 16, 17, 18 and 19 all relate to the top section 38 of the belt sander 
dust collector 22. FIG. 16 is a top view of the upper section 38 which has 
a flat section 174 at the front thereof, a sloping surface 172 to a second 
flat surface 175 which tapers off in a curved surface 176 down to a flat 
undersurface 178 which mates with flat surface 180 on the lower portion 40 
of the belt sander dust collector 22 as shown in FIG. 2. Note that the 
lower rear portion 176 has on the underside thereof L-shaped latching 
devices 168 and 170 which fit in corresponding orifices 56 and 58 of the 
lower section 40 as shown in FIG. 2. By removing the top section 38 of the 
belt dust collector 22 along with the end stop 24, an elongated workpiece 
that is longer than sanding belt bed 16 can be placed on the sanding belt. 
The user need only remove the bolt in orifice 122 (FIG. 4) that holds the 
top section 38 and end stop 24 to sanding belt bed 16. The end stop 24 and 
upper dust cover section 38 are removed by tipping them backwards until 
the L-shaped devices 168 and 170 are free from orifices 56 and 58. The 
upper surface 180 on the lower portion 40 is just below sanding belt 18 
thus clearing a workpiece placed on belt 18. 
Thus there has been disclosed a novel dust collection system for a 
belt/disc sander. A first dust collector is associated with the belt 
sander such that it is formed with a removable upper section to enable a 
workpiece longer than the belt bed to be sanded. There is also a dust 
collector associated with a disc sander which has a housing enclosing the 
entire disc plate except for the front upper one-half of the plate which 
is exposed to enable a workpiece to be sanded. An outlet in the front of 
the lower half of the housing provides attachment to a vacuum system to 
remove the dust. In addition, the front lower one-half of the dust 
collector on the disc is removable to expose the entire disc for sanding. 
An end stop is also provided which is mounted immediately in front of the 
dust collector for the belt sander and which is formed in the shape of a 
comb-like structure with U-shaped orifices to allow a greater amount of 
dust to pass into the dust collector. 
While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred 
embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the 
particular form set forth, but, on the contrary, it is intended to cover 
such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included 
within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended 
claims.