Beach cleaner

Abstract

A beach cleaner which scrapes up the litter along with sand and captures and deposits the churned up litter and sand in the mesh member. The beach cleaner 50 includes a frame; keel members, a scraper, and a tow portion that are disposed in a front portion of the frame; a mesh member disposed in a rear portion of the frame. The keel members and the scraper churn up litter scattered on sand ground, along with sand, while the beach cleaner travels on a surface of the sand ground by being towed by a towing vehicle. The churned up litter is deposited in the mesh member. Mesh of the mesh member is relatively rough at a front portion thereof in the traveling direction and finer at a rear portion thereof.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of beach cleaners according to an embodiment of the invention and being transported by being mounted on a trailer together with other devices;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a first beach cleaner according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the first beach cleaner shown in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4( a) and 4(b) are explanatory views of a sand pin of the first beach cleaner, in which FIG. 4(a) is a side view and FIG. 4(b) is a view as seen in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4(a);

FIGS. 5( a) and 5(b) are explanatory views of a modification of the sand pin, in which FIG. 5(a) is a side view and FIG. 5(b) is a view as seen in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5(a);

FIG. 6 is a side view of the first beach cleaner with a weight mounting portion attached thereto;

FIG. 7 is a top view corresponding to FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 are explanatory views of the weight mounting portion shown in FIG. 6, in which FIG. 8(a) is a top view and FIG. 8(b) is a side view thereof;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory exploded view showing the weight mounting portion shown in FIG. 6 and a weight attached thereto;

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a weight mounting portion as attached to a front carrier of a towing vehicle;

FIG. 11 is a top view corresponding to FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory exploded view showing the weight mounting portion shown in FIG. 10 and a weight attached thereto;

FIG. 13 is a side view of a litter collecting station according to the embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a top view corresponding to FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory perspective view of a dividable structure in the litter collecting station;

FIG. 16 is a side view of a second beach cleaner according to the embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a top view corresponding to FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a rear view corresponding to FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 is a side view of a front portion of a frame of the second beach cleaner;

FIG. 20 is a view as seen in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a side view of a hinge for a mesh member of the second beach cleaner and its vicinity;

FIGS. 22( a) and 22(b) are views as seen in the direction of arrow A and arrow B in FIG. 21, respectively; and

FIGS. 23( a) and 23(b) represent a case where the mesh member of the second beach cleaner is made movable in a front-rear direction, and are side views of the mesh member at a retracted position and at an advanced position, respectively;

FIG. 24 illustrates a path along which the vehicle travels when a sandy beach is cleaned using the beach cleaners of the embodiment;

FIG. 25 is a side view of the first beach cleaner as towed by the vehicle; and

FIG. 26 is a side view of the second beach cleaner as towed by the vehicle.

Claims

1. A beach cleaner comprising: a frame including a plurality of longitudinal members each extending along a traveling direction of the beach cleaner, and a plurality of transverse members each extending in a transverse direction of the beach cleaner, the transverse members extending substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal members;a churn-up portion disposed in a front portion of the frame;a mesh member disposed in a rear portion of the frame; anda tow portion disposed at a front end portion of the frame,the churn-up portion adapted to churn up litter scattered on sand ground, along with sand, while the beach cleaner is traveling on a surface of the sand ground by being towed by a towing vehicle, and the churned up litter being deposited in the mesh member,wherein the mesh member has an encircling member open at least at a side,the mesh member including mesh that is relatively rough at a front portion thereof in the traveling direction, and that is finer at a rear portion thereof in the traveling direction than that of at least the front portion.

2. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the mesh member is shiftable relative to the frame in a front-rear direction.

3. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising a front end stopper and a rear end stopper for determining positions of a front end and a rear end of the mesh member.

4. The beach cleaner according to claim 2, further comprising a front end stopper and a rear end stopper adapted to be shiftable in a front-rear direction along lengths of the longitudinal members for determining positions of a front end and a rear end of the mesh member.

5. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein a front portion of the mesh member is slightly inclined forwardly.

6. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the encircling member includes a pair of side walls and a rear wall.

7. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the mesh member is rotatable about a hinge pipe in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction.

8. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising lift arms extending laterally outward from left and right ones of the plurality of longitudinal members, and when the mesh member is rotated to a upright position for emptying the mesh member a side wall of the mesh member rests against at least one of the lift arms.

9. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising a hinge on one of a left or a right side of the mesh member, and a handle on the other of the left and right side of the mesh member.

10. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the mesh member includes a hinge pipe that is shiftable in a front-rear direction between front and rear walls of a hinge bracket mounted on one of the longitudinal members.

11. A beach cleaner comprising: a frame including a plurality of longitudinal members each extending along a traveling direction of the beach cleaner, and a plurality of transverse members each extending in a transverse direction of the beach cleaner, the transverse members extending substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal members;a churn-up portion disposed in a front portion of the frame;a mesh member disposed in a rear portion of the frame; anda tow portion disposed at a front end portion of the frame,the churn-up portion adapted to chum up litter scattered on sand ground, along with sand, while the beach cleaner is traveling on a surface of the sand ground by being towed by a towing vehicle, and the churned up litter being deposited in the mesh member,wherein the mesh member has an encircling member open at least at a side,wherein mesh of the mesh member is relatively finer at rear portion of the mesh member in the traveling direction than is the mesh in a front portion of the mesh member,wherein the churn-up portion includes a bar-shaped scraper extending through a plurality of keel members positioned from left to right near a front of the beach cleaner.

12. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the mesh member is shiftable relative to the frame in a front-rear direction.

13. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising a front end stopper and a rear end stopper for determining positions of a front end and a rear end of the mesh member.

14. The beach cleaner according to claim 2, further comprising a front end stopper and a rear end stopper adapted to be shiftable in a front-rear direction along lengths of the longitudinal members for determining positions of a front end and a rear end of the mesh member.

15. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein a front portion of the mesh member is slightly inclined forwardly.

16. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the encircling member includes a pair of side walls and a rear wall.

17. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the mesh member is rotatable about a hinge pipe in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction.

18. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising lift arms extending laterally outward from left and right ones of the plurality of longitudinal members, and when the mesh member is rotated to a upright position for emptying the mesh member a side wall of the mesh member rests against at least one of the lift arms.

19. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising a hinge on one of a left or a right side of the mesh member, and a handle on the other of the left and right side of the mesh member.

20. A beach cleaner comprising: a frame including a plurality of longitudinal members each extending along a traveling direction of the beach cleaner, and a plurality of transverse members each extending in a transverse direction of the beach cleaner, the transverse members extending substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal members;a churn-up portion disposed in a front portion of the frame;a mesh member disposed in a rear portion of the frame; andleft and right tow portions disposed at a front end portion of the frame,the churn-up portion adapted to churn up litter scattered on sand ground, along with sand, while the beach cleaner is traveling on a surface of the sand ground by being towed by a towing vehicle, and the churned up litter being deposited in the mesh member,wherein the mesh member has an encircling member open at least at a side,wherein mesh of the mesh member is relatively rougher at a front portion of the mesh member in the traveling direction than is the mesh in a rear portion of the mesh member.