Patent Application
20210087818
SNOW REMOVAL ASSEMBLY
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The disclosure relates to removal devices and more particularly pertains to a new removal device for vibrating snow off of a roof of a building.
The prior art relates to snow removal devices.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a plurality of snow sensors that is each coupled to a roof of a building to sense snow that has collected on the roof. A plurality of vibration units is each coupled to the roof of the building having each of the vibration units being positioned in an attic of the building. Each of the vibration units is turned on when the snow sensors sense snow. Moreover, each of the vibration units vibrates when the vibration units are turned on thereby facilitating the snow to slide off of the roof. A control unit is positioned within the building to turn each of the vibration units on and off when the control unit is manipulated by the user. A remote control is carried by the user and the remote control remotely turns on each of the vibration units for removing the snow from the roof.
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
Each of the snow sensors 12 comprises a base 20 that has a top surface 22 and a bottom surface 24. The bottom surface 24 of the base 20 is attached to an outer surface of the roof 14. The base 20 has a first end 26 and a second end 28. The first end 26 may be rounded and the second end 28 may be flattened. Each of the snow sensors 12 includes an antenna 30 that is coupled to and extends upwardly from the top surface 22 of the base 20. The antenna 30 is comprised of an electrically capacitive material thereby facilitating the antenna 30 to sense the electrical charge of snow 18. Additionally, the antenna 30 is electrically coupled to a power source 32 comprising an electrical system of the building 16.
A plurality of vibration units 34 is provided and each of the vibration units 34 is coupled to the roof 14 of the building 16. Additionally, each of the vibration units 34 is positioned in an attic of the building 16. Each of the vibration units 34 is in mechanical communication with the roof 14. Each of the vibration units 34 is in electrical communication with the plurality of snow sensors 12 and each of the vibration units 34 is turned on when the snow sensors 12 sense snow 18. Each of the vibration units 34 vibrates when the vibration units 34 are turned on thereby facilitating vibration to be transferred into the roof 14. In this way the vibration units 34 vibrate the snow 18 that has collected on the roof 14 thereby facilitating the snow 18 to slide off of the roof 14.
The vibration units 34 automatically turn off after a pre-determined amount of time.
Each of the vibration units 34 comprises a housing 36 that has a bottom wall 38 and an outer wall 40. The housing 36 is attached to a rafter 42 of the roof 14 having the housing 36 being positioned in the attic of the building 16. The bottom wall 38 abuts the rafter 42 and the outer wall 40 has a vent 44 extending into an interior of the housing 36. A vibration control circuit 46 is positioned within the housing 36 and the vibration control circuit 46 is electrically coupled to the antenna 30 of each of the snow sensors 12. The vibration control circuit 46 receives an on input when the antenna 30 on the snow sensors 12 senses snow 18. The vibration control circuit 46 is electrically coupled to a power source 32 comprising the electrical system of the building 16.
Each of the vibration units 34 includes a motor 48 that is positioned within the housing 36. The motor 48 rotates in a first direction when the motor 48 is turned on. The motor 48 is electrically coupled to the vibration control circuit 46 and the motor 48 is turned on when the vibration control circuit 46 receives the on input. The motor 48 may comprise an electric motor 48 or the like. A cam 50 is rotatably coupled to the motor 48 and the cam 50 orbits about a rotational axis of the motor 48 when the motor 48 is turned on. In this way the cam 50 oscillates for transferring vibration into the housing 36 thereby facilitating the housing 36 to transfer the vibration into the rafter 42.
A control unit 52 is provided and the control unit 52 is positioned within the building 16 to facilitate the control unit 52 to be accessible to a user. The control unit 52 is in electrical communication with each of the vibration units 34. The control unit 52 turns each of the vibration units 34 on and off when the control unit 52 is manipulated by the user. The control unit 52 comprises a control panel 54 that is positioned within the building 16. A remote control circuit 56 is positioned within the control panel 54 and the remote control circuit 56 is electrically coupled to the motor 48 in each of the vibration units 34.
A plurality of control buttons 58 is each coupled to the control panel 54 and each of the control buttons 58 is electrically coupled to the remote control circuit 56. Each of the control buttons 58 controls operational parameters of the vibration units 34, including turning the vibration units 34 on and off. A display 58 is coupled to the control panel 54 such that the display 58 is visible to the user. The display 58 is electrically coupled to the remote control circuit 56 and the display 58 displays indicia indicating the operational parameters of the vibration units 34. The display 58 may comprise an LCD or other electronic display 58. A receiver 60 is positioned within the control panel 54 and the receiver 60 is electrically coupled to the remote control circuit 56. The receiver 60 may be a radio frequency receiver or the like.
A remote control 62 is included and the remote control 62 is carried by the user. The remote control 62 is in wireless communication with the control unit 52. Additionally, the remote control 62 remotely turns on each of the vibration units 34 for removing the snow 18 from the roof 14. The remote control 62 includes a transceiver 64 that is in electrical communication with the receiver 60. The remote control 62 may comprise a smart phone or other personal electronic device.
In use, each of the vibration units 34 is turned on when the snow sensors 12 senses that a pre-determined amount of snow 18 has collected on the roof 14. In this way the roof 14 is vibrated at a frequency sufficient to cause the snow 18 to slide off of the roof 14. Thus, the snow 18 can be cleared from the roof 14 without requiring the user to manually remove the snow 18 from the roof 14. Additionally, the vibration units 34 can be turned on at any time with the control panel 54 or the remote control 62.
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, assembly 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.
