Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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WALL SCRAPER
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present invention claims priority of provisional patent application
No.
61/006,754 filed January 30, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated
herein in their
entirety
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates to a scraper. The present disclosure has
particular
applicability to wall scrapers with replaceable blades.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Wall scrapers, also called wall strippers, are used to remove paint,
wallpaper, etc.
from walls. They are typically used with two hands. All such scrapers provide
a grip at the
rear of the handle, and some have a knob on the front of the housing to
provide an additional
grip. A typical conventional design, as shown in Fig. 1, uses a standard
replaceable blade,
such as a 4" stripper blade held in place to a head by screws and a flat plate
that mates with
the head. The position of the head is fixed at an angle to the handle, to
accommodate right-
handed people. Disadvantageously, the fixed angle is often not quite right for
the user (e.g., if
the user is left-handed) or for a particular work situation, which may require
a greater or
lesser angle for scraping effectiveness and/or efficiency.
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SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0004] An advantage of the present disclosure is a scraper with an adjustable
scraper head
whose angle with respect to its handle can be changed according to the user
and/or to the job
at hand.
[0005] According to the present disclosure, the foregoing and other advantages
are achieved
in part by a scraper comprising an elongated handle; a scraper head for
fixedly holding a
blade, the scraper head being pivotably mounted to a first end of the handle
for positioning
the scraper head at a selected angle to the handle; and a lock engageable with
the handle and
the scraper head for fixing the scraper head at the selected angle.
[0006] Additional advantages and other features of the present disclosure will
be set forth in
part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to
those having
ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned
from the
practice of the disclosure. The advantages of the disclosure may be realized
and obtained as
particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
[0007] As will be realized, the present disclosure is capable of other and
different
embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various
obvious respects,
all without departing from the disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings and
description are to
be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Reference is made to the attached drawings, wherein elements having the
same
reference numeral designations represent like elements throughout, and
wherein:
[0009] Figure 1 is a top view of a prior art scraper;
[0010] Figure 2 is a perspective view of a scraper according to an embodiment
of the present
disclosure;
[0011 ] Figure 3 is a side view of the scraper of Fig. 2;
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[0012] Figure 4 is a perspective view of an end cap of the scraper of Fig. 2;
[0013] Figure 5 is a rear view of the scraper of Fig. 2;
[0014] Figure 6 is a bottom view of the scraper of Fig. 2;
[0015] Figure 7 is a partial perspective view of the scraper of Fig. 2; and
[0016] Figures 8a-c are views of the rear grip and end cap according to a
further embodiment
of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] A scraper according to the present disclosure addresses the
disadvantages of
conventional wall scrapers having a head at a fixed angle to the handle. The
present
disclosure provides a scraper with an adjustable scraper head whose angle with
respect to the
handle can be changed to suit the user and/or the job. The scraper of the
present disclosure
also has textured grips for both the user's hands for better control, and
storage space for extra
blades inside its handle.
[0018] Referring now to Fig. 2, a wall scraper 10 according to the disclosure
has a tubular
metal handle 11 with an overmolded rear grip 1la and an end cap 26. In certain
embodiments, handle 11 has an oval cross-section. A scraper head assembly 15
holds a blade
17, such as a standard 4" scraper blade, between metal head halves 16, 18. A
knob 12 is
provided on the scraper head assembly 15 having an overmolded grip 12a for
better control
and pressure.
[0019] As shown in Figs. 2, 3, 6, and 7, the head assembly 15 has a metal
attachment
member 19 which is securely fitted into the front end of handle 11. Attachment
member 19
includes a splined circular detent ring 19a which mates with a corresponding
splined circular
detent ring 16a of upper head half 16. Knob 12 has a threaded shaft 12b which
passes
through aligned holes in upper head half 16 and attachment member 19, and
threads into a
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fastener, such as captivated nut 20, at the bottom of attachment member 19.
Thus, handle I 1
is pivotably mounted to scraper head 15 via knob 12. The knob 12 acts as a
lock to tighten
and securely fix the upper head half 16 to the attachment member 19, after
their
corresponding detent rings are engaged as desired by the user for selecting
the blade attack
angle (i.e., the angle of blade 17 relative to handle 11).
[0020] As shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 6, the blade 17 is captured in a
conventional manner
between upper head half 16 and lower head half 18, such as via screws that
pass through
holes 16b in upper head half 16 and corresponding through-holes in blade 17,
and thread into
holes 18a in lower head half 18.
[0021] In one embodiment of the disclosed scraper, the rear grip l la has two
opposed side
buttons 22 which extend through corresponding holes 11 b to hold the end cap
26 in place (see
Figs. 2, 3, 5, and 7). As shown in Fig. 4, end cap 26 is integral with buttons
22, and made of
a plastic that allows buttons 22 to act as resilient spring tabs which flex
when end cap 26 is
inserted into grip l la, to engage holes I lb, and allow removal of the end
cap 26 from the rear
grip 11 a when the user depresses the buttons 22. End cap 26 holds spare
blades (not shown)
inside the hollow handle 11. In other embodiments, end cap 26 is a screw-on
arrangement or
friction fit. In further embodiments, rear grip 11 a has a recessed portion 11
c for the user's
thumb when the user is gripping the rear grip 1 la.
[0022] In still further embodiments, as shown in Figs. 8a-c, instead of a
removable end cap, a
hinged end cap 30 is provided, along with a latch to secure the cap 30 in a
closed position.
Cap 30 includes a hinge half 30a which engages a mating hinge half 11 d of
rear grip 1 la.
Cap 30 also includes a resilient push point 30b and a finger with a detent 30c
attached thereto
which mates with a through hole l le in rear grip l la to retain the cap 30 in
a closed position.
To open end cap 30, the user pushes down on push point 30b in the top of cap
30, moving
finger and detent 30c down, thereby releasing detent 30c from through hole 1
le. Cap 30 also
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has an internal positioning section 30d to hold the spare blades (not shown)
in position when
the end cap 30 is closed.
(0023] The scraper of the present disclosure allows the blade 17 to be
adjusted to any
comfortable angle by unscrewing the knob 12, moving the head 15, and
tightening the knob
12. The disclosed adjustable blade angle enables comfortable use of the
scraper by right and
left: handed users. Moreover, the grip 12a of knob 12 enables increased
pressure to be applied
to the scraper during use, because it allows the user to use both hands. Still
further, enabling
the use of both hands by the user allows greater control of the tool during
scraping.
[0024] The present disclosure can be practiced by employing conventional
materials,
methodology and equipment. Accordingly, the details of such materials,
equipment and
methodology are not set forth herein in detail. In the previous descriptions,
numerous
specific details are set forth, such as specific materials, structures,
chemicals, processes, etc.,
in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it
should be
recognized that the present disclosure can be practiced without resorting to
the details
specifically set forth. In other instances, well known processing structures
have not been
described in detail, in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present
disclosure.
[0025] Only a few examples of the present disclosure are shown and described
herein. It is
to be understood that the disclosure is capable of use in various other
combinations and
environments and is capable of changes or modifications within the scope of
the inventive
concepts as expressed herein.
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