Sanding glove and associated sanding assembly

Abstract

A sanding glove including: a glove body fabricated from a base layer of material, wherein the glove body includes a hand opening, a backing, a palm, a thumb compartment, an index finger compartment, a middle finger compartment, a ring finger compartment and a small finger compartment, wherein each of the finger compartments include palm sides, back sides and fingertip ends; a first strip of hook fastener material attached to the palm side of the thumb compartment; second, third, fourth, and fifth strips of hook fastener materials attached to the palm side of the index finger, the middle finger, the ring finger, and the small finger compartments; and wherein a loop backed sanding pad of any desired shape can be attached to at least one of the strips of hook fastener material to facilitate sanding.

Claims

1. A sanding assembly, comprising: a sanding block, wherein the sanding block comprises a first side associated with loop fasteners, and second, third and fourth sides associated with hook fasteners; a piece of sandpaper having a looped back side associated with the hook fasteners of the second, third, and fourth sides of the sanding block; and a sanding glove having hook fasteners associated with the loop fasteners of the first side of the sanding block.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Certain embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by the accompanying figures. It will be understood that the figures are not necessarily to scale and that details not necessary for an understanding of the invention or that render other details difficult to perceive may be omitted. It will be further understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein.

(2) The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings wherein:

(3) FIG. 1 of the drawings is an isometric view of a palm side of a sanding glove manufactured in accordance with the present invention;

(4) FIG. 2 of the drawings is an isometric view of a back side of a sanding glove manufactured in accordance with the present invention;

(5) FIG. 3 of the drawings is an isometric view of an alternative embodiment a palm side of a sanding glove manufactured in accordance with the present invention;

(6) FIG. 4 of the drawings is an isometric view of an alternative embodiment of a back side of a sanding glove manufactured in accordance with the present invention; and

(7) FIG. 5 of the drawings is an exploded side view of a sanding assembly manufactured in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(8) While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is disclosed and described herein in detail several specific embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

(9) Referring now to the drawings and, more particularly, to FIGS. 1-2, sanding glove 10 is shown, which generally comprises a glove body fabricated from base layer of material 11 (e.g., natural and/or synthetic materials, leather, cotton, rubber, vinyl, plastic, etcetera). The glove body includes a hand opening (not shown), backing 12, palm 14, thumb compartment 16, index finger compartment 18, middle finger compartment 20, ring finger compartment 22 and small finger compartment 24. In accordance with the present invention, each one of the thumb/finger compartments includes palm sides, back sides and fingertip ends. Sanding glove 10 further includes first strip 26 of hook fastener material attached to the palm side of thumb compartment 16, second strip 28 of hook fastener material attached to the palm side of index finger compartment 18, third strip of hook fastener material 30 attached to the palm side of middle finger compartment 20; fourth strip of hook fastener material 32 attached to the palm side of ring finger compartment 22; fifth strip of hook fastener material 34 attached to the palm side of small finger compartment 24. It will be understood that the above-identified strips of fastener material may comprise any one of a number of peripheral geometries including, but not limited to, triangular, rectangular, square, hexagonal, octagonal, polygonal, circular, elliptical, ovaljust to name a few. It will be further understood that a loop backed sanding pad (with or without a sanding block or pad) of any desired shape can be attached to at least one of the strips of hook fastener materials to facilitate sanding.

(10) In accordance with the present invention, the loop fastener material can be, for example, Velcro brand hook and loop fastener material (Velcro is a registered trademark of Velcro USA Inc., 406 Brown Avenue, Manchester, N.H. 03103 for its brand of hook and loop fasteners.) Numerous types of hook and loop fasteners are available. In the preferred embodiment, Velcro brand hook and loop fastener material from the ULTRA-MATE series 705, type HTH Hook 22 is utilized. This type of hook fastener material is made of a nylon copolymer that is similar to woven nylon and is readily sewn. This type of material was selected to provide ease of separation of the hooks from the loops while simultaneously providing high shear strength to prevent the fasteners from separating while in use.

(11) In one embodiment of the present invention, sanding glove 10 includes one or more additional strips of hook fasteners. In particular, sanding glove 10 further optionally includes one or more of sixth strip of hook fastener material 36 attached to the palm proximate the trapezium bone of a user, seventh strip of hook fastener material 38 attached to the palm proximate the pisiform bone of a user, and an eighth strip of hook fastener material 40 attached to the palm proximate the metacarpal joints of a user. It will be understood that the sixth, seventh, and eighth strips of hook fastener material facilitate enhanced control and feel for sanding applications with a sanding block.

(12) As is best shown in FIG. 2, sanding glove 10 may also include ninth strip of hook fastener material 42 which is attached to the backing of the glove body proximate to and spanning across the capitate and the hamate bones of a user. Such positioning enables both storage of extra sandpaper and back-sided or back-handed sanding for large area and/or certain hard to reach applications.

(13) As is further shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, optional second layer of material 44 is positioned proximate thumb compartment 16 on the palm-side and disposed on top of base layer 11. Optional third layer of material 46 is positioned proximate thumb compartment 16, the pisiform bone of a user, and the metacarpal joints of a user on the palm-side and is disposed on top of at least a portion of first and second layers of material 11 and 44, respectively.

(14) Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, sanding glove 10, may also optionally include an elastomer and/or elastomeric material 48 associated with the tips of one or more of thumb compartment 16, index finger compartment 18, middle finger compartment 20, ring finger compartment 22, and small finger compartment 24. Such elastomeric material affords a user additional control and feel by virtue of controlled grip that releases with mild to moderate lateral forces. The elastomeric material applied to the tips of the various compartments also reduces the accumulation of residue thereon, which, in turn, minimizes scratching from traditional residue buildup.

(15) In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the elastomer and/or elastomeric material comprises a thermoplastic elastomer, such as, but not limited to, a styrenic block copolymer, a thermoplastic olefin, an elastomeric alloy, a thermoplastic polyurethane, a thermoplastic copolyester, a thermoplastic polyamide, and combinations thereof.

(16) In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the elastomer comprises a natural polyisoprene, a synthetic polyisoprene, a polybutadiene, a chloroprene rubber, a butyl rubber, a halogenated butyl rubber, a styrene-butadiene rubber, a nitrile rubber, a hydrogenated nitrile rubber, an ethylene propylene rubber, an ethylene propylene diene rubber, an epichlorohydrin rubber, a polyacrylic rubber, a silicone rubber, a fluorosilicone rubber, a fluoroelastomer, a perfluoroelastomer, a polyether block amide, a chlorosulfonated, ethylene-vinyl acetate, a resilin, an elastin, a polysulfide rubber, an elastolefin, and/or combinations thereof.

(17) In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tips of one or more of thumb compartment 16, index finger compartment 18, middle finger compartment 20, ring finger compartment 22, and small finger compartment 24 are overmolded with the elastomeric material. It will be understood that the elastomeric material may also be associated with any portion of glove 10 via etch coating, dip coating, spin coating, brush coating and/or spray coatingincluding, but not limited to, cold spraying, thermal spraying, high velocity spraying (e.g., supersonic), low velocity spraying (e.g., subsonic), triboelectric discharge kinetic spraying and other similar processes.

(18) Referring now to FIG. 5, the present invention is also directed to sanding assembly 100 that generally comprises sanding block 50, sandpaper 52, and sanding glove 10 (See FIGS. 1-4). In one embodiment, sanding block 50 comprises first side 54 associated with loop fasteners, and second, third and fourth sides 56 associated with hook fasteners. Sandpaper 52 includes looped back side 58 that in use is associated with hook fasteners of second, third, and fourth sides 56 of sanding block 50. During normal use, abrasive side 60 of sandpaper 52 interacts with the surface being prepared for staining and/or painting. Sanding glove 10 includes a plurality of hook fasteners (e.g., fasteners 26-40) associated with loop fasteners of first side 54 of sanding block 50.

(19) It will be understood that the loop and/or hook fasteners of the present invention may be associated with the sanding glove via any one of a number of means including but not limited to stitching, gluing, etcetera. It will be further understood that the sanding glove may have one or more of the finger and/or thumb compartments removed for a modified and/or palm only glove configuration.

(20) The foregoing description merely explains and illustrates the invention and the invention is not limited thereto except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.