DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] The present invention consists of a novel machine including a novel mechanism to form a generally arcuate (oscillatory) movement and a good movement that will effectively touch and apply the appropriate abrasive, grinding or polishing pressure on different shapes of finger nails. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 8, the machine consists of a base 10 holding the operational parts of the machine and a cover 12 that is provided with a unique simulation design to give an exceptionally esthetic appearance. With the cover in place, the machine is completely enclosed and presents a compact pleasing appearance. Mounted on the base 10 are two concave arced spools or wheels 14 and 16. Each wheel 14, 16 is fixed on a shaft 18 that is bearing mounted to the base 10. The concave curved surfaces of the two wheels 14 and 16 are provided as grinding surfaces and contain a grit or emery with the two wheels being of different composition and fineness and coarseness to perform different grinding or smoothing functions. A pie-shaped swing plate 20 is pivotally mounted to the bottom of the base 10 by means of a pivot pin 22 held in the base 10 supported in bearing or pillow blocks 69. Plate 20 extends in a vertically upward direction passing through a slot 24 in the top surface of base 10. The exposed free upper end 26 of plate 20 has fixed and mounted thereon a U-shaped bracket 28 with the legs 30 of bracket 28 extending in a generally horizontal direction parallel to the base 10. A bifurcated yolk 32 has one end of each bifurcation or leg 34 connected to a leg 30 in a freely pivotal fashion by pins 36. The other ends of legs 34 have mounted therebetween a polygonal plate member 38 by means of pins 40 so that the plate member may be rotated to position it with an appropriate surface facing downwardly. A rod 42 fixed to each leg 34 intermediate its ends provides structural integrity for the yolk 32, and provides a means to connect one end of a pair of springs 44, the other ends of which are fixed to the crossbar 46 of bracket 28. Springs 44 exert a bias on the yolk 32 forcing it to pivot downward as shown by arrow A. The plate member 38 has a plurality of flat or slightly arcuate surfaces 48 to enable different degrees of grinding or smoothing or buffing to be applied to a fingernail. Each surface is provided with a grit or emery as desired to accomplish the stated purpose. As shown in FIG. 2, a finger is positioned just below the plate member 38, and pushes upwardly, as shown by arrow B, against the one of the surfaces 48 that is facing downwardly. Contained within the base 10 and suitably mounted therein and thereon is an electric motor 60 (either ac or dc, with the power supply to the motor omitted as this aspect is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art), which can be supplied with power either from a mains connection or by a battery. The motor 50 drives via a shaft 52 on which is fixed a spur gear 54 that meshes with a spur gear 56 of greater diameter to obtain a suitable power translation. Gear 55 is fixed on gear 56 and both are bearing mounted by block 60 suitably mounted on base 10. Gear 55 meshes with gear 57 fixed on shaft 59, which is bearing mounted in pillow or bearing blocks 60, 61 fixed to base 10. Wheel 63 is keyed to shaft 59 via one or more splines so that it rotates with, but is slidable on, the shaft 59. Wheel 63 has a pair of axially spaced flanges 49. Each axial end of wheel 63 is provided with an integral toothed element 51 for engagement with a similar opposed toothed element 159, 159′. As shown in FIG. 3, the toothed element 159 is formed at one end of a sleeve 160 and a gear 162 is fixed to the other end of sleeve 160. Sleeve 160 is mounted freely rotatable on shaft 59. Similarly, the element 159′ is formed on one end of sleeve 164 that is freely rotatably mounted on shaft 59 with a gear 166 fixed to the other end of sleeve 164. Gear 166 meshes with gear 65 that is fixed on shaft 18 that is coupled to drive the wheel 14, 16. Gear 162 meshes with gear 67 fixed to shaft 58 bearing mounted by bearing blocks 60, 61. A triangular support frame 170 is mounted to the base 10 via screws or bolts 172, out of the plane of shaft 18. Frame 170 provides a pivot axis 174 for a lever 176 that has one end 178 that terminates in the space between the flanges 49 of wheel 63. The set of elements 51 and 159, and set of elements 51 and 159′ each constitutes a pair of clutches so that the wheel 63, positioned by the interaction of the lever 176 and the flanges 49, can be shifted by the lever 176 between a first position where elements 51 and 159 are engaged so that gear 162 drives gear 67, and a second position where elements 51 and 159′ are engaged so that gear 166 drives gear 65. While one set of gears is being driven via its associated engaged clutch, the other set of gears is not being driven, as the set of elements constituting its associated clutch are disengaged. Also, there is an intermediate (neutral) position between the first position and the second position where both sets of elements constituting the clutches are both disengaged. The other end of the lever 176 is connected to a switch plate 110 that is held in a slot in base 10 and is shiftable left and right between the first, second and neutral positions, as described. As shown in FIG. 3, when switch 110 is left, swing plate 20 is connected for being oscillated. When switch 110 is right, the wheels or concave spools 14,16 are connected for being rotated. When switch 110 is in the middle between left and right, it is in the neutral position and neither plate 20 nor spools 14, 16 are connected for being driven.

[0019] A bevel gear 62 is fixed to shaft 58 and meshes with a bevel gear 64 on shaft 66, also bearing mounted on base 10 in bearing blocks, as indicated by reference numeral 68. At the end of shaft 66 is a roughly elliptical shaped plate 70 provided with a pin 72 that is eccentrically positioned relative to shaft 66, Pin 72 is received in a vertical slot 74 cut through swing plate 20. The arrangement is such that when the motor 50 drives, the pin 72 coacts with the slot 74 to cause the swing plate 20 to perform an oscillating motion about its pivot axis defined by pivot pin as indicated by the arrows C and D, causing in turn the plate member 38 to oscillate and perform a grinding or polishing or buffing on a nail depending on the surface 48 being applied to the nail at the moment.

[0020] Mounted on the base 10 between and raised above the wheels 14 and 16 is a finger holding member 80 consisting of a parallelpiped body 82 having a depression or recess 84 in its top suitable to receiving a finger. At the rear end of body 82 a slot 86 is defined that extends to the rear edge of the body 82. Body 82 is received on a frame 88 that is fixed to the base 10. Body 82 and frame 88 are in sliding relationship. A post 90 is fixed in the frame 88 so that it cannot move forward or backward when the body 82 moves relative to frame 88, however, post 90 is free to move downward against spring contact 92 fixed in frame 88. Also, the body 82 includes an integrally formed rod 94 that projects through a hole in frame 88 and extends horizontally to the rear. A spring 96 is freely mounted on rod and retained thereon by a screw and washer 98. A second washer 100 is freely mounted on rod 94 and bears against the frame 88 adjacent the hole to coact with the spring 96 to provide a restoring force for the body 82 whenever it is moved horizontally forward. At the forward end of the body 82 is mounted a resting plate 102 by means of a knurled set screw 104. Plate 102 is provided with four arcuate outer edges 106 of differing curvatures to accommodate different curvatures of finger nails. By loosening the set screw 104, the plate can be rotated by 90° increments to position the appropriate curved edge 106 to match the finger nail then being treated. The three position switch 110 is located at the right side of the machine, as shown in FIG. 5. The positions for the switch are predeterminable. As shown, the three positions are CENTER is off, RIGHT is to couple the motor to the wheels 14 and 16, and LEFT is to couple the motor to oscillating plate 20. The controls for these functions and their implementation will be evident to those of ordinary skill in the art from the foregoing and subsequent description. Shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is a shielding and protective hood 120 that is fixed to the base 10 and surround the oscillating plate 20 and partially surrounds the plate member 38 and its mounting structure.

[0021] Whereas the oscillations of the plate 20 have been generated according to the mechanism described, alternatives are possible. Two such alternatives are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. In FIG. 9 the oscillations are produced via a cam 130 mounted on the end of the shaft 66. Cam bears against the edge or side of plate 20, and due to its geometrical configuration drives the plate to the left as shown in FIG. 9. A restoring force is provided by a spring 132 that is hooked or fixed to plate 20 at one end and anchored at its other end to base 10 as indicated by reference numeral 134. The second alternative is shown in FIG. 10 uses a mechanism is generally known as a crank and Pitman and consists of disc 140 mounted and fixed to the end of shaft 66. An eccentrically mounted pin 142, fixed to disc 140, is connected pivotally to one end of a link 144, the other end of which is pivotally fixed to the plate 20. The arrangement will produce the desired oscillations.

[0022] As described above, the invention utilizes a swing frame to connect the active plate and its holder by a transit part-turning bar sway around an axis. The way which movement force applies to the swing bar is not limited, as is evident from the above description. Such swing frame can form a basic arc movement, but still needs the structure described above in order that the requirement of good touch on different shapes of nails is met. As described, a turning bar 38 is connected to swing frame 20 by an axis and one or more springs. This enables the turning bar to turn and to be given the necessary desirable down-direction force. The flat or slightly arcuate surface 48 will give a good touch or contact and a greater area will be worked on for a variety of different shapes of nails, as possible when a nail is forced against plate 38 and the swing frame 20. The plate 38 provides a minimum of two, and preferably three, surfaces 48. The purpose is for the user to be able to turn plate 38 and to choose an appropriate surface, for example, general renewing, fine renewing and buffing. The mechanism of finger and nail support and convenience to turn plate holder is an advantage of the present invention. The inside (concave) arc shape for finger rest, such the finger rest can slide forward and backward easily is also an advantage. The spring mechanism is to make finger rest go back to its initial position, push finger rest to move forward and release finger rest let finger rest go back, is also an advantage. Such sliding finger rest makes it possible for different areas of a long nail to face against plate surface 48. On the forward end of the finger rest, there is a long-nail support which can be positioned for a long nail or be turned to a minimum position, essentially put down, when the user just has short nails.

[0023] There is a touch switch serially connected in the power circuit to the motor 50 that is provided by post 90 on the back of finger rest. The switch will be “ON” with a finger pressing post 90 down and will be “Off” when the finger releases the pressure and allows the post 90 to lift up to its repose position. This provides a safety and convenience for a user to provide on-off control of motor 50 and to stop the oscillations of plate 20 in order to turn the plate holder 38 to choose the appropriate surface 48 to perform the general renewing, fine renewing and buffing procedures in one step for one nail. When motor 50 is stopped, all motion stops, including the plate 20 and the wheels 14 and 16. As noted previously, switch 110 enables the plate 20, on the one hand, and the wheels 14 and 16, on the other hand, to be selectively coupled to be driven by motor 50, when the touch switch, controlled by post 90, is actuated as described. Although the present invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, nevertheless, changes and modifications are possible that do not depart from the spirit, scope and contemplation of the invention as disclosed and taught herein. Such changes and modifications are deemed to fall within the purview of the invention as claimed.