The present invention relates to Ice Removal Machine, and, more particularly, to a handy small machine for removing ice formed on roads, sidewalks and stairs.
Ice formation on road, sidewalks and stairs is a problem of considerable concern. Ice forms a slippery layer which creates a hazardous walking and driving conditions which often lead to accidents; these accidents may result in personal injuries such as broken wrist or broken ankle, but more serious injuries such as hip fracture or skull fracture can also occur.
Maintaining sidewalks and external stair steps in front of homes during the winter months can be a very difficult task to accomplish due to accumulation of ice or snow formed by rain and freezing temperature. A slip and fall accident may occur due to ice patches in commercial parking lots, stairs on family houses, sidewalks and driveway in apartment complexes which may result in liability that falls on the property owner or the person responsible for maintenance that he failed to keep the property in a reasonably safe condition.
Traditional methods for removing ice or preventing ice formation is by shoveling or spreading salt mixed with chemicals on the surface.
There are multiple inventions that focused on the ice formation problem and how to remove it from different surfaces. These inventions presented multiple approaches with some focusing on improving manual shovels and others utilizing heating methods to melt the formed ice. U.S. Pat. No. D711704 focused on removing ice formation using an improved manual shovel design while U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,891 presented an invention for ice removal using a laser beam to remove ice formed on airplane wings surface. There are also U.S. patent Ser. No. 10/066,352 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,778 which presented devices to remove snow and ice from roadways and sidewalks utilizing heating elements.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe an ice removal machine that may be easily transported and assembled by a user, low maintenance and readily adapted on a variety of surfaces and small areas, such as sidewalks and external home stairs.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for an inexpensive, easy to use Ice Removal Machine which can be used by the residential and commercial property owners to crush and remove ice from sidewalks and external home stairs. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
In accordance with the present invention, the Ice Removal Machine is used to remove ice from different surfaces including but not limited to sidewalks and stairs in houses. The machine includes an electrical motor that generates power to rotate a pulley wheel drive connected by a free rod linked to a movable steel plate. The movable steel plate contains anti-rust steel nails which will be called herein after as the “hammer system”. The vertical oscillation movement of the hammer system crushes the ice layer formed on the concrete. The machine includes a shovel bucket to remove the crushed ice away from the target surface and may further include an integrated system to dispose the crushed ice in a vacuum system or a blower assembly to remove the crushed ice away from the target surface.
The present invention will be better understood when read in light of the accompanying drawings in which:
As shown in
Since sidewalks and outside home stairs are usually made of cast concrete, it is very important to protect the concrete surface from any damages during the ice crushing process. The force generated by decompression of springs 18 and the system weight is designed to not exceed the force needed to crush the ice layer 35. The mechanical properties of both ice and concrete are as follows: the typical strength value for crushing in bars for ice is 551 psi (38 bars) and concrete compression strength is 2500 psi (172.4 bars).
As illustrated in
The external body 28 of the Ice Removal Machine is made of anti-rust material. The Ice Removal Machine rests on four wheels 26 and can be pushed using handle drive 31.
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Entry |
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CIP 35—Testing compression , www.nrmca.org/aboutconcrete/cips/35p.pdf. |
www.britannica.com Ice crushing force. |