CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/232,123 filed on September 24, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

[0002] The disclosure relates generally to a pad assembly and more particularly to a floor polishing or grinding pad assembly.

[0003] It is known to use fibrous pads for polishing and grinding floors within industrial or commercial buildings. Such polishing or grinding pads are ideally suited for use on concrete, terrazzo, and natural (e.g., marble), engineered and composite stone floors. Examples of such pads and the powered machines used to rotate such can be found in the following U.S. patents and patent publication numbers: 201 1 /0300784 entitled "Flexible and Interchangeable Multi-Head Floor Polishing Disk Assemby" which was invented by Tchakarov et al. and published on December 8, 201 1 ; 9,174,326 entitled "Arrangement For Floor Grinding" which issued to Ahonen on November 3, 2015; 6,234,886 entitled "Multiple Abrasive Assembly and Method" which issued to Rivard et al. on May 22, 2001 ; 5,605,493 entitled "Stone Polishing Apparatus and Method" which issued to Donatelli et al. on February 25, 1997; and 5,054,245 entitled "Combination of Cleaning Pads, Cleaning Pad Mounting Members and a Base Member for a Rotary Cleaning Machine" which issued to Coty on October 8, 1991 . All of these patents and the patent publication are incorporated by reference herein.

[0004] Notwithstanding, improved floor polishing and grinding performance is desired. Furthermore, some of these prior constructions exhibit uneven wear in use which prematurely destroy the pads or cause inconsistent polishing or grinding.

[0005] In accordance with the present invention, a floor polishing or grinding pad assembly is provided. In one aspect, a polishing or grinding pad assembly employs a fibrous pad, a reinforcement layer or ring, and multiple floor-contacting disks. In another aspect, the reinforcement layer includes a central hole through which the fibrous pad is accessible and the fibrous pad at the hole has a linear dimension greater than a linear dimension of one side of the adjacent reinforcement layer. In yet another aspect, at least one of the floor-contacting disks has an angle offset from that of a base surface of the disk, the fibrous pad and/or the reinforcement layer. A further aspect employs a smaller set of disks alternating between and/or offset from a larger set of the disks. In another aspect, the reinforcement layer includes a wavy or undulating internal edge shape. Still another aspect includes different abrasive and/or floor-contacting patterns on the disks. A method of using a fibrous pad employing multiple polishing or grinding disks is also presented.

[0006] The present pad assembly is advantageous over traditional devices. For example, some of the disk configurations, such as disk angles and/or offset placement of disks, of the present pad assembly advantageously create more consistent wear characteristics when polishing or grinding, thereby increasing their useful life and consistency of polishing or grinding. These angles cause more even inner and outer wear of the floor-facing side of the pad assembly. Furthermore, the present pad assembly advantageously allows greater floor contact with the fibrous pad within a centralized area generally surrounded by the disks, in various of the present aspects, which is expected to improve polishing or grinding performance. In other configurations of the present pad assembly, the disk patterns, disk quantities, disk-to-disk locations and inner edge shapes of the reinforcement layer may provide improved liquid abrasive flow characteristics during polishing or grinding. The preassembled nature of the fibrous pad, reinforcement ring or layer, and the abrasive disks makes the present pad assembly considerably easier to install on a floor polishing or grinding machine than many prior constructions. Additional advantages and features of the present invention will be readily understood from the following description, claims and appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 is a bottom perspective view showing a first embodiment of the pad assembly; [0008] Figure 2 is a top perspective view showing a fibrous pad employed in all embodiments of the pad assembly;

[0009] Figure 3 is a bottom elevational view showing a reinforcement ring layer and abrasive disks employed with the first embodiment pad assembly;

[0010] Figure 4 is a side elevational view showing the first embodiment pad assembly;

[0011] Figure 5 is an exploded bottom perspective view showing the first embodiment pad assembly;

[0012] Figure 6A is a bottom perspective view showing the ring layer and pad employed in the first embodiment pad assembly;

[0013] Figure 6B is a bottom elevational view showing a disk pattern employed with the first embodiment pad assembly;

[0014] Figure 6C is a bottom elevational view showing another disk pattern employed with the first embodiment pad assembly;

[0015] Figure 6D is a bottom elevational view showing another disk pattern employed with the first embodiment pad assembly;

[0016] Figure 6E is a bottom elevational view showing another disk pattern employed with the first embodiment pad assembly;

[0017] Figure 7 is a partially exploded top perspective view showing the first embodiment pad assembly and a powered machine;

[0018] Figure 8 is a diagrammatic bottom elevational view showing the first embodiment pad assembly and powered machine;

[0019] Figure 9 is a bottom elevational view showing a second embodiment of the pad assembly;

[0020] Figure 10 is a bottom elevational view showing the second embodiment pad assembly;

[0021] Figure 1 1 is a cross-sectional view, taken along line 1 1 - 1 1 of Figure 10, showing the second embodiment pad assembly;

[0022] Figure 12 is a bottom perspective view showing a third embodiment of the pad assembly;

[0023] Figure 13 is a bottom elevational view showing the third embodiment pad assembly; [0024] Figure 14 is a cross-sectional view, taken along line 14 - 14 of Figure 13, showing the third embodiment pad assembly;

[0025] Figure 15 is a bottom perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the pad assembly;

[0026] Figure 16 is a bottom elevational view showing the fourth embodiment pad assembly;

[0027] Figure 17 is a cross-sectional view, taken along line 17 - 17 of Figure 16, showing the fourth embodiment pad assembly;

[0028] Figure 18 is a cross-sectional view, taken along line 18 - 18 of Figure 16, showing the fourth embodiment pad assembly;

[0029] Figure 19 is a bottom perspective view showing a fifth embodiment of the pad assembly;

[0030] Figure 20 is a bottom elevational view showing the fifth embodiment pad assembly;

[0031] Figure 21 is a cross-sectional view, taken along line 21 - 21 of Figure 20, showing the fifth embodiment pad assembly; and

[0032] Figure 22 is a cross-sectional view, like that of Figure 21 , showing a sixth embodiment of the pad assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] A pad assembly 10 according to one embodiment is shown in Figures 1 - 5. Pad assembly 10 may be used for grinding or polishing composite surfaces, such as concrete. Pad assembly 10 includes a wear- resistant base pad 12, which may be a porous, fibrous, flexible, and deformable material, including natural and/or artificial fibers. Base pad 12 is generally circular, having a diameter and a thickness. Of course, base pad 12 could be made in other sizes.

[0034] A reinforcement ring or layer 14 is secured to one side of base pad 12, such as by adhesive. The reinforcement ring 14 is generally annular having a central opening 18 with a diameter (for example, approximately 8 inches). Reinforcement ring 14 may be a rigid rubber or plastic having a thickness greater than zero and up to 0.125 inch. Reinforcement ring or layer 14 reinforces and adds some stiffness and toughness to the outer portion of pad 12, however, ring or layer 14 allows some flexibility to pad assembly 10 so it can flex with and follow any floor imperfections thereby producing uniform floor contact for polishing or grinding.

[0035] A circular internal edge 17 of reinforcement ring 14 defines a central opening or hole 18 which exposes a central surface 20 of base pad 12. Central surface 20 of base pad 12 may be impregnated with diamond particles or other abrasive materials. Central surface 20 of the base pad 12 may also be painted a color indicating a quality of the pad assembly 10, such as the coarseness. Base pad 12 and ring 14 preferably have circular peripheral surfaces 19 and 21 , respectively.

[0036] A plurality of abrasive tools or floor-contacting disks 16 are secured to the outer surface of the reinforcement ring 14. In the example shown, abrasive tools 16 are approximately 2 inch disks of diamond particles in a polymeric resin matrix. In the example shown, six such abrasive tools or disks 16 are secured about the circumference of reinforcement ring 14. Different sizes and different compositions of abrasive tools or disks 16 could be used. Tools or disks 16 are adhesively bonded to ring 14.

[0037] Figure 2 shows base pad 12. Again, different base pads 12 could be used, but the example shown is a wear-resistant base pad 12 having a diameter of approximately 14 inches and a thickness of approximately one inch.

[0038] Figure 3 is a bottom view of reinforcement ring 14 with the plurality of abrasive tools or disks 16 secured thereto. Figure 4 is a side view of polishing pad 10 of Figure 1 . As shown, reinforcement ring 14 is secured to base pad 12. The plurality of abrasive tools or disks 16 are secured to reinforcement ring 14. Figure 5 is an exploded view of polishing pad of Figure 1 , showing base pad 12, reinforcement ring 14 and the plurality of abrasive tools or disks 16.

[0039] As shown in Figures 6A-6E, many different types of abrasive tools or disks 16 and 16a-c could be secured to reinforcement ring 14. As can be viewed in Figure 6B, tool or disk 16a has a floor-contacting and abrasive pattern 30 consisting of multiple concentric circles 32, preferably at least 3 and more preferably 4, intersected by straight radial spokes 34 and 36. Spokes 34 linearly extend from an innermost circle to an outermost and peripheral tapered circle while spokes 36 are radially shorter and linearly extend from an intermediate circle to the peripheral circle. The spokes are equally spaced about the entire disk. Spokes 34 and 36 are aligned with a centerline 41 . Circles 32 and spokes 34 and 36 are preferably grooves or channels molded below a generally flat nominal surface 38 which contacts against the floor during use. A center 40 is solid and without a hole therein, although in an alternate arrangement a through hole may be provided at the center but some of the functional advantages may not be fully achieved.

[0040] Figure 6C shows another exemplary tool or disk 16. This embodiment employs at least 10, and more preferably at least 30 concentrically circular grooves 42 between which are raised circular ridges defining a generally flat and planar nominal surface which contacts against the building floor when in use. A center 44 is solid and without a through hole, although it is alternately envisioned that a small through hole may be provided but some of the functional advantages may not be fully achieved.

[0041] Figure 6D illustrates yet another embodiment of tool or disk 16b. This exemplary embodiment provides multiple circular grooves 46, arranged in a concentric pattern. At least 4 and more preferably 7 arcuately curved spokes 48, of an elongated nature, and at least 4 and more preferably 7, arcuately curved shortened spokes 50 intersect circular grooves 46. Spokes 48 and 50 are channels or grooves which outwardly radiate between a solid center 52 and a circular tapered periphery 54 of disk 16b. Innermost ends of spokes 48 and 50 are offset from a disk centerline 56. Alternately, a central through hole may be provided at center 52 but some of the functional benefits may not be fully realized.

[0042] Still another configuration is shown in Figure 6E. Multiple circular grooves 60 are concentrically arranged above a solid center 62. At least 3 and more preferably 7 linearly elongated spokes 64 outwardly radiate from an innermost circular groove to a peripheral tapered circular groove, however, an innermost end of each spoke 64 is offset from a centerline 66. Additional shortened spokes 68 outwardly radiate between outermost groove and the next groove internal therefrom. The shortened spokes 68 are radially aligned with disk centerline 66.

[0043] These different disk patterns of Figures 6B through 6E are expected to perform differently depending upon whether polishing or grinding use is desired and also depending upon the floor materials and characteristics to be worked upon by the present pad assembly 10. For example, a liquid polishing or grinding solution is typically employed between the disks and the floor. Therefore, the angle, size, spacing and curvature of the channels or grooves somewhat dictates the flow of the solution and abrasive action between the disks and floor when the pad assembly is being rotated by the powered machine. Moreover, these pattern characteristics also assist the pads in riding over, or alternately abrading, floor surface imperfections such as localized bumps or ridges therein. It should also be appreciated that polishing or grinding pastes or powders may alternately be employed instead of liquid solutions. Additionally, any of the patterns of Figures 6B - 6E may have an offset angle a or have a parallel planar relationship β, or may be used with any of the embodiments disclosed herein. Notwithstanding, these pattern shapes also have an ornamental aspect.

[0044] Figure 7 shows an innovative way that polishing pad 10 could be secured to a paddle 26 of a rotating arm 28 of an electric motor powered floor polishing or grinding machine 50. A hard rubber or plastic disk 32 includes a plurality of clips 30 for releasably securing to paddle 26. A panel 34 of hook-and-loop-type hooks (e.g. Velcro ^® ) may be secured to the bottom of disk 32 and can be removably secured to the fibrous base pad 12. Figure 8 is a bottom view of machine 50, wherein a plurality of polishing pads 10 would be secured for rotation about a center axis. Alternate powered machines may be used to rotate pad assembly 10 such as those disclosed in the Background section hereinabove.

[0045] Other ways could be used to secure polishing pad 10 to machine 50. In use, reinforcement ring 14 provides a more rigid surface to which abrasive tools or disks 16 are secured than base pad 12 would provide alone. The thickness and material of reinforcement ring 14 can be varied and selected for particular applications. For example, a more rigid reinforcement ring 14 will have more of a tendency to grind a surface (such as a concrete floor) toward a planar surface, while a more flexible reinforcement ring 14 will have more of a tendency to follow contours in the surface while polishing or grinding it. [0046] Reference should now be made to Figures 9 - 1 1 for another embodiment of pad assembly 10. A fibrous circular pad 12 and elastomeric or polymeric reinforcement ring 14 are essentially as provided hereinabove. It is noteworthy that inner edge 17 defining the hole of ring 14 has a diameter or linear dimension x which is larger than a linear dimension y of a solid section of ring 14 which is adjacent to one side of the hole. More preferably, hole dimension is a least twice as large as ring dimension y and more preferably, dimension is 9 inches. The hole relationship of > y is expected to improve floor contact by the fibrous central portion of pad 12 within the hole defined by internal edge 17 of ring 14. At least 4 and more preferably 7 tools or disks 16 are adhesively attached to a lower surface of reinforcement ring or layer 14. Each disk has a diameter of 1 - 2.5 inches and more preferably 2 inches. This disk size and quantity on pad assembly 10 is ideally suited for floor-grinding and provides improved floor contact as compared to prior constructions which used 3 inch diameter disks and were arranged in a quantity of less than 7 per pad assembly. Notwithstanding, the present dimensional relationships and the arrangement and quantity of disks about the ring also have ornamental aspects.

[0047] Each disk 16 of this embodiment has an offset angle a between a nominal generally flat, floor-contacting surface 70 of disk pattern 30 and an upper base surface 72 (upper when in the functional position with surface 70 against the floor). Angle σ is at least 2 degrees, more preferably at least 2 - 10 degrees, or 4 degrees, and even more preferably 4 - 10 degrees. Surface 70 is preferably parallel to a nominal surface 73 defined by the most depressed portions of the circular and radial grooves. Upper surface 72 of the base of each disk is preferably parallel to the mating lower surface 74 of reinforcement ring 14 and also both lower and upper surfaces 76 and 78, respectively, of pad 12. An apex of angle a and thinnest portion is preferably adjacent an inboard edge 80 of each disc while the thickest portion of each disk 16 is preferably at an outboard edge 82. While each disk 16 is shown as being of the Figure 6E pattern, it should be appreciated that it is alternately envisioned that the other disk patterns disclosed hereinabove may also be employed with this embodiment although all of the functional benefits may or may not be fully realized. [0048] Figures 12 - 14 show another embodiment of pad assembly

10. This configuration is the same as the embodiment of Figure 9 except that there are 8 of the disks 16 mounted to lower surface 74 of reinforcement ring 14. Disks 16 are all equilaterally spaced apart from each other and are also equally spaced apart from a centerline 88 of pad 12. This configuration is ideally suited for a final polishing operation although, it should also be appreciated that there are ornamental aspects to this embodiment as well.

[0049] Referring now to Figures 15 - 18, in a further embodiment of pad assembly 10, fibrous pad 12 is essentially the same as that in the prior embodiments. A circular reinforcement ring or layer 14 is like that previously described with hole dimension x being greater than an adjacent solid side dimension y of ring 14. However, hole dimension x is at least 8 inches, preferably exactly 8 inches, while y dimension is at least 6 inches, and more preferably exactly 6 inches.

[0050] Two sets of tools or disks 16 and 1 16 are adhesively attached to lower surface 74 of reinforcement ring 14. The disk sets have differing characteristics from each other, such as size, pattern, angles, grit coarseness, material composition, or the like. Furthermore, the first set of disks 16 are radially offset from and circumferentially alternating with the second set of disks 1 16.

[0051] Inner first set of disks 16 each have a diameter of 2 inches and an angle a of 2 - 10 degrees, more preferably at least 4 degrees. An innermost edge 80 of each disc 16 is generally aligned with inner edge 17 of ring 14. Conversely, each of the outer second set of disks has its nominal floor-contacting surface or plane 170 at a dimensional relationship or zero angle β generally parallel to a top surface 172 of its base which is also parallel to lower surface 74 of ring 14 and the top and bottom surfaces of fibrous pad 12. An outermost edge 182 of each of the second disks 1 16 is generally aligned with the peripheral surfaces of ring 14 and fibrous pad 12. Moreover, each second disk 1 16 has a diameter less than that of first disk 16, and more preferably 1 .5 inches.

[0052] The angle a of disks 16 (of both this and the other offset angled embodiments disclosed herein) compensates for the inherent uneven wear that occurs when the powered machine rotates pad assembly 10 while the machine also tends to provide more downward force closer to the centerline than at the peripheral portions of the pad assembly. This is expected to improve longevity and polishing/grinding consistency when in use. Furthermore, the disk and ring configurations of the Figure 15 - 18 embodiment are ideally suited for a pre-polishing step between grinding and polishing, although certain ornamental aspects of this construction are also achieved.

[0053] Reference is now made to Figures 19 - 21 . This exemplary embodiment employs a fibrous pad 12 and disks 16 like that of Figure 13. A reinforcement ring or layer 1 14, however, has a wavy or undulating inner edge 1 17 defining a hole therein to expose a central portion of fibrous pad 12. Ring 1 14 has peaks 140, with a greater radial distance between an outer peripheral edge 142 and inner edge 1 17 of ring 1 14. Spaced between adjacent peaks 140 are valleys 144 where the radial dimension or thickness is less between outer peripheral edge 142 and inner edge 1 17 of ring 1 14. This wavy or undulating ring shape maximizes the center hole area, and thereby floor-to- fibrous pad contact. The hole is essentially surrounded by the abrading tools or disks 16. Nevertheless, there are also ornamental aspects to this design. While the bottom or working disk nominal surface-to-ring and pad angle a is preferably offset angled by 2 - 10 degrees, and more preferably at least 4 degrees, (see Figure 21 ), it is alternately envisioned in Figure 22 that such could be given a parallel planar relationship of β instead although some of the functional advantages may not be realized. Both of the Figure 21 and 22 configurations have the outermost peripheral edge 182 of each disk 16 substantially aligned with peripheral edges 142 of ring 1 14 and 146 of pad 12.

[0054] While various embodiments have been disclosed, it should be appreciated that additional variations of the pad assembly are also envisioned. For example, while preferred dimensions have been disclosed hereinabove, it should alternately be appreciated that other dimensions may be employed; for example a peripheral pad diameter of at least 10 inches may be employed and disk diameters of 0.5 - 2.5 inches may also be employed. Moreover, circular peripheral shapes for the pad, reinforcement ring and disks are preferred, however, other arcuate or even generally polygonal peripheral shapes may be used although certain of the present advantages may not be fully realized. While certain materials have been disclosed it should be appreciated that alternate materials may be used although all of the present advantages may not be fully achieved. It is also noteworthy that any of the preceding features may be interchanged and intermixed with any of the others; by way of example and not limitation, any of the disclosed reinforcement ring shapes and/or sizes may be employed with or without angular disks, with any of the aforementioned disk patterns and/or with any of the disk-to-disk positioning. Accordingly, any and/or all of the dependent claims may depend from all of their preceding claims and may be combined together in any combination. By way of further example, any of the previously disclosed disk patterns may be employed with or without offset angular disk surfaces and/or with any of the disk-to-disk positioning. Variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the present disclosure, and all such modifications are entitled to be included within the scope and sprit of the present invention.