Patent Application
20060005334
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shovel, and more particularly to a shovel having a simplified structure for removing snow and/or water without assembling processes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various kinds of typical shovels have been developed and comprises a blade secured thereto with fasteners, for removing snow and/or water, or for cleaning vehicles or the like.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,439 to Guo discloses one of the typical shovels including a metal blade secured to a shovel body with a base panel, for removing snow or the like.
Normally, the typical shovels include a metal blade and a number of parts or elements that are required to be secured together with a number of fasteners, such that a number of assembling processes are required to assemble and to manufacture the typical shovels. In addition, the fasteners may be exposed and may have a good chance to scrape or damage the windows or the vehicle bodies inadvertently.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional shovels.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a shovel including a simplified structure for removing snow and/or water.
The other objective of the present invention is to provide a shovel including a simplified structure that may be easily manufactured without assembling processes and that is excellent for mass production.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a shovel comprising a stem including a first side having a first blade extended therefrom, and including a second side having a second blade attached thereto, and the second blade is made of resilient material different from that for the stem, and molded and solidly attached to the stem without assembling processes.
The first blade includes a plurality of depressions formed therein, and defined between protuberances to form a rough structure for the first blade. The stem includes a rib extended from the second side of the stem, and engaged into the second blade, to solidly attach the second blade to the stem.
A handle may further be provided and attached to the stem. For example, the handle includes a bore formed therein, the stem includes a shank extended therefrom and engaged into the bore of the handle.
The handle may further include an outer covering attached thereto. For example, the outer covering includes at least one opening formed therein, the handle includes at least one projections extended outwardly therefrom and engaged into the opening of the outer covering, to solidly attach the outer covering onto the handle, and to prevent the outer from being rotated relative to the handle.
A second handle may further be provided and selectively attached to the stem when the handle is removed from the stem, and the second handle may include a length greater than that of the handle.
Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to the drawings, and initially to
It is preferable that the stem 10 and the first blade 11 are made of the same strong materials, such as plastic or metal or composite or synthetic materials or the like, and may be formed by such as molding or mold-injecting processes, for allowing the stem 10 and the first blade 11 to be solidly secured together, and to be easily manufactured in a single molding process without further assembling processes.
It is preferable that the first blade 11 includes a number of depressions 13 formed therein, and defined between protuberances 14, for forming a serrated or rough structure, for allowing the first blade 11 to easily remove snow or other materials from roofs of house families, vehicles, or the like.
The stem 10 further includes another side 15 having a second blade 16 extended therefrom, or attached thereto, and preferable made of softer materials, such as rubber materials, synthetic materials, or the like, for engaging with and for removing water or fluid or other materials from planar objects, such as windows of house families, windshield of vehicles, or the like.
The second blade 16 may also be formed onto or solidly secured onto the other side 15 of the stem 10 with such as molding or mold-injecting processes, for allowing the stem 10 and the second blade 16 to be solidly secured together, and to be easily manufactured in a molding process without further assembling processes.
For example, the stem 10 further includes a rib 17 (
The stem 10 further includes a shank 18 extended downwardly therefrom and having a non-circular cross section, for attaching or securing a handle 20 thereto. For example, the handle 20 includes a bore 21 formed therein for receiving the shank 18, and for allowing the handle 20 to be attached or secured to the stem 10. It is preferable that the handle 20 includes one or more projections 22 extended outwardly therefrom (
A soft or resilient outer covering 23 may further be provided and engaged onto the handle 20, for allowing the users to softly or comfortably hold or grasp the handle 20. For example, the outer covering 23 includes one or more openings 24 formed therein for receiving the projections 22 of the handle 20, and for allowing the outer covering 23 to be solidly attached onto the handle 20, and to be prevented from rotating relative to the handle 20.
Alternatively, as shown in
It is to be noted that the stem 10 and the blades 11, 16 may be easily and quickly formed or manufactured with molding or mold-injecting processes, for allowing the stem 10 and the blades 11, 16 to be easily and quickly manufactured without further assembling processes, and for allowing the shovel to be made in mass production.
Accordingly, the shovel in accordance with the present invention includes a simplified structure for removing snow and/or water, and which may be easily manufactured without assembling processes and that is excellent for mass production.
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
