Hand-powered polishing apparatus and kit with diamond abrasive and method

Abstract

A manual method and apparatus for removing scratches from automotive paint finishes by using a diamond abrasive compound applied to a handheld polishing disk/pad which effectively “scrubs” away the scratches. First, a first soft polishing pad is attached to a handgrip; second, an amount of a first diamond abrasive polishing paste is applied to the first soft polishing pad; next one manually polishes the metal trim or paint finish in situ without removing the metal trim from the vehicle by rubbing the metal trim or paint finish with the first soft polishing pad bearing the first diamond abrasive polishing paste. Thereafter, one removes the first soft pad from the hand grip and replaces it with a second soft polishing pad and applies an amount of a second diamond abrasive paste to the second soft polishing pad, the second diamond abrasive paste having a finer grit than the first diamond abrasive paste. One then manually polishes the metal trim or paint finish in situ by rubbing the metal trim or paint finish with the second soft polishing pad bearing the second diamond abrasive polishing paste. A third, yet finer, diamond abrasive compound can be used in conjunction with a third soft polishing pad. The apparatus comprises a soft hand grip, a plurality of soft polishing pads for attachment to the hand grip and for polishing with abrasive paste, and a plurality of containers of diamond abrasive paste of varying grits to be applied to the soft polishing pads.

1 . A manual scratch repair kit for manually repairing scratches in automotive paint finishes, the manual scratch repair kit comprising:
 a handgrip having an underside with hook and loop fasteners;   two or more soft pads for holding and applying abrasive, each of the soft pads having an upper side with hook and loop fasteners to allow the soft pads to be releasably mounted to the handgrip;   two or more containers of diamond abrasive compound of different grits; and   wherein the soft pads are color-keyed to the diamond abrasive compounds and/or the containers.   
     
     
         2 . A manual scratch repair kit as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the abrasive compounds are different colors and at least part of the soft pads are different colors and color-keyed to the different color abrasive compounds. 
     
     
         3 . A manual scratch repair kit as claimed in  claim 2  wherein a portion of each of the soft pads is generally the same color as the abrasive compounds. 
     
     
         4 . A manual scratch repair kit as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the two or more soft pads and the two or more containers of diamond abrasive comprise three soft pads and three containers of diamond abrasive. 
     
     
         5 . A manual scratch repair kit as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the handgrip is pliable. 
     
     
         6 . A manual scratch repair kit as claimed in  claim 5  wherein the handgrip is at least partly dome-shaped. 
     
     
         7 . A manual scratch repair kit as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the soft pads are round, disk-like elements. 
     
     
         8 . A manual scratch repair kit as claimed in  claim 7  wherein the soft pads comprise wool fiber pads. 
     
     
         9 . A manual scratch repair kit as claimed in  claim 7  wherein the soft pads comprise open cell foam. 
     
     
         10 . A manual scratch repair kit as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the containers comprise syringe-like dispensers for dispensing controlled, small amounts of the diamond abrasive compound. 
     
     
         11 . A manual scratch repair method for manually repairing scratches in automotive paint finishes, the manual scratch repair method comprising the steps of:
 attaching a first soft polishing pad to a handgrip;   applying an amount of a first diamond abrasive polishing paste to the first soft polishing pad;   manually polishing the paint finish by rubbing the paint finish with the first soft polishing pad bearing the first diamond abrasive polishing paste;   removing the first soft pad from the hand grip and replacing it with a second soft polishing pad;   applying an amount of a second diamond abrasive paste to the second soft polishing pad, the second diamond abrasive paste having a finer grit than the first diamond abrasive paste; and   manually polishing the paint finish by rubbing the paint finish with the second soft polishing pad bearing the second diamond abrasive polishing paste.   
     
     
         12 . The manual scratch repair method of  claim 11  further comprising the steps of:
 removing the second soft pad from the hand grip and replacing it with a third soft polishing pad; 
 applying an amount of a third diamond abrasive paste to the third soft polishing pad, the third diamond abrasive paste having a finer grit than the second diamond abrasive paste; and 
 manually polishing the paint finish by rubbing the paint finish with the third soft polishing pad bearing the third diamond abrasive polishing paste. 
 
     
     
         13 . A manual polishing method for manually polishing automotive metal trim in situ on a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
 attaching a first soft polishing pad to a handgrip;   applying an amount of a first diamond abrasive polishing paste to the first soft polishing pad;   manually polishing the metal trim in situ without removing the metal trim from the vehicle by rubbing the metal trim with the first soft polishing pad bearing the first diamond abrasive polishing paste;   removing the first soft pad from the hand grip and replacing it with a second soft polishing pad;   applying an amount of a second diamond abrasive paste to the second soft polishing pad, the second diamond abrasive paste having a finer grit than the first diamond abrasive paste; and   manually polishing the metal trim in situ by rubbing the metal trim with the second soft polishing pad bearing the second diamond abrasive polishing paste.   
     
     
         14 . The manual polishing method of  claim 13  further comprising the steps of:
 removing the second soft pad from the hand grip and replacing it with a third soft polishing pad; 
 applying an amount of a third diamond abrasive paste to the third soft polishing pad, the third diamond abrasive paste having a finer grit than the second diamond abrasive paste; and 
 manually polishing the metal trim in situ by rubbing the paint finish with the third soft polishing pad bearing the third diamond abrasive polishing paste. 
 
     
     
         15 . A method of polishing automotive paint finishes and/or metal trim on an automobile, the method comprising the steps of:
 applying a first diamond abrasive paste to a first polishing pad; and   polishing the automotive paint finishes and/or metal trim by rubbing the metal trim or paint finish with the first polishing pad bearing the first diamond abrasive paste.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising the steps of:
 applying a second diamond abrasive paste to a second polishing pad, the second diamond abrasive paste having a finer grit than the first diamond abrasive paste; and   polishing the paint finish and/or metal trim by rubbing the metal trim or paint finish with the second polishing pad bearing the second diamond abrasive paste.