Snow shovel to over come the obstacle of height differences found in expansion joints of concrete side walks

Abstract

The present invention is an improved snow shovel with a uniquely designed bottom surface on the blade of the snow shovel. This consists of a wedge like protrusion located at the working edge portion of the blades' lower surface, extending back towards the rear of the blade for a distance of about two inches, with the acute angle, or the sharp portion of the wedge being the forward working edge of the blade. By lowering the handle of said snow shovel about ten inches, the rear portion of this wedge like protrusion will act as a fulcrum to lift the working edge of the blade up, so that the edge of the blade can slid up, over and past any vertical obstruction such as caused by a crack or the expansion joints in a concrete sidewalk that has one edge of the crack or expansion joint higher than the other edge creating a vertical barrier to the forward travel of the snow shovel as it is pushed forward on the sidewalk. This protuberance will also act as a reinforcement to the working edge of the blade, due to the extra amount of material the blade is made of, at the point of the most wear and abrasion, resulting in a much longer lasting snow shovel. as stated above the protruion could be of other shapes in cross section, such as half round or a wide "V". A set of small wheels placed in the same position as the said protrusion will also serve as a fulcrum whenever the handle of said snow shovel is pushed downward for a small distance. Another improvement is the polishing, and/or treating, and/or coating the blade with an anti stick coating such as teflon.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to shovels in general, and more specifically to snow shovels in particular.

[0002] As part of home maintenance in winter, snow shovels are used to remove accumulated snow from side walks, drive ways and other areas.

[0003] There are many types of snow shovels made at the present time, some have blades made of steel, some made of aluminum, and some made of plastic, or a combination of all of the above, of course they all have a handle attached, to control the above mentioned blade. The handle can be made of wood or plastic. It can be a straight, or curved, and have a spade type grip, or not.

[0004] One problem that is common to all the snow shovels that are being manufactured at the present time is. As the front working edge of the snow shovel blade is being pushed along the top surface of the side walk, the working edge of the blade will encounter breaks in the surface of the sidewalk. These breaks can be cracks that have occurred or they can be man made expansion joints. If one side or the other of the edges of these cracks or expansion joints has dropped or lifted the working edge of the shovel can be effected in one of two ways. If it is traveling from the high edge to the low edge of the crack or expansion joint it will slide over with no noticeable effect, but if it is passing from the low side to the high side of the crack or expansion joint it will be stopped short with a jolt. The snow shovel and all it's contents must be manually lifted up above the higher surface of sidewalk before snow shoveling can continue.

[0005] Another problem is snow sticking to the blade of the snow shovel as it is being used.

[0006] This invention is a change to the design and shape of the under side surface of the snow shovel blade, the changed area is located near the front working edge of said snow shovel blade. Starting at the front edge and continuing towards the back edge for a distance of about two inches. and extending from the left side, or left edge of the blade to the right side, or right edge of the blade. In other words, changing the entire front area of the under side of the snow shovel blade beginning at the front edge, and continuing towards the back edge. for about two inches.

[0007] This invention consists of a wedge like protuberance of material, usually of the same material the blade is made of, this wedge like extension to the underside front edge of the blade of the snow shovel is positioned so that the front edge of the wedge like protrusion is at the front working edge of the snow shovel, as we go back towards the back portion of the blade of the snow shovel it becomes thicker and thicker for a distance of about two inches, then bending at a more or less obtuse angle, turns upwards for a distance of about half an inch to join the lower surface of said blade. thus leaving a protuberance across the entire front edge, on the under side of the snow shovel blade, this protuberance can now be used as a fulcrum to lever the front edge of the snow shovel blade above any obstacle encountered by gently pushing down on the handle of the snow shovel. This protubrence that we have been describing as a wedge like shape could be of other shapes, such as a half round shape, or a wide "V" shape. or it could be a set of small wheels.

[0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a new improved snow shovel that can be used to remove snow from a side walk with out being stopped by cracks and expansion joints that have one edge of said cracks and expansion joints higher than the other edge.

[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved snow shovel that can slide past cracks and expansion joints that have one edge of said joints higher than the other edge without having to lift the shovel and its contents manually.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved snow shovel that can slide past cracks and expansion joints that have one edge of said joints higher than the other edge do to the unique design of the bottom surface of said snow shovel.

[0011] Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved snow shovel that can slide past cracks and expansion joints that have one edge of said joints higher than the other edge by the very simple and effortless means of pushing down on the handle of said snow shovel.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved snow shovel that can slide past cracks and expansion joints that have one edge of said joint higher than the other edge by having a wedge like projection with a rounded corner, as part of the lower surface, that can be used as a fulcrum to lever the working edge of the blade of the snow shovel above the obstacle in front of it.

[0013] Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved snow shovel that can slide over and past cracks and expansion joints that have one edge of said joint higher than the other edge and will last longer as the blade will not wear off as fast as an ordinary snow shovel due to the wedge like projection that is part of the lower surface of the new improved snow shovel

[0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved snow shovel that will prevent snow from sticking to it as it is being used to shovel snow.

[0015] These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description of which the attached drawings form a part.

[0016] The drawings are two side view of a snow shovel.

[0017] FIG. 1, shows a snow shovel that has the new invention, a wedge like protuberance on the bottom surface of said snow shovel. It is resting on the surface of a concrete side walk with the front working edge of the snow shovel blade stopped and blocked by the higher surface of the next slab of concrete sidewalk that has risen to a higher plane than the concrete slab it is resting on.

[0018] FIG. 2. Is another view of the same snow shovel resting upon the same section of concrete sidewalk after the handle of said snow shovel has been brought downward for about ten inches, showing how the wedge like protuberance on the bottom surface of said snow shovel has acted as a fulcrum lifting the working edge of the blade up and above the surface of the raised surface of the next slab of concrete sidewalk.

[0019] Referring to the drawing;

[0020] It is seen in FIG. 1. how the working edge 7, of the snow shovel blade 3, that is resting upon the surface of a slab of concrete sidewalk 1, is blocked and stopped from any further forward motion by the next slab of concrete sidewalk 2, that has an edge 8, that has risen to a higher position than the slab of concrete sidewalk 1.

[0021] It is seen in FIG. 2. when the handle 4, of the snow shovel 9, is lowered downward, bringing the handle 4, about ten inches closer to the slab of concrete sidewalk 1, the working edge 7, of the blade 3, is forced upward by the wedge like protuberance 6, acting as a fulcrum, freeing it from, and allowing it to pass over, the higher edge 8, of the next slab of concrete sidewalk 2. and allowing the snow shovel 9, to continue along the side walk with out the snow shovel 9, and it's contents having to be manually lifted free, the teflon coating or other non stick treatment is located on the upper surface 5, of the blade 3 of the snow shovel 9.

[0022] This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claims, accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read merely as being illustrative of an operative embodiment of this invention and not in a strictly limiting sense.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An improved snow shovel that can pass over and past a vertical barrier such as one created by a crack or an expansion joint in a concrete sidewalk that has one edge of said crack or expansion joint higher than the other edge creating a natural vertical barrier to the forward progress of snow shovels as they are pushed along a side walk while removing snow from said sidewalk.

2. An improved snow shovel as set forth in claim 1. wherein said improved snow shovel can pass over and past said vertical obstructions without having to be lifted manually off the surface of the concrete sidewalk.

3. An improved snow shovel as set forth in claim 2. wherein said improved snow shovel can pass over and past said vertical obstruction by lowering the handle of said snow shovel about ten inches and sliding it forward.

4. An improved snow shovel as set forth in claim 3. wherein said improved snow shovel can pass over and past said vertical obstruction due to the unique shape of the lower surface of the blade of the said snow shovel.

5. An improved snow shovel as set forth in claim 4, wherein said improved snow shovel can pass over and past said vertical obstruction due to the unique wedge like protrusion on the bottom surface of the blade of said improved snow shovel being used as a fulcrum to lever the working edge of the blade of the snow shovel up and above the vertical obstacle in front of it.

6. An improved snow shovel as set forth in claim 5. wherein said improved snow shovel can pass over and past said vertical obstruction due to the unique wedge like protrusion on the bottom surface of the blade of said snow shovel, and at the same time the wedge like protrusion which is located on the bottom surface of the blade at the front working edge of said blade will reinforce this edge with a large amount of the same material the blade is made of thereby resulting in a much slower rate of wear as this surface is scraped and worn off as the snow shovel is used, resulting in a much longer lasting snow shovel,

7. An improved snow shovel as set forth in claim 6. wherein the unique wedge like protrusion is not an original part of the blade of the snow shovel, being made separate, and added to the blade at a later time or date, by any of many ways of doing so, such as, welding, riveting or bolting.

8. An improved snow shovel as set forth in claim 7. wherein the protrusion instead of being a wedge like shape would be of another shape, such as half round or a wide "V".

9. An improved snow shovel as set forth in claim 8. wherein the said protrusin is replaced by a set of small wheels fixed to the under side of said blade in the same area,

10. An improved snow shovel with a polished, and/or treated and/or coated blade, with a non stick substence such as teflon