Patent Application
20210332544
The present disclosure generally relates to snow shovels, and in particular, to a heated ice-clearing snow shovel.
This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, these statements are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is or is not prior art.
Snow shovel devices are used frequently to clear snow from driveways, walkways, and other surfaces. However, many standard snow shovels are inconsistent and inefficient in their ability to clear a patch of ice from a surface. Thus, some snow shovels have incorporated the use of heat to clear ice, typically through electrical means. However, these designs employ inefficient techniques when applied to remove ice from a surface.
Looking at devices similar to that of Jeff Glassman in US patent application 20110139763, a combination of a snow shovel with an ice chopper that are separated into two different scoops and electrically heated via a removable and rechargeable battery pack is seen. Although the second scoop for a vibrating ice chopper poses an interesting solution, the vibrations felt by a user and the use of two different scoops makes this device difficult for a user to properly control. Furthermore, a conventional battery pack is not able to store enough power for extended use. This poses a problem to users with longer driveways or other large surfaces.
Other, more traditional heated snow shovels, such as that shown by John F. Hughes, Jr. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,489, uses an electrical circuit to heat the entire scoop and are powered by an external source via a power cord. This is inefficient because there are parts of the shovel scoop that are being heated which will never come into contact with the surface on which the ice resides, and devices such as these are constantly draining power from their source when it may not be necessary. Furthermore, storing the power cord within the device increases its weight and makes the device burdensome for a user.
Therefore, there is an unmet need for a novel approach to solve the aforementioned problems of a snow shovel that clears ice from a surface.
A snow shovel with a handle for the person to grab on to. A scoop for removing the unwanted ice or snow from a surface. The handle and the scoop are connected with a shaft. Looking further into the scoop itself there will be a heating element that is inside the bottom edge of the scoop. This will allow for the bottom edge of the scoop to be heated and allow it to more easily break the ice or snow that has gathered on the surface. Also attached to the scoop is a motor device that will vibrate the scoop to help out in dislodging and clearing ice and snow from the surface. There will be a vibration-reducing mechanism that is located within the shaft. This will help to reduce the amount of vibration that the user feels while using the device. There will be sensors located within the device to detect various factors, such as position or acceleration, and determine when the heating element and motor should be turned on or off.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of this disclosure is thereby intended.
In the present disclosure, the term “about” can allow for a degree of variability in a value or range, for example, within 10%, within 5%, or within 1% of a stated value or of a stated limit of a range.
In the present disclosure, the term “substantially” can allow for a degree of variability in a value or range, for example, within 90%, within 95%, or within 99% of a stated value or of a stated limit of a range.
While this disclosure is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and described herein in detail a specific embodiment(s) with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as a exemplification and is not intended to be limited to the embodiment(s) illustrated.
It would be understood that like or analogous elements and/or components, referred to herein, may be identified throughout the drawings by like reference numerals. In addition, it will be understood that the drawings are merely schematic representations of the invention, and some of the components may have been distorted from actual scale for purposes of pictorial clarity.
A novel approach removing snow and ice using a snow shovel that clears ice from a surface is disclosed herein.
In the present embodiment, the shaft 400 has a circular shape, and spans the distance between the handle 200 and the scoop 300. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the shaft 400 can take on many different shapes, such as a rectangular shape. In the present embodiment, towards the end of the shaft 400 proximate to the scoop 300, is where the switch 450 is located. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that switch 450 can be placed in several other locations, such as the end of shaft 400 proximate to handle 200. The scoop 300 has an opening on the top edge that is configured to connect to the shaft 400. There is a bottom edge 500 of the scoop 300 which can be made of metal. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the bottom edge 500 can be made of other materials, such as plastic.
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In one embodiment of the present invention, a scoop 300, which is connected to one end of the shaft 400, harnesses a bottom edge 500 of the scoop 300, which houses a heating element 550. The heating element 550 is configured to heat up the bottom edge 500 of the scoop 300, in order to melt and remove ice from the surface.
A rechargeable battery 900 is encompassed within shaft 400, as illustrated in
In one embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of sensors 800, which are in electrical communication with the heating element 550 and the motor 600 via circuit 1100, are placed within scoop 300, with each sensor potentially corresponding to a specific type of action. For example, heat sensor 880 is configured to detect the amount of heat dissipating from heating element 550. As such, heat sensor 880 can be used to determine if heating element 550 is about to overheat and turn the heating element 550 on or off accordingly. Another example is that load sensor 860 is configured to detect the amount of snow and ice that scoop 300 is carrying. As such, load sensor 860 can be used to turn off vibrating motor 600 when scoop 300 is carrying a full load. These examples are provided to improve understanding of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the plurality of sensors 800 can take on many applications that are not discussed herewith.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a contact sensor 820 is provided and configured to detect when the scoop 300 is in contact with the surface. The contact sensor 820 is placed in a position above the bottom edge 500 of scoop 300. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that contact sensor 820 can be placed in several other locations, such as within the bottom edge 500 of scoop 300. Therefore, the placement location of contact sensor 820 in the shown embodiment should not be construed as limiting in any way.
In one embodiment of the present invention, an acceleration sensor 840 is provided and configured to detect when the scoop 300 encounters a patch of ice on the surface. The acceleration sensor is placed in a position above the bottom edge 500 of scoop 300. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that acceleration sensor 840 can be placed in several other locations, such as within the bottom edge 500 of scoop 300. Therefore, the placement location of acceleration sensor 840 in the shown embodiment should not be construed as limiting in any way.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a load sensor 860 is provided and configured to detect the amount of snow and ice contained in the scoop 300. The load sensor is placed in a position above the bottom edge 500 of scoop 300. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that load sensor 860 can be placed in several other locations, such as within the bottom edge 500 of scoop 300. Therefore, the placement location of load sensor 860 in the shown embodiment should not be construed as limiting in any way.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a heat sensor 880 is provided and configured to detect the heat output of the heating element 550 and prevent said heating element 550 from overheating. The heat sensor is placed in a position above the bottom edge 500 of scoop 300. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the heat sensor 880 can be placed in several other locations, such as within the bottom edge 500 of scoop 300. Therefore, the placement location of heat sensor 880 in the shown embodiment should not be construed as limiting in any way.
The snow shovel device 100 also includes 1 a controller 870 shown in
It will be apparent to one with ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be provided using some or all the mentioned features and components without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will also be apparent to the skilled artisan that the embodiments described above are specific examples of a single broader invention which may have greater scope than any of the singular descriptions taught. There may be many alterations made in the descriptions without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that numerous modifications can be made to the specific implementations described above. The implementations should not be limited to the particular limitations described. Other implementations may be possible.
