Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02401905 2002-09-09
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
Articulated snow shovel
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to manual snow shovel, more
specifically to articulated and adjustable snow shovel.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The use of snow shovel as well as the drawbacks and the risk of
accidents accompanying its use is well known in many regions of the world. The
snow discarding operation requires significant amount of physical effort not
efficiently managed that impact on its security.
Shovels with angularly adjustable handle or adjustable blades to
ease these problems have already been disclosed in the prior art in U.S.
Patent
No. 2,098,609 issued on Nov. 9, 1937 to Bishop entitled "Shovel with
adjustable
handle" and U.S. Patent No. 3,473,838 issued on Oct. 21, 1969 to Rankin
entitled
"Snow removal device". These two U.S. Patents show snow removal equipment
that do not ease the physical effort by requiring a significant bending of
user's
back and a poor functioning on rough surfaces.
U.S. Patent 4,559,726 issued on Dec. 24, 1985 to Moisan entitled
"Snow mover" shows complex pivoting and locking mechanisms of the blade that
badly affect its efficiency. U.S. Patent 5,630,633 issued on May 20, 1997 to
Dupre et al. entitled "Shovel with driven tiltable blade" discloses a shovel
equipment that is primarily made to move a load from one location to another,
with a mechanism adapted for frequent changes of the blade angle.
The above-mentioned prior arts all have a pivotable system linking
the shaft to the blade, hence allowing to either adjust the blade at various
angles
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in relation with the ground surface and/or positioning the shaft of the shovel
at
various angle in relation with the user. However, none of those systems has a
dual improved design as suggested in this invention.
The previous arts often brings the handle of the shaft at a very low
vertical position which is not ergonomically designed to relief the strain on
the
back of a user when the angle between the blade and the shaft is increased. In
the same manner, the shovels of the prior arts are not designed to help users
of
different height to equally and safely use the devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an
improved manually operated snow shovel device.
An advantage of the present invention is that the manually operated
snow shovel device is ergonomically designed to avoid significant bending to
the
user's back by providing an elevated handle position that also provides a low
inclination position of the shaft from horizontal, and consequently a larger
angle
between the shaft and the plan of the blade of the shovel.
A further advantage of the present invention is that the manually
operated snow shovel device allows a similar use of the shovel to users of
different height.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the manually
operated snow shovel device provides a positioning mechanism to put the curved
(concave) blade of the shovel at various angles in relation with the ground
surface to enhance multiple uses such as snow clearing, scraping, and/or
shoveling, the positioning mechanism also provides an enhanced lateral
stability
of the device.
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A further advantage of the present invention is that the manually
operated snow shovel device provides an easier and more ergonomic hand-
gripping action on the handle of the shovel.
A further advantage of the present invention is that the manually
operated snow shovel device vertically keeps the users' hands in line with or
above the hips of the user at all times.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the manually
operated snow shovel device is further adapted, with a T-shaped hand grip, to
properly clear snow out of delicate surfaces such as a substantially
horizontal
house roof or veranda floor, and also efficiently clearing snow out of an
exterior
ice skating-rink by user wearing ice skates.
The present invention is directed to a snow shovel comprising a
shaft having a handle member at a first upper extremity and a downwardly
oriented bent section at a second lower extremity and defining a substantially
vertical plane, a generally concave blade member pivotally mounted on the
second extremity of the shaft about an axis generally perpendicular to the
vertical
plane, a securing member providing a plurality of securing positions of the
bent
section of the shaft to the blade member into different relative angular
positions
so as to adjust a vertical position of the handle member relative to the blade
member, the bent section having a lower end substantially vertically oriented
and
curved to substantially assume a shape of the concave blade member.
Preferably, the snow shovel further comprises an attachment
member to pivotally secure the blade member to the lower end of the bent
section at a pivot axis.
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Preferably, the securing member includes an arcuate member
rigidly secured at one end to the blade member, the arcuate member being
generally centered about the pivot axis of the attachment member.
Preferably, the arcuate member includes a pair of parallel arcuate
strips rigidly secured at one end to the blade member, the two arcuate strips
slidably receiving the lower end of the bent section therebetween and having a
plurality of symmetrical perforations therealong, the bent section of the
shaft
having a transverse through hole selectively aligning with a pair of the
symmetrical perforations under pivotal movement of the attachment member, and
a locking pin simultaneously releasably engaging into the transverse hole and
one of the pair of symmetrical perforations corresponding to one of the
securing
positions.
Preferably, the locking pin includes a clamping member to
releasably secure the same in locking position.
Preferably, the clamping member is an upper resilient hook
clamping to the bent section and maintaining the locking pin in the locking
position.
Preferably, the handle member is a T-shaped grip with top
transverse bar slightly inclined toward the blade member, thereby providing
comfortable position of a user's hands.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become
apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided herein,
within
appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the annexed drawings, like reference characters indicate like
elements throughout.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a manually
operated snow shovel device according to the present invention with a metallic
concave blade;
Figure 1a is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a
manually operated snow shovel device with a different handle and a plastic
concave blade;
Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation view showing the two limit
angular positions of the bent section with respect to the blade of the
embodiment
of Fig. 1 a; and
Figure 3 is side elevation view of the embodiment of Fig. 1 showing
two different uses of a same embodiment of the invention with two different
angular positions.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to the annexed drawings the preferred embodiments
of the present invention will be herein described for indicative purpose and
by no
means as of limitation.
Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown an embodiment of an articulated
snow shovel device 20 according to the present invention with a handle member
22 secured at the upper extremity of a shaft 28. The handle 22 in this case is
a
T-shaped hand grip 24 where the top transverse bar 26 is slightly inclined
toward
the lower part of the shovel 20 when the latter is used to push snow S (shown
on
Fig. 3) for example. A downwardly oriented bent section 36 forms the lower
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extremity 32 of the shaft 28. The bent section 36 is pivotally secured by an
attachment member 40 to the back 42 (convex side) of a blade member,
preferably a generally concave blade 44. A securing member 46 holds the bent
section 36 of the shaft 28 in a selected angular securing position (better
shown
on Figs. 2 and 3) relative to the blade 44.
The attachment member 40 preferably consists of a C-shaped hook
member 47 at the lower end 38 of the bent section 36 fixing itself around a
horizontal bar 48 determining a pivot axis and secured on the back 42 of the
blade 44 to allow the bent section 36 and the shaft 28 to pivotally move in
relation
to the blade 44 as per the selected angular securing position A (see Figs. 2
and 3).
The securing member 46 preferably consists of a generally concave
U-shaped arcuate bracket 50, curved around the pivot axis of the attachment
member 40, where the free ends of the two arcuate arms 52 (or strips) are
9 5 secured on the back 42 of the blade 44 above the attachment member 40. The
two arcuate arms 52 have a plurality of symmetrical perforations 54 adapted to
receive a locking pin 56 to secure the bent pipe 36 in the selected angular
securing position A. The two arms 52 of the U-shaped bracket 50 are arcuate in
shape as to allow for a transversal through hole 58 of the bent section 36 to
be
aligned with any pair of symmetrical perforations 54 of the arms 52 having the
bent section 36 located therebetween when the latter pivotally moves about the
axis of the horizontal bar 48. The locking pin 56 is then releasably engaged
into
the selected pair of symmetrical perforations 54 of the U-shaped bracket 50
and
the aligned transverse perforation 58 of the bent section 36 to secure the
latter
and the shaft 28 in the selected angular securing position A relative to the
blade
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44. The locking pin 56 preferably includes clamping member, preferably an
upper resilient hook section 60, adapted to clamp around the bent section 36
and
releasably secure the locking pin 56 in its locking position. Alternatively,
the
locking nut 56 could be partially threaded and secured to the bent pipe 36
using a
conventional wing nut or the like (not shown).
The arc shape of the bracket 50 combined with the bent shape of
the lower extremity 32 of the shaft 28 offers enhanced lateral stability at
the
handle 22 and, at the same time, raises the handle 22 to reduce the bending
effort of the user.
Fig. 1 a shows a second embodiment 20' similar to the first
embodiment 20 of Fig. 1. The shovel 20' is adapted with a more conventional
type of handle 22' which is of a better suited use in case the device 20' is
used to
lift the snow S as opposed to having a T-shaped grip 24 more appropriate to
push the snow S as in Figs. 1 and 3. The one-hand handle 22' is also well
suited
for light shovels 20 with narrower blades 44. The blade 44' can be
alternatively
made out of a strong resilient thermoplastic (See Figs. 1 a and 2) as opposed
to
an alloy compound or aluminum such as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. With the plastic
blade 44', preferably triangular reinforcing plates 62 on the back 42 of the
blade
44' are usually required in the surroundings of the attachment 40 and securing
46
20. members to provide sufficient rigidity and stiffness to the blade 44'.
Fig. 2 shows the two limit angular securing positions of the bent
section 36 and the shaft 28 with respect to the generally concave blade 44',
with
the largest angle limit position shown in dashed lines. The angular position A
between the two bent sections 36 and 36' is also shown. It can be clearly
appreciated here the particular design of the bent section 36. The lower end
38
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of the bent section 36 is preferably substantially vertical and slightly
curved in the
opposite direction as to better assume the upper part of the back 42 of the
blade
44', while its upper extremity is curved to be aligned with the shaft 28 of
the
shovel 20. This particular system is quite unique and gives a positioning, at
close
proximity of the blade 44', of the shaft 28 being almost parallel to the plan
of the
blade 44'. This allows the vertical elevation of the handle 22 of the device
20 to
be higher, which eases the uses of the shovel 20 for a taller user U (shown on
Fig. 3). Similarly, the hands of the user U may remain at a high vertical
position,
preferably at a level of the hips or above, notwithstanding the use being made
of
the shovel 20 compared to more traditional shovels and does not require the
user
U to bend as much while using the shovel 20 to remove snow S, hence
increasing the ergonomic use and the security of the user U. Finally, this
view
also shows a different perspective on the attachment member 40.
The above mentioned explanations are furthermore demonstrated
on Fig. 3 where two users U and U' of different height respectively are using
the
shovel 20 to push snow S with a different angular position A and A'
respectively
adjusted to their height while both users U and U' are keeping the blade 44 in
the
same angled position relatively to the ground surface G. None of both users U
or
U' must bend more than the other. It shall be readily understood by one
skilled in
the art that the shovel 20 could be used by one unique user U in different
fashion
and keep the handle at essentially a same vertical height while changing the
angular position A which will affect the position of the blade 44 relative to
the
ground surface G. This could be convenient to alternatively push, clear or
shovel
the snow S. At the same time, the shovel 20 keeps a wider versatility towards
users U of a varying height. Note that on Fig. 3 the angle shown for the
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T-shaped grip 24 is slightly distorted or does not represent a realistic
perspective
view, but this was done to show the preferred user's hands position on the
preferably slightly inclined, for improved comfort by forcing a natural
angular
orientation of the wrists, top transverse bar 26 of the T-shaped grip 24 when
using the shovel 20.
Although the present articulated snow shovel has been described
with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the
disclosure has
been made by way of example only and that the present invention is not limited
to
the features of the embodiments described and illustrated herein, but includes
all
variations and modifications within the scope and spirit of the invention as
hereinafter claimed.
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