It will be understood that various details of the invention may be changed without departing from the scope of the invention。 Furthermore, the foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration only, and not for the purpose of limitation—the invention being defined by the claims。

What is claimed is:

1。A free-standing sander for abrading products comprising:

(a)a sanding head comprising an endless abrasive belt rotating around an upper arcuate plate and a lower roller;

(b)a first motor for rotating the lower roller of the sanding head, where the rotation of the roller causes the abrasive belt to rotate endlessly around the upper arcuate plate and lower roller;

(c)a conveyor adjacent the lower roller of the sanding head to convey the products toward the sanding head while the first motor rotates the abrasive belt of the sanding head around the upper arcuate plate and the lower roller;

(d)at least one rotatable eccentric shaft rotatably mounted at one end to the upper arcuate plate and at the other end to the lower roller of the sanding head; and

(e)a second motor for rotating the at least one eccentric shaft wherein rotation of the at least one eccentric shaft causes the sanding head to move in a translational orbital movement。

2。The sander according to claim 1, wherein the lower roller of the sanding head comprises a driven roller。

3。The sander according to claim 1, wherein the upper arcuate plate is adapted to apply tension to the endless abrasive belt rotating around the upper arcuate plate and the lower roller。

4。The sander according to claim 3, wherein the upper arcuate plate is caused to apply tension to the endless abrasive belt by at least one operatively associated pneumatic actuator。

5。The sander according to claim 1, wherein the sanding head is adapted to move vertically upwardly and downwardly relative to the conveyor to accommodate different size products。

6。The sander according to claim 1, wherein the first motor drivingly rotates the lower roller。

7。The sander according to claim 6, wherein the first motor is connected to the lower roller by a belt and pulley drive。

8。The sander according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor comprises an endless conveyor belt rotating around a driven roller and a freely rotatable idler roller so as to define an upper belt run and lower belt run, and a stationary table being positioned immediately beneath the upper belt run。

9。The sander according to claim 8, including a conveyor drive motor operatively connected to the driven roller by a gear drive。

10。The sander according to claim 8, wherein the conveyor is adapted to move vertically upwardly and downwardly relative to the sanding head to accommodate different size products。

11。The sander according to claim 1, wherein the sanding head comprises an eccentric shaft on each side of the abrasive belt and extending between the upper arcuate plate and the lower roller, wherein each shaft is rotatably mounted at each end thereof in a corresponding upper and lower bearing。

12。The sander according to claim 1, wherein the second motor is connected to the at least one eccentric shaft by a belt and pulley drive。

13。A free-standing sander for abrading products comprising:

(a)a sanding head comprising an endless abrasive belt rotating around an upper arcuate plate and a lower roller;

(b)a first motor for rotating the lower roller of the sanding head, where the rotation of the at least one roller causes the abrasive belt to rotate endlessly around the upper arcuate plate and lower roller;

(c)a conveyor adjacent the lower roller of the sanding head to convey the products toward the sanding head while the first motor rotates the abrasive belt of the sanding head around the upper arcuate plate and the lower roller;

(d)a pair of eccentric shafts comprising an eccentric shaft on each side of the abrasive belt that extends between the upper arcuate plate and the lower roller of the sanding head, wherein each shaft is rotatably mounted at each end thereof in a corresponding upper and lower bearing; and