MACHINE A PREPARER LES SURFACES

SURFACE PREPARATION MACHINE

Abrégé anglais

ABSTRACT
This device consists primarily of a tool (blade, chisel, or
sanding attachment) which is attached to a tool holder. The tool holder
in turn is attached by a bearing to a shaft which passes thru a flywheel,
the shaft is offset from the center of the flywheel thereby causing an
eccentric rotation of the tool holder. The flywheel and tool holder
"float" as an assembly on rubber couplings and impart to the tool com-
ponents of these various motions slicing, chopping, scraping, and
rubbing.

Revendications

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property
or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A surface preparation machine for removing material adhered
to a planar surface, the machine comprising:
(a) a wheeled frame having an upper portion and a lower portion;
(b) a motor mounted to the upper portion of said frame;
(c) a vertical shaft attached at one end to said motor and exten-
ding downwardly therefrom;
(d) an annular shaped flywheel attached to said shaft, said shaft
offset from the center of said flywheel and extending therethrough;
(e) a horizontal base plate attached to the lower portion of said
frame, said base plate having an aperture therein for receiving said
shaft therethrough;
(f) a horizontal tool holding plate disposed below said base plate
and parallel thereto, the other end of said shaft attached to said tool
holding plate, said plate having a tool mounted thereon for removing the
material; and
(g) coupling means for attaching said plate to said base plate and
suspending said plate therefrom; said motor rotating said flywheel and
said shaft, said shaft providing an eccentric motion in providing an orbi-
tal movement of said tool holding plate in a horizontal plane.
2. The machine as described in Claim 1, wherein said coupling
means includes a plurality of bolts extending through apertures in said
base plate and said tool holding plate, and secured thereto by threaded
bolts, said bolts having rubber grommets therearound for absorbing the
vibration imported from said tool holding plate to said base plate.
3. The machine as described in Claim 1, wherein said vertical
shaft is attached to said tool holding plate by a pillow block bearing, said
bearing mounted on top of said tool holding plate and receiving the end of
said shaft therein.

4. The machine as described in Claim 1, further including a
flexible coupling mounted on said shaft and connecting said shaft to said
motor for reducing vibrations between said flywheel and said motor.
5. The machine as described in Claim 1, wherein said flywheel
mounted on said shaft is disposed between said base plate and said tool
holding plate.

Description

- SURFACE PREPARATION MACHINE
This machine is a simple powered means to remove such substances
as carpet, tile, roofing, ice or other substances which have been adhered
or otherwise applied to floors, sidewalks, drives, roofs or other surfaces.
The above-mentioned substances have been classically removed with
shovels, hoes, forks or other sharp bladed instruments.
The available machines suffered from these disadvantages:
1. Because the blade was moved by direct means such as a powered
crankshaft, action-reaction caused the machines to vibrate violently.
2. To keep the machine from vibrating violently, weight had to be
10 added to increase the machine's inertia making such machines unnecessarily
heavy and cumbersome.
My invention is a surface preparation machine for removing material
adhered to a planar surface. It has a wheeled frame having an upper portion
and a lower portion. A motor is mounted on the upper portion of the frame.
Attached at one end of said motor and extending clownwardly therefrom is a
vertical shaft. The shaft has an annular shaped flywheel attached thereto,
the shaft being offset from the center of the flywheel and extending there-
through. A horizontal base plate is attached to the lower portion of the
~rame, and the base plate has an aperture therein for receiving the shaft
20 therethrough. A horizontal tool holding plate is disposed below the base
plate and parallel thereto. The other end of the shaft is attached to the
tool holding plate. A tool is mounted on the tool holding plate for in
operation removing material adhered to a planar surface. The machine -
has coupling means for attaching the tool holding plate to the base plate
and suspending same therefrom. In operation the mo~or rotates the fly-
wheel and the shaft, and the shaft provides an eccen~-ric motion in providing
an orbital movement of the tool holding plate in a horizontal plane.
The drawing Figure 1 shows a complete machine mounted on a wheeled
frame set up with blade for removal of soft materials such as carpet or foam
30 padding. Other materials such as tile, ice, linoleum or vinyl can be removed
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with a narrower blade, increasing the cutting force. Paint, varnish or
other substances are removed efficiently with a sanding attachment placed
where the blade normally is.
The drawing ~igure 2 shows the internal view of the machine with
the floating flywheel and tool holding assembly.
The drawing Figure 3 shows an arrangement used to allow the tool
holder-flywheel assembly to float or move with respect to the machine.
Figure 1:
C. Tool ~blade) attached to a tool holding plate
W. Wheels mounted on the bottom of a frame
D. Motor (electric, could be internal combustion) attached to the
frame.
F. Cord and switch wired to the motor
G. Telescoping handle attached to the frame.
~igure 2:
C. Tool (blade) attached to the tool holding plate
E. Pillow block bearing attached to the top of the holding plate
;` ~. Flywheel with a shaft of~set from the center of the flywheel
D. Motor attached to the frame
H. Flexible coupling arrangement between motor D. and flywheel A.
M. Base pla~e of machine attached to the frame
L. Tool holding plate attached to the base plate by a flexible vibration
dampener
Figure 3:
S. Bolt with nut
0. Was hers
Base plate of machine attached to the frame
L. Tool holding plate of machine attached to the base plate by a
~lexible vibration dampener
X, Spacer bushing
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K. 1-4 rubber gromets
In order to eliminate the circular motion generated by the tool holding
plate L. and flywheel A. from being transmitted to the rest of said machine,
a flexible vibra~ion dampener, shown in Figure 3, is used to attach the base
plate M. of said machine to the tool holding plate L. of said machine. Notice
K. 1-4 are used, allowing flexure or movement between M. and L.
Flexible coupling H. between motor D. and flywheel A. prevents
excessive vibration from being transmitted from A. to D.
The above said flexible vibration dampening attachments effectively
10 isolate the circular motions generated by A. and L. from reaching M. and
D. Thus~ A. and L. could be said to "float".
The arrangement shown in Figure 3 so effectively keeps the vibra-
tion of the flywheel from reaching the rest of the machine that practically
no vibration reaches the operator at the handle. The stiffness of this rubber
coupling arrangement can be varied by tightening or loosening bolt S.
Besides providing the inertia or "base" from which to move the tool
holder L., the flywheel A. also acts as a power storage device as is the
character of a flywheel. Because the flywheel does store a considerable
amount of power, it is able to keep the blade cutting through obstructions
20 that the motor alone would not have the power to cut through in the conventional
design. Thus, a n~achine of this type can use a much smaller motor than a
machine of conventional design.
Because the shaft that passes through the flywheel A. is offset from
the cen~er of the flywheel, as the flywheel revolves, the shaft moves in an
eccentric motion about the center of the flywheel. The reason for this is
that thel,flywheel centers itself as it spins gyroscopically. The eccentric
motion of the shaft is transmitted to the tool by means of bearing E. and
plate L.
It should be understood that the matter hereinbefore shown and
30 described should not be tal~en in a limiting sense. For example, the fly-
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~ 22~69wheel arrangement shown could be used in a horizontal position and not in
a vertical position as shown in the drawing. When used in the horizontal
position, the flywheel imparts more of a chopping action to the tool than it
does when the axis of the flywheel is vertical.
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