Abstract:
A device for processing wallpaper bonded to a surface, includes a rotatable, motor-driven carrier, on which the processing tools are provided; with a holder for the rotatable carrier, where the free ends of the processing tools act on certain areas of the wallpaper to be processed, and where the processing tools and the carrier are surrounded by a protective part. The processing tool is a perforating tool. After the perforating tool has been set against the wallpaper, the distance between the protective part and the wallpaper to be perforated can be adjusted. For this purpose, the holder of the carrier is constructed in the form of an adjusting sleeve with a clamping ring and by mounting the holder on the protective part, wherein the clamping ring mounted on the protective part surrounds the adjusting sleeve.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a device for processing wallpaper bonded to a surface, with a rotatable, motor-driven carrier, on which the processing tools are provided; with a holder for the rotatable carrier, where the free ends of the processing tools act on certain areas of the wallpaper to be processed, and where the processing tools and the carrier are surrounded by a protective part.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     These types of devices have become known through DE 9 012 203.8 U1. The processing tool has the effect of roughening or abrading the surface to be processed. As a result of this roughening and abrading, however, the wallpaper is not removed with sufficient gentleness. Devices for perforating wallpaper are described in the publication AT-PS 372 340. As a result, the wallpaper is made permeable, so that a solvent can be used to dissolve the adhesive on the rear surface of the wallpaper. This is especially important in the case of synthetic wallpaper or fiberglass wallpaper, because the wallpaper itself is water-tight. Manual rollers which carry perforating tools in the form of needles are known. By rolling these needles back and forth over the wallpaper several times, the paper is perforated. Manual perforation of this type is relatively laborious and takes a relatively long time. In addition, it cannot be guaranteed that the perforating tools are pressed uniformly into the wallpaper. The wallpaper is sometimes partially torn instead, which makes it relatively difficult to remove the wallpaper web itself.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     It is the object of the invention to provide a device of the type indicated above which is constructed in such a way that the perforation proceeds easily and uniformly. It should also be possible for the user to carry out the perforation work in a simple manner. Finally, the user should also be protected against any injury by the perforating tool.  
         [0006]     In accordance with the invention the object is met in that the processing tool is a perforating tool, and in that, after the perforating tool has been set against the wallpaper, the distance between the protective part and the wallpaper to be perforated can be adjusted, this being accomplished by constructing the holder of the carrier in the form of an adjusting sleeve with a clamping ring and by mounting the holder on the protective part, where the clamping ring mounted on the protective part surrounds the adjusting sleeve. The part which protects the perforating tool allows the safe handling of the device. The ability to adjust the height of the protective part above the wallpaper means that the perforating tool can penetrate to an adjustable depth into the wallpaper, which is important if, for example, the wallpaper is covered by several layers of paint. Being able to change the distance also guarantees that the substrate to which the wallpaper is glued is not damaged by the perforating tool. Finally, the electric motor which drives the device makes the work much easier for the user. The wallpaper to be perforated can be treated more quickly, so that the time it takes to remove the wallpaper is reduced. It is advisable to design the protective part in the form of a hood, which covers the carrier, the perforating tools, and the section of wallpaper to be processed to ensure that no pieces of wallpaper can be thrown by the perforating tool toward the user and that no injury can occur through the use of the perforating tool, because the protective hood forms the component by which the device is brought into contact. Finally, it is also guaranteed that the perforating tools cannot be pushed against any edges or the like and thus cannot cause any damage.  
         [0007]     It is advantageous to design the holder of the carrier in the form of an adjusting sleeve and to mount it on the protective part. The clamping ring mounted on the protective part surrounds the adjusting sleeve. By means of a holder of this type it is possible to use the adjusting sleeve to adjust the height of the protective part with respect to the perforating tools. The clamping ring itself provides a secure hold. It is advisable here for the clamping ring to have an internal thread and for the adjusting sleeve to have an external thread, where the adjusting sleeve is supported rotatably in the clamping ring. By the rotation of the adjusting sleeve in conjunction with the internal and external threads, it is therefore possible to lower the protective part relative to the perforating tools or to raise it from the wallpaper, whereas the position of the carrier itself remains unchanged. It is especially worth recommending that the screw connection used to hold the clamping ring on the protective part extend around only a small angle of the clamping ring, so that, upon actuation of the clamping ring screw, the diameter of the clamping ring can be reduced or increased. When the clamping ring screw is loosened, it is possible to turn the adjusting sleeve with ease and sensitivity.  
         [0008]     It is advantageous for perforating tools to be distributed uniformly around the rotational circumference of the carrier, so that, during the perforating operation, uniform pressure can be applied and uniform penetration can be achieved. It is recommended that the perforating tool be designed as a circular blade, preferably as a set of two circular blades. The knife blade itself carries individual tooth-like spikes, which perforate the wallpaper. The tools are driven via the carrier, where the circular blades roll along the wallpaper, so that the spikes on the knife blades penetrate into the wallpaper one after the other.  
         [0009]     In a special exemplary embodiment of the invention, the carrier is constructed out of a rotating ring and a pintle. The rotating ring is mounted nonrotatably on the pintle. The pintle provides secure support for the rotating ring, whereas the ring itself can hold the perforating tools, so that they are driven uniformly.  
         [0010]     It is advantageous for the perforating tools which are mounted on the carrier and which can rotate around axles to be designed as rollers with spikes, so that, as a result of the applied pressure and the rotational movement, the spikes on the rollers can be pushed one after the other into the wallpaper and the surface of the wallpaper can be perforated uniformly. To achieve the easiest possible operation, the end of the pintle facing away from the rotating ring is provided with a flexible shaft, which can be driven by an electric motor. The flexible shaft increases the handiness of the device. The device can be pressed onto the wallpaper to be perforated, whereas the electric motor takes care of the rotational movement. The user can carry the electric motor, in which case the electric motor would be battery-operated. To simplify the operation and handiness of the unit, the end of the pintle carrying the flexible shaft is mounted in a handle. The drive unit therefore does not get in the way of the user. To determine how far the perforating spikes of the tool project, an indicator can be provided to display the rotational angle of the adjusting sleeve with respect to the clamping ring. The rotational angle itself is then a measure of the depth of penetration of the perforating tool into the wallpaper.  
         [0011]     To ensure that the device does not become clogged by pieces of wallpaper during the perforating work, the hood-like protective part carries ejection openings, which extend outward from the hood, around its circumference. When the carrier turns and thus the perforating tools move, the wallpaper or paint residues are spun outward and escape from the hood-like protective part.  
         [0012]     So that the perforating parts can be easily replaced, it is recommended that the protective part be provided on its circumference with an access opening. Through this opening, a tool can be introduced to the screw which holds the perforating tool on the carrier, so that the screw can be loosened and the tool can be replaced. So that the individual rotatable perforating tools can be easily attached to the circumference of the rotating ring, this ring has threaded openings for the mounting of the axles on which perforating tools are mounted. The axles of the perforating tools can be screwed into these threaded openings. It is advisable for the threaded openings to extend radially with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotating ring, so that the perforating tool will rotate uniformly. In the case of another exemplary embodiment, the threaded openings are tangential to the axis of rotation. During the rotation of the rotating ring, the sharply pointed perforating tools will thus perform a slightly sliding movement, which has the effect of tearing the wallpaper slightly.  
         [0013]     In a special exemplary embodiment of the invention, the rotating ring and/or the pintle carries a disk for the wall surface to be processed, this disk extending radially ouward from the axis of rotation. In an exemplary embodiment of this type, practically the entire interior space is covered by the processing tool. It is a good idea here for the disk to be built up out of two sections, where the one section of the disk has openings for the pin-like perforating tools, and the second section of the disk holds the ends of the pins in the disk and prevents them from falling out. As a result, it is again possible to achieve uniform processing. In addition, the possibility is created of using different processing tools.  
         [0014]     To make it even simpler and easier to operate the perforating device, it is recommended that a push handle be mounted on the outside surface of the protective part, so that the device can be manipulated with two hands while in operation. One hand grips the push handle, and the other hand grips the other handle or the drive motor.  
         [0015]     The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages, specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the drawing and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0016]     In the drawing:  
         [0017]      FIG. 1   a  is a side view of the inventive device, driven here by a flexible shaft;  
         [0018]      FIG. 1   b  shows another embodiment with direct drive;  
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a cross section through the device with a circular knife as the perforating tool;  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  shows the device with two disk sections;  
         [0021]      FIG. 4  is a cross section through the device, in which rollers with needle-like spikes are provided as perforating tools;  
         [0022]      FIG. 5  shows a first embodiment of the rotating ring;  
         [0023]      FIG. 6  shows a second exemplary embodiment of the rotating ring of the carrier; and  
         [0024]      FIG. 7  shows a top view of the clamping ring.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0025]     The perforating device  10  shown in  FIG. 1   a  consists essentially of a protective part  11 , from which an adjusting sleeve  12  projects. The sleeve carries a thread  21 , which engages in the internal thread  22  of a clamping ring  13 . The clamping ring  13  itself is held in place on the protective part  11  by a screwed joint. The end  23  of a rotating pintle  14  projects from the adjusting sleeve. A flexible shaft  16  is connected to the rotating pintle  23 . The flexible shaft  16  passes through the handle  15 .  
         [0026]     The flexible shaft  16  leads to an electric drive motor  17 , which can be connected to a battery or to line current. Here the flexible shaft is long enough, so that the operator can either hang the drive motor on his shoulder or carry it in a pocket.  
         [0027]     Perforating tools  18  in the shape of circular blades project from the lower part of the hood-like protective part  11 . These blades have spikes, which penetrate into the wallpaper  19  to be perforated, which is glued to a substrate. It should also be mentioned here, however, that the clamping ring could also hold the adjusting sleeve  12  nonpositively with respect to the rotational movement by means of a screw (not shown). The perforating device according to  FIG. 1   b  has a design similar to that of  FIG. 1   a . The device is driven here by a motor  42 , which is connected to line current and can be attached to a part  23  of the rotating pintle  14 . The motor is provided with a chuck  43 , which holds the part  14 . By the use of a locknut  44 , the attachment of the solution can be accomplished. The motor is provided with an on-off switch  45  and a speed controller  47 . So that the device can be easily handled during operation, the protective part  11  has a push handle  47 . During operation, therefore, the device is manipulated with two hands.  
         [0028]     In the embodiment according to  FIG. 2 , the device  10  is shown without a handle.  
         [0029]     The pintle  14  is connected nonrotatably to a rotating ring  24  by means of a fastening screw  25 . The pintle and the ring form the carrier for the perforating tool  18 . The pintle  14  is mounted by means of a ball bearing arrangement in the adjusting sleeve  12 . The ball bearing is held in place in the adjusting sleeve  12  by means of Seeger circlip rings (not shown).  
         [0030]     The clamping ring  13 , in which the adjusting sleeve  12  is rotatably supported, is attached by means of a screwed joint  33  to the protective part  11 . It should be mentioned here that the screwed joint  33  comprises several points where the ring is screwed to the protective part  11 . The clamping ring is held by a clamping ring screw  34  on the outer circumference of the adjusting sleeve.  
         [0031]     The rotating ring  24  carries threaded openings  29 , which are uniformly distributed around its circumference, i.e., around its fastening screw  25 . Each of these threaded openings  29  accepts an axle  27 , which for its own part is provided with an outside thread at one end and which carries the perforating tool at the other end. This tool is fastened by a retaining screw  28  to the axle  27 . The perforating tool is designed as a set of two circular blades  26 . These circular blades are able to rotate freely. When the rotating ring rotates, the blade circumferences roll over the wallpaper  19  to be perforated. The circumference  32  of the circular blade is toothed, and it is these teeth or tooth-like spikes which penetrate into the wallpaper  19 .  
         [0032]     The protective part  11  is designed in the form of a hood. It is provided with an ejection opening  30  and with an access opening  31 . The ejection opening allows pieces of wallpaper which have been torn off during the perforating operation to be ejected through the opening to prevent the perforating tool from becoming jammed. An ejection opening  30  of this type is required when the perforating tool  18  carries perforating spikes  35 .  
         [0033]     The access openings allow access to the retaining screw  28  for replacement of the circular blades. As a result, the entire perforating device does not have to be disassembled simply to replace the blades.  
         [0034]     As can be seen in  FIG. 2 , the toothed circumference  32  perforates the wallpaper  19 . In practice, the circumference will penetrate through the entire thickness of the wallpaper.  
         [0035]     If the wallpaper is thicker because of layers of paint on it, the protective part  11  will have to be moved slightly away from the wallpaper  19 . For this purpose, the clamping ring screw  34  of the clamping ring is loosened, and the adjusting sleeve  12  is rotated in the clockwise direction, so that the adjusting sleeve projects a bit more into the hood-like protective part  11 . As a result of this height adjustment, the distance between the protective part and the circular blade acting on the wallpaper is increased, and the toothed circumference  32  can penetrate more deeply into the wallpaper when the protective part is set down. Conversely, if the wallpaper is thin or if the wallpaper is merely to be pricked, the adjusting sleeve is turned counterclockwise, and the rotating ring  24  with the perforating blade is pulled into the hood-like protective part  11 .  
         [0036]     After the adjustment has been completed, the clamping ring screw  34  is tightened again.  
         [0037]     It remains to be said that, in  FIG. 5 , the threaded openings  29  in the rotating ring  24  are shown in broken line. When viewed from above, these are seen to be distributed uniformly around the axis of rotation of the rotating ring.  
         [0038]     The clamping ring  13  and its clamping ring screw  34  are shown in  FIG. 7 . The screwed joint  33  extends over only a small angle of the clamping ring, so that, upon actuation of the clamping ring screw, the diameter of the clamping ring itself can be increased or decreased.  
         [0039]     The perforating device  10  in the embodiment according to  FIG. 3  has a similar design. The perforating tool  18  and the rotating ring  24 , however, are different.  
         [0040]     The perforating tool  18  consists here of two sections  37 ,  38  of a disk. One section of the rotating ring  24  is formed directly on one of these disk sections, namely, on section  37 . The disk section  38  carries retaining openings  36 . Perforating spikes  35  are inserted into these retaining openings, which are stepped in the axial direction. The two sections  37 ,  38  are then attached to each other by screws  39 , so that the perforating spikes  35  cannot fall out of the retaining openings  36 .  
         [0041]     The two disk sections  37 ,  38  are then mounted on the rotating pintle  14  by means of the fastening screw  25 . When the pintle rotates, the entire disk  37 ,  38  rotates, too, and thus perforates the wallpaper.  
         [0042]     In the embodiment according to  FIG. 4 , the perforating device  10  has a design similar to that shown in  FIG. 2 . To this extent, reference is made to the previous description. The difference here is that the perforating tool  18  is provided with rollers  40 , which carry several rows of spikes  41 . The spikes  41  are arranged in rows extending in the axial direction of the roller  40 , where the rows are spaced uniformly around the circumference of the roller  40 . In addition, the threaded holes  29  for the axles  27  are arranged tangentially to the fastening screw  25  (see  FIG. 6 ).  
         [0043]     When the rotating ring  24  turns, the rollers with their spikes  41  roll over the wallpaper  19 . The rollers  40  are mounted rotatably on the axles  27 . As a result of the tangential arrangement of the threaded holes, perforations are created and at the same time these perforations are slightly displaced, with the result that the wallpaper  19  is slightly cut.  
         [0044]     As can be seen in  FIG. 5 , the threaded holes  29  are aligned with the axis of rotation. The axis of rotation is determined by the opening for the fastening screw  25 , where, as previously mentioned, the rotating pintle and the rotating ring rotate in common.  
         [0045]     In the embodiment according to  FIG. 6 , the threaded holes are tangential to the opening for the fastening screw. When the ring rotates, the rollers  40  and their spikes  41  therefore slide slightly along the wallpaper to be processed.  
         [0046]      FIG. 7  shows the clamping ring  13  with the clamping ring screw  33  as described in conjunction with the three embodiments.  
         [0047]     As previously mentioned, the embodiments presented here are only examples of ways in which the invention can be realized. The invention is not limited to them; on the contrary, many different modifications and applications are possible. For example, to simplify the movement of the adjusting sleeve, the adjusting sleeve could be equipped with a turning grip. The shear-like perforating tools could also be modified in that the one part could carry a grinding section to grind away unevennesses on the substrate or to remove residual pieces of wallpaper. Finally, it should also be stated that the drive motor could also be mounted directly on the projecting part of the pintle. The motor would then merely have to be connected to a power source such as a battery, etc. The handle could then act again as an extension of the pintle or be mounted on the electric motor. It should also be mentioned that the edge of the hood of the protective part could be rounded over, so that the perforating device can slide over the wallpaper more easily. In a simple embodiment, the protective part consists of individual rods, which are arranged around the carrier which holds the perforating tool.  
         [0048]     While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.