Patent Application
20150197904
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to automobile accessories and, more particularly, to a vehicle mounted heat projecting device for melting ice on a road in front of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many geographic areas, it common for temperatures to drop below the freezing point of water, and even remain at such temperatures for a period of time, during certain seasons. When precipitation falls during such conditions, it can cause roads to be blanketed with ice, snow, or some combination of both. When roads are covered by ice and/or snow, it is well known that their surface becomes slippery and motorists are less able to get and maintain traction while operating automobiles thereon. Indeed, the hazardous nature of roads slickened by ice and/or snow is well known and many solutions have been developed to mitigate these hazards by removing or melting ice and/or snow altogether or enhancing the traction one can get while on them.
A problem which still exists, however, is that most solutions for removing or melting ice and/or snow on road surfaces, such as the deployment of snowplows and salt trucks, require centralized operation and significant pooled resources to employ. Because of this, such solutions are not always available to users when needed. On the other hand, solutions which can be employed by an individual user as needed, such as chained tires, typically rely on attempting to enhance traction. Such attempts, however, are often unreliable at best to provide sufficient traction on what is an inherently unstable surface and can be damaging to the road surface. Thus, there remains a need for a vehicle mounted ice melting device which would allow ice and/or snow on the ground surface in front of a vehicle to be melted. It would be helpful if such a vehicle mounted ice melting device projected heat in front of a vehicle so as to enable the melting of ice in the path of a moving vehicle. It would be additionally desirable for such a vehicle mounted ice melting device to operate off electrical power generated by the vehicle on which it was mounted.
The Applicant's invention described herein provides for an ice melting device adapted to project heat from the front of a vehicle to the surface of a road to melt ice and/or snow on the road. The primary components of Applicant's vehicle mounted ice melting device are a frame having an infrared laser and a plurality of heating coils. When in operation, the vehicle mounted ice melting device allows a user to safely travel on roads not treated by snow plows or salt trucks without the use of chained tires. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by road ice melting solutions of the prior art are removed.
A vehicle mounted ice melting device for projecting heat on the ground immediately in front of a vehicle to melt ice and snow on that portion of ground surface before the vehicle passes over it. The vehicle mounted ice melting device, which is adapted to mount on a vehicle's front bumper, comprises a base frame having an upper structure and a lower structure. The base frame provides a housing means for mounting on a vehicle. The upper structure is a hollow passageway which includes a plurality of heating coils, and constructed to take oncoming air and redirect it through it's the body of the upper structure, past the heating coils to rapidly heat it, and then down to the ground immediately in front of the vehicle so the heated air contacts the ground surface. In this regard, the upper structure provides a means for directing heated air. The lower portion is defined by a infrared laser which projects infrared radiation in the same direction as the heated air which is redirected by the upper structure. The lower portion is thus able to provide a means for projecting radiation. By this dual heat projecting mechanism, the ground in front of a vehicle can be warmed sufficiently to melt the ice and/or on the surface of the ground.
The vehicle mounted ice melting device is constructed to direct the heated air and radiation on the ground surface up to five feet in front of the vehicle on which it is mounted. Thus, the vehicle mounted ice melting device while in continuous operations can continuously melt ice and/or snow on the ground surface in front of a moving vehicle.
It is an object of this invention to provide a vehicle mounted ice melting device which would allow ice and/or snow on the ground surface in front of a vehicle to be melted.
It is another object of this invention to provide a vehicle mounted ice melting device which projects heat in front of a vehicle so as to enable the melting of ice in the path of a moving vehicle.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a vehicle mounted ice melting device to operate off electrical power generated by the vehicle on which it was mounted.
These and other objects will be apparent to one of skill in the art.
Referring now to the drawings and in particular
Inside the hollow inner chamber 14 are two electric heating coils 18 and a first set of attachment braces 12a and a second set of attachment braces 13a. The heating coils 18 are disposed in the inner chamber so that air passing through the inner chamber is rapidly heated. In this manner, air which enters the upper mouth 12 is heated before it exits the lower mouth 13 and directed towards the ground surface G. The heated air provides one component of the heating mechanism of the vehicle mounted ice melting device 10.
The attachment braces 12a, 13a are each defined by a plurality of discrete bars which hold together the base frame 11. In operation, as air is forced through the inner chamber 14, it would exert pressure on the base frame 11 in a way which would push it apart. The attachment braces 12a, 13a provide structure which resists this pressure and holds the base frame 11 together, while not impeding the flow of air through the inner chamber 14.
The other component of the heating mechanism of the vehicle mounted ice melting device 10 is an infrared radiation generator, defined in the preferred embodiment as a infrared laser 19. The infrared laser 19 directs infrared radiation in the exit direction 16 towards a ground surface G in front of the vehicle on which the vehicle mounted ice melting device 10 is mounted. The infrared radiation, along with the heated air, rapidly warms the ground surface G in front of the vehicle on which the vehicle mounted ice melting device 10 is mounted, allowing ice and/or snow on the ground surface G to be melted while the vehicle is in motion.
The heating coils 18 and the infrared laser 19 are both operated through an electrical connection to the alternator of the vehicle on which the vehicle mounted ice melting device 10 is mounted. In a conventional set up, a wire 20 which is electrically connected to the heating coils 18 and the infrared laser 19 is run to and connected with the alternator.
In the preferred embodiment, the vehicle mounted ice melting device 10 is attached to the bumper of a car through a plurality of screws (not shown).
In one embodiment of the vehicle mounted ice melting device 10, an infrared sensor 21 is included on the base frame 11 and configured to allow the vehicle mounted ice melting device 10 to detect icy conditions. In such an embodiment, the vehicle mounted ice melting device 10 includes an automatic internal switch to allow it to turn on automatically when icy roads are detected.
The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.
