Blast wheel and quick-connect blade assembly

A shot blasting wheel for a shot blasting machine of a type having a motor that drives abrasive shot outwardly against a workpiece, said shot blasting wheel comprising:

• a body member having a peripheral edge defining a circular configuration and having a front surface and a rear surface opposite said front surface, said front and rear surfaces defining a central bore surrounded by a central hub operatively coupled to the motor,
• said peripheral edge defining a plurality of slot openings spaced apart radially thereabout and said front surface defines a plurality of slots spaced apart radially thereabout, wherein each slot extends between said peripheral edge and said hub and said each slot being in communication a respective shot opening;
• a plurality of blade assemblies each blade assembly comprising:
• a paddle positioned in a respective slot via insertion through a respective slot opening;
• a locking lever pivotally coupled to said body member adjacent said respective slot and pivotally movable between a locked configuration preventing removal of said paddle from said respective slot and a released configuration allowing said paddle to be slidably removed from said respective slot of said body member;
• a dual spring assembly having a lever spring tensioned and biased for movement between (1) an extended configuration pushing a lower segment of a respective locking lever across said respective slot so as to resist unintentional removal of a respective paddle and (2) a compressed configuration sandwiched by said lower segment of said respective locking lever to a side wall of said respective slot so as to allow removal of a respective paddle and wherein said dual spring assembly further includes a paddle spring positioned in said respective slot longitudinally downstream from said lever spring and aligned with an imaginary longitudinal axis defined by said respective slot, said paddle spring being naturally tensioned and biased for movement between an extended configuration pushing outwardly in opposition to insertion of a respective paddle and a compressed configuration being pressed downwardly by a respective lug of a respective paddle.

A shot blasting machine of a type drives abrasive shot outwardly against a workpiece, said shot blasting wheel comprising:

• a motor;
• a main housing having a base plate and a pair of legs depending from a lower surface of said base plate, said base plate defining an outlet through which abrasives may be thrown,
• said main housing including front, rear, side, and top wear plates that, together, define an interior area;
• a rotor wheel portion positioned in said interior area, said rotor wheel portion having a body member having a peripheral edge defining a circular configuration and having a front surface and a rear surface opposite said front surface, said front and rear surfaces defining a central bore surrounded by a central hub that rotates about a rotational axis and is operatively coupled to the motor,
• said peripheral edge defining a plurality of slot openings spaced apart radially thereabout and said front surface defines a plurality of slots spaced apart radially thereabout, wherein each slot extends between said peripheral edge and said hub and said each slot being in communication with a respective slot opening;
• a plurality of blade assemblies each blade assembly comprising:
• a paddle positioned in a respective slot via insertion through a respective slot opening;
• a locking lever pivotally coupled to said body member adjacent said respective slot about an axis transverse to said rotational axis and pivotally movable between a locked configuration in which the lever engages a side edge of the paddle preventing removal of said paddle from said respective slot and a released configuration allowing said paddle to be slidably removed from said respective slot of said body member;
• a dual spring assembly having a lever spring tensioned and biased for movement between (1) an extended configuration pushing a lower segment of a respective locking lever across said respective slot so as to resist unintentional removal of a respective paddle and (2) a compressed configuration sandwiched by said lower segment of said respective locking lever to a side wall of said respective slot so as to allow removal of a respective paddle;
• wherein:
• said plurality of slots each includes a dovetail configuration;
• said plurality of slot openings each includes a dovetail configuration;
• and
• each paddle of said plurality of blade assemblies includes a lug extending from a lower edge and having a dovetail configuration that is slidably complementary to respective dovetail configurations of said plurality of slots and said plurality of slot openings, respectively.