Patent Application
20170044741
The disclosure relates to excavation devices and more particularly pertains to a new excavation device for removing plant material from a body of water.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising an excavator that has a bucket and the bucket has a forward edge. A plurality of mounts is provided and each of the mounts is attached to the bucket. A plurality of gripping members is provided and each of the gripping members is removably attached to an associated one of the mounts. Thus, each of the gripping members may engage plant material in a body of water thereby facilitating the excavator to remove the plant material from the body of water.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A plurality of gripping members 24 is provided and each of the gripping members 24 is removably attached to an associated one of the mounts 18. Thus, each of the gripping members 24 may engage plant material 26 in a body of water 30 thereby facilitating the excavator 12 to remove the plant material 26 from the body of water 30. The plant material 26 may be located at the bottom 28 of the body of water or the surface 31 of the body of water 30. The plant material 26 may be aquatic plants of any species and the body of water 30 may be a lake, a pond, a river or the like.
Each of the gripping members 24 includes a first end 32, a second end 34 and a perimeter wall 36 extending between the first end 32 and the second end 34. The peripheral wall 36 has a top side 38, a bottom side 40, a first lateral side 42 and a second lateral side 44. The bottom side 40 curves upwardly toward the top side 38 between the first end 32 and the second end 34 such that each of the gripping members 24 tapers to a point at the second end 34. The top side 38 and the bottom side 40 are arcuate between the first end 32 and the second end 34 such that each of the gripping members 24 curves upwardly between the first end 32 and the second end 34. The upward curve of each of the gripping members 24 facilitates the plant material 26 to be retained on each of the gripping members 24 when the bucket 14 is manipulated.
Each of the gripping members 24 may have a length ranging between approximately eighteen inches and twenty four inches. Thus, the second end 34 of each of the gripping members 24 may engage the plant material 26 without having to position the bucket 14 within the body of water 30. Additionally, each of the gripping members 24 may have a width ranging between approximately three inches and six inches and a height ranging between approximately two inches and six inches.
The first end 32 has a well 46 extending therein toward the second end 34. The well 46 insertably receives the distal end 20 of an associated one of the mounts 18 such that each of the gripping members 24 extends forwardly from the bucket 14. The top side 38 has a first opening 48 extending therethrough and the first opening 48 is positioned adjacent to the first end 32. The bottom side 40 has a second opening 50 extending therethrough and the second opening 50 is positioned adjacent to the second end 34 such that the first opening 48 is aligned with the second opening 50. Each of the first lateral side 42 and the second lateral side 44 has a rear portion 52 extending between the first end 32 and a point that is closer to the first end 32 than the second end 34. The rear portion 52 flares outwardly toward the first end 32 such that the first end 32 has a width is greater than the second end 34.
A plurality of fasteners 54 is provided and each of the fasteners 54 extends through the first opening 48 and the second opening 50 of an associated one of the gripping members 24. Each of the fasteners 54 engages the aperture 22 in an associated one of the mounts 18 when the associated gripping member 24 is positioned on associated mount 18. Thus, each of the gripping members 24 is removably retained on the bucket 14. Each of the fasteners 54 may comprise a bolt or the like.
In use, the bucket 14 is manipulated to remove the plant material 26 from the body of water 30. The second end 34 of each of the gripping members 24 is positioned to engage the plant material 26 in the body of water 30. The bucket 14 is manipulated to remove the plant material 26 from the body of water 30. The bucket 14 is repeatedly manipulated until a desired amount of the plant material 26 is removed from the body of water 30.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, system and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
