Coated abrasive back-up pad with metal reinforcing plate

Abstract

A coated abrasive back up pad comprising a layer of resiliently compressible foam, a generally rigid fiber reinformced polymeric backing plate, a circular array of openings in the backing plate through which the backing plate is attached by screws to a drive mechanism, and a flexible adhesion layer fixed to an opposite surface of the foam layer and having a generally planar outer support surface adapted to have pressure sensitive adhesive coated abrasive sheets adhered thereto. The back-up pad includes a metal reinforcing plate between the backing plate and the layer of foam which is smaller than the backing plate for insuring that the screws will not break through the backing plate during use of the back-up pad to drive a sheet of coated abrasive, and the adhesion layer is radiused around access holes to the screws from the support surface so that the foam layer will not produce greater grinding pressure in those areas than in adjacent areas.