Blade for centrifugal blasting wheels

Claim 1

For use in: (a) a first centrifugal blasting wheel of the type including a pair of front and back wheel plates interconnected in spaced parallel relationship with each wheel plate having a central opening defined by an annular surface, wherein said plates are provided with respective crosswise aligned grooves in their inner faces extending radially in equally circumferentially spaced relationship from the inner annular surfaces of the plates to the outer annular surfaces thereof and opening into each of said annular surfaces, wherein each of said grooves defines a pair of parallel opposed walls; or (b) a second centrifugal blasting wheel of the type including a pair of front and back wheel plates interconnected in parallel spaced relationship with each wheel plate having a central opening defined by an annular surface, wherein said plates are provided with respective crosswise aligned grooves in their inner faces extending radially in equally circumferentially spaced relationship, wherein each of said grooves defines a pair of parallel opposed walls, said wheel plates also being provided with respective crosswise aligned recesses which open into said inner annular surfaces thereby interrupting the same, each pair of said radially extending grooves communicating with a respective pair of said recesses and with the outer annular surfaces of the wheel plates, each of said recesses having a depth greater than the depth of the associated groove, each of said recesses extending circumferentially of the wheel plate beyond the adjacent walls of the associated groove thereby defining a pair of abutment surfaces spaced from the inner annular surface of the wheel plate; a blade for each pair of aligned grooves in either of said first or second wheel plates, said blade comprising a body generally in the form of a parallelepiped having an inner and an outer end and side flanges to define a blade which is I-shaped in transverse cross-section, a first retaining lug formation on said body adjacent one of the side flanges and being disposed at the inner end of the blade, said first retaining lug formation extending laterally of the adjacent blade flange and being arranged to engage the inner annular surface of the adjacent wheel plate when the blade is operatively positioned with the side flanges disposed between the walls of a pair of grooves in said first wheel, a second retaining lug formation on said body adjacent one of the side flanges and being disposed at the inner end of the blade in close proximity to said first retaining lug formation, said second retaining lug formation extending beyond the adjacent blade flange in a direction generally at a right angle to the direction said first retaining lug formation extends from the adjacent side flange, said second retaining lug formation being arranged to engage one of said abutment surfaces in the adjacent wheel plate when the blade is operatively positioned with the side flanges disposed between the walls of a pair of grooves in said second wheel.