Patent ID: 7112127

Claim:
A joint compound sanding device comprising: a hand held housing; a bottom plate including; a plurality of dust collection apertures extending through the bottom plate between a vacuum manifold and a bottom surface of the bottom plate; a plurality of dust collection channels formed in the bottom surface of the bottom plate defining mesas there between, the mesas for supporting a porous joint compound sanding screen; a dust collection fan with a fan inlet joined to the vacuum manifold; a motor coupled to the hand held housing with a rotating shaft coupled to the dust collection fan for rotating the dust collection fan such that air is drawn through a porous joint compound sanding screen, through the channels, through the dust collection apertures into the vacuum manifold and through the fan inlet and expelling the air into an exhaust manifold; wherein the vacuum manifold is defined by the bottom plate, a top surface and side walls extending around the periphery of the bottom plate, and wherein the top surface includes a central aperture there-through and joined with the fan inlet whereby air that is drawn through the porous joint compound sanding screen is drawn through the channels, through the dust collection apertures into the vacuum manifold and through the central aperture to the fan inlet; wherein the bottom plate, the top surface, and the side walls form a base; and the joint compound sanding device further comprises means for moving the base with respect to the housing in a linear motion and the means for moving the base with respect to the housing comprises; at least one track extending in a longitudinal direction for coupling to a matting track of the housing and permitting motion of the base with respect to the housing in the longitudinal direction while restricting motion of the base with respect to the housing in a lateral direction; a lateral slot; the joint compound sanding device further comprises an idler spinning in a plane parallel to the base and comprising an off axis drive lug engaged in the lateral slot; and the motor further rotates the idler thereby causing the base oscillate with respect to the housing in the longitudinal direction.