Contour sander
OwnerRobert A. Arnoldinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A contour sander for sanding a curved surface includes a hard backing plate having a support face for supporting a sheet of sandpaper. The backing plate is uniformly flexible along substantially its entire length for conforming generally to the curvature of the surface. A pliable handle extends along the length of the plate and follows flexure of the plate when a sanding pressure is applied against the handle.
Claims41
A contour sander for sanding a curved surface, said sander comprising:
- a hard backing plate having an elongated support face for supporting a sheet of sandpaper;
- and
- an elongated handle upon which a sanding pressure may be exerted, said handle being operatively attached to said plate and disposed to transfer sanding pressure to the plate,
- said plate being uniformly flexible along substantially the entire length of the support face for conforming generally to the curvature of the surface when the sanding pressure is applied,
- said plate having sufficient memory to return to its original configuration when said sanding pressure is relieved,
- said handle being so configured and constructed as to not limit the flexibility of the plate, said handle being axially stretchable to accommodate flexure of said plate when said sanding pressure is exerted.
A contour sander for smoothening out the undulations defined along a curved surface, said sander comprising:
- an elongated backing plate having a support face for supporting a sheet of sandpaper, said plate being uniformly flexible along substantially its entire length for conforming generally to the curvature of the surface;
- and
- a pliable handle operatively attached to said backing plate and extending along the length of the plate such that the handle follows the flexure of the plate when a sanding pressure is applied against the handle,
- said backing plate having sufficient memory to return to its original configuration when said sanding pressure is relieved,
- said handle being axially stretchable to accommodate said flexure of said plate when said sanding pressure is exerted,
- said backing plate being unimpressionable by the undulations of the curved surface when the sanding pressure is applied.
A set of alternately selectable contour sanders for sanding curved surfaces, wherein each sander may be selected because of the degree of curvature of the surface or the size of the area to be sanded, said set comprising:
- a first sander including
- a first hard backing plate having an elongated support face for supporting a sheet of sandpaper;
- and
- a first handle operatively attached to said first plate upon which a sanding pressure may be exerted,
- said first plate being uniformly flexible along substantially the entire length of the support face for conforming to the curvature of the surface when the sanding pressure is applied,
- said first plate having sufficient memory to return to its original configuration when said sanding pressure is relieved,
- said first handle being so configured and constructed as to not limit the flexibility of the first plate, said first plate having sufficient memory to return to its
- original configuration when said sanding pressure is relieved;
- and
- at least one additional sander including
- a second hard backing plate having an elongated support face for supporting a sheet of sandpaper;
- and
- a second handle operatively attached to said second plate upon which a sanding pressure may be exerted,
- said second plate being uniformly flexible along substantially the entire length of the support face for conforming to the curvature of the surface when the sanding pressure is applied,
- said second plate having sufficient memory to return to its original configuration when said sanding pressure is relieved,
- said second handle being so configured and constructed as to not limit the flexibility of the second plate, said second plate having sufficient memory to return to its original configuration when said sanding pressure is relieved.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.