U.S. patent application number 10/903264 was filed with the patent office on 2006-02-02 for foldable ice scraper.
Invention is credited to Peter Peroni.
Application Number | 20060021175 10/903264 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35730505 |
Filed Date | 2006-02-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060021175 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Peroni; Peter |
February 2, 2006 |
Foldable ice scraper
Abstract
A foldable ice scraper includes a handle and an ice scraper
blade connected to the handle by a joint mechanism which mounts the
heel portion of the blade to the handle. The joint mechanism
includes indexing structure for selective engagement with
complementary indexing structure on the heel portion and the handle
so that engagement of the indexing structures permits the blade to
be disposed in a folded position against the handle or in an ice
scraping operative position where the blade extends generally
outwardly from the handle. A release mechanism permits the indexing
structures to be disengaged so that the handle could be moved to
the different positions.
Inventors: |
Peroni; Peter; (Pottstown,
PA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz, LLP
P.O. Box 2207
Wilmington
DE
19899-2207
US
|
Family ID: |
35730505 |
Appl. No.: |
10/903264 |
Filed: |
July 30, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/236.02 ;
15/144.1; 15/236.01 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60S 3/045 20130101;
A47L 1/16 20130101; A47L 13/022 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/236.02 ;
015/236.01; 015/144.1 |
International
Class: |
A47L 13/08 20060101
A47L013/08 |
Claims
1. A foldable ice scraper comprising a handle, an ice scraper
blade, said ice scraper blade having a heel portion, a joint
mechanism mounting said heel portion to said handle, said joint
mechanism including indexing structure for selective engagement
with complementary indexing structure on one of said heel portion
and said handle whereby engagement of said indexing structure and
said complementary indexing structure locks said blade to said
handle in at least two different positions, one of said positions
being a folded position wherein said blade is disposed toward said
handle and another of said positions being an ice scraping
operative position wherein said blade extends outwardly from said
handle, and a release mechanism to disengage said indexing
structures and thereby permit said handle and said blade to be
selectively disposed in different positions.
2. The scraper of claim 1 including a stop shoulder on said heel
portion of said blade and a stop shoulder on said handle in the
path of movement of said stop shoulder on said heel portion, and
said stop shoulders being in abutting contact when said blade is in
said operative position.
3. The scraper of claim 2 wherein said joint mechanism rotatably
mounts said blade to said handle.
4. The scraper of claim 3 wherein said blade is rotated from said
folded position to said operative position over an angle slightly
less than 180.degree. to dispose the user's hand generally in line
with said handle.
5. The scraper of claim 4 wherein said angle is in the range of
160.degree. to 170.degree..
6. The scraper of claim 4 wherein said handle includes an upper
surface, and a concavity in said upper surface generally at said
joint mechanism for receiving a finger of the user.
7. The scraper of claim 6 wherein said handle is of elongated
ergonomical shape having outward longitudinal bulges on its side
walls and having a rounded rear end.
8. The scraper of claim 4 wherein said joint mechanism includes a
crown clutch.
9. The scraper of claim 4 wherein said indexing structure and said
complementary indexing structure comprise sets of coarcuately
arranged teeth.
10. The scraper of claim 9 wherein said joint mechanism includes at
least one spring button urged toward contact with a portion of said
handle, said sets of coarcuate spaced teeth comprising two spaced
sets of teeth on said portion of said handle and two spaced sets of
teeth on said spring button disposed toward intermeshing engagement
with said sets of spaced teeth on said portion of said handle, and
said spring button further comprising said release mechanism.
11. The scraper of claim 10 wherein said handle and said blade
include stop shoulders disposed for contacting each other when said
blade is in said folded position.
12. The scraper of claim 10 wherein said joint mechanism includes a
spline mounted to said heel portion, and said button being
non-rotationally and slidably mounted on said spline.
13. The scraper of claim 12 wherein said handle comprises two
handle shells of generally mirror image with respect to each other,
and said heel portion being mounted between said shells.
14. The scraper of claim 13 wherein each of said shells includes
said two sets of spaced teeth transversely aligned with each other
and there being two of said buttons each of which has said two
spaced sets of teeth transversely aligned with each other, and each
of said buttons being mounted on a respective end of said
spline.
15. The scraper of claim 14 wherein said spline is hollow with a
central partition, a pocket in said spline on each side of said
partition, and a spring in each of said pockets disposed against a
respective one of said buttons to urge said buttons outwardly
toward said handle shells.
16. The scraper of claim 15 wherein said spline is fluted with a
series of ribs/channels which are in engagement with ribs/channels
on each of said buttons.
17. The scraper of claim 16 wherein each of said handle shells has
an extension, said sets of teeth being located on an inner surface
of said extension, said heel portion having an extension mounted
between said handle shell extensions, said spline being mounted to
said heel portion extension, each of said buttons having an annular
ledge disposed toward a respective one of said handle shell
extensions, said sets of teeth on said buttons being located on
said ledge, and each of said buttons having an exposed outer
surface capable of being pressed inwardly by the user.
18. The scraper of claim 17 wherein said joint mechanism makes an
audible click sound when said blade is moved into each of said
folded position and said operative position.
19. The scraper of claim 1 wherein said heel portion is detachable
from a portion of said blade which includes a scraping edge.
20. The scraper of claim 1 in combination with a glove having an
open end and having a generally closed end, a slit extending
through said generally closed end, and said handle extending
through said slit to be disposed within said glove.
21. The scraper of claim 20 wherein said glove comprises a storage
case for said scraper in said folded position.
22. The scraper of claim 1 wherein said blade is rotated from said
folded position to said operative position over an angle slightly
less than 180.degree. to dispose the user's hand generally in line
with said handle.
23. The scraper of claim 1 wherein said handle is rotatably movable
to and from said folded position and said operative position, and
said joint mechanism including a crown clutch.
24. The scraper of claim 1 wherein said indexing structure and said
complementary indexing structure comprise sets of coarcuately
arranged teeth.
25. The scraper of claim 1 wherein said joint mechanism makes an
audible click sound when said blade is moved into each of said
folded position and said operative position.
26. The scraper of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of said
handle is transparent, and a light bulb being in said handle.
27. A foldable hand tool comprising a handle, a tool having a
working end and a heel portion, a joint mechanism mounting said
heel portion to said handle, said joint mechanism including
indexing structure for selective engagement with complementary
indexing structure on one of said heel portion and said handle
whereby engagement of said indexing structure and said
complementary indexing structure locks said tool to said handle in
at least two different positions, one of said positions being a
folded position wherein said tool is disposed toward said handle
and another of said positions being an operative position wherein
said tool extends outwardly from said handle, said tool and said
handle having stop shoulders for engagement against each other when
said tool is in said operative position, and a release mechanism to
disengage said indexing structures and thereby permit said handle
and said tool to be selectively disposed in different
positions.
28. The tool of claim 27 wherein said blade is rotated from said
folded position to said operative position over an angle slightly
less than 180.degree. to dispose the user's hand generally in line
with said handle.
29. The tool of claim 28 wherein said handle is rotatably movable
to and from said folded position and said operative position, and
said joint mechanism including a crown clutch.
30. The tool of claim 29 wherein said joint mechanism includes at
least one spring button urged toward contact with a portion of said
handle, said sets of coarcuate spaced teeth comprising two spaced
sets of teeth on said portion of said handle and two spaced sets of
teeth on said spring button disposed toward intermeshing engagement
with said sets of spaced teeth on said portion of said handle, and
said spring button further comprising said release mechanism.
31. The tool of claim 30 wherein said joint mechanism includes a
spline mounted to said heel portion, and said button being
non-rotationally and slidably mounted on said spline, said handle
comprising two handle shells of generally mirror image with respect
to each other, said heel portion being mounted between said shells,
each of said shells including said two sets of spaced teeth
transversely aligned with each other and there being two of said
buttons each of which has said two spaced sets of teeth
transversely aligned with each other, and each of said buttons
being mounted on a respective end of said spline.
32. The tool of claim 31 wherein said spline is hollow with a
central partition, a pocket in said spline on each side of said
partition, a spring in each of said pockets disposed against a
respective one of said buttons to urge said buttons outwardly
toward said handle shells, said spline being fluted with a series
of ribs/channels which are in engagement with ribs/channels on each
of said buttons, each of said handle shells having an extension,
said sets of teeth being located on an inner surface of said
extension, said heel portion having an extension mounted between
said handle shell extensions, said spline being mounted to said
heel portion extension, each of said buttons having an annular
ledge disposed toward a respective one of said handle shell
extensions, said sets of teeth on said buttons being located on
said ledge, and each of said buttons having an exposed outer
surface capable of being pressed inwardly by the user.
33. The tool of claim 27 wherein said joint mechanism makes an
audible click sound when said blade is moved into each of said
folded position and aid operative position.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Various types of hand tools include a handle attached to the
working end of the tool. One such example is an ice scraper.
Frequently the elongated shape of the tool makes it disadvantageous
to store the tool during conditions of non-use. For example, ice
scrapers are sometimes stored in the glove compartment of a vehicle
which has only limited space, particularly when other items are
stored in the glove compartment. It would be desirable if a tool,
such as an ice scraper, could be designed to minimize the space
requirements during storage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0002] An object of this invention is to provide a hand tool such
as an ice scraper which could be folded so as to be in a compact
form for storage purposes.
[0003] A further object of this invention is to provide such a
tool, such as an ice scraper, which can be readily moved from its
folded condition to its operative condition.
[0004] In accordance with this invention where the tool is an ice
scraper the ice scraper includes a handle and an ice scraper blade.
The blade has a heel portion joined to the handle by a joint
mechanism which includes indexing structure to selectively move the
blade to at least two different positions. One of the positions
would be in a folded condition where the blade is disposed toward
the handle, and preferably against the handle. Another of the
positions would be in its ice scraping operative position. A
release mechanism is provided to permit the handle and blade to be
selectively moved to their different positions.
[0005] In a preferred practice of this invention the release
mechanism includes spring return buttons which are simply squeezed
to release the blade from its storage condition where it is folded
adjacent to the handle. A crown clutch is thereby engaged to permit
the blade to be rotated to its operative position which is
preferably a rotation of about 165.degree.. The blade is then
locked into place and the ice scraper is ready for use.
THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a foldable ice scraper in
accordance with this invention;
[0007] FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the ice scraper shown
in FIG. 1;
[0008] FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the ice scraper shown in FIGS.
2-3;
[0009] FIGS. 4 and 5 are front and rear elevational views of the
ice scraper shown in FIGS. 1-3;
[0010] FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the ice scraper shown in
FIGS. 1-5;
[0011] FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the ice scraper shown
in FIGS. 1-6 in its folded condition;
[0012] FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the ice scraper shown in FIG.
7;
[0013] FIGS. 9 and 10 are front and rear elevational views of the
ice scraper shown in FIGS. 7-8;
[0014] FIG. 11 is a bottom plan view of the ice scraper shown in
FIGS. 7-10;
[0015] FIGS. 12-14 are side elevational views partly in section
showing different positions of the blade in the ice scraper shown
in FIGS. 1-11;
[0016] FIG. 15 is a side elevational view partly in section showing
a portion of the ice scraper of FIGS. 1-14;
[0017] FIGS. 16-17 are elevational views partly in section of a
portion of the ice scraper shown in FIGS. 1-15 in different phases
of operation;
[0018] FIG. 18 is a top plan view of the blade portion of the ice
scraper shown in FIGS. 1-17;
[0019] FIG. 19 is a side elevational view of the blade portion of
the ice scraper shown in FIG. 18;
[0020] FIG. 20 is a side elevational view of the handle for the ice
scraper shown in FIGS. 1-17;
[0021] FIG. 21 is a front elevational view showing the indexing
structure on a spring button of the ice scraper shown in FIGS.
1-17;
[0022] FIG. 22 is a front elevational view showing the indexing
structure on a handle of the ice scraper shown in FIGS. 1-17;
[0023] FIG. 23 is a side elevational view showing the ice scraper
of FIGS. 1-22 in use with an intermediate position shown in
phantom;
[0024] FIG. 24 is a perspective view showing the ice scraper of
FIGS. 1-23 in combination with a glove; and
[0025] FIG. 25 is a side elevational view of an ice scraper in
accordance with an alternative form of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] The present invention is in general directed to a hand tool
having a handle and a tool or working extension which may be folded
back toward the handle to create a compact unit for minimizing
storage space requirements. The invention could be broadly
practiced with any type of hand tool such as brushes, squeegees,
screwdrivers and the like. A particular utility for the invention
which will be described herein is where the hand tool is an ice
scraper.
[0027] FIGS. 1-6 show an ice scraper 10 in accordance with this
invention. As shown therein the ice scraper 10 includes a handle 12
and an ice scraper blade 14. A joint mechanism generally indicated
by the reference numeral 16 connects the handle 12 to the heel
portion 18 of the blade 14. By manipulation of the joint mechanism
the blade 14 may be folded toward the handle 12 as shown in FIGS.
7-11.
[0028] Ice scraper blade 14 may be generally of any suitable shape
and construction which would include a tapered scraping edge 20.
The blade itself could be of generally plate-like form made of any
suitable material such as ABS, Lexan or equivalent rigid plastic
material. To minimize weight and reduce cost one side, such as the
underside of the blade 14, could be provided with a suitable set of
reinforcing ribs 22. Alternatively, the entire blade may be a plate
made of a solid material without the need for reinforcing ribs.
[0029] As later described, the handle 12 is ergonomically shaped
for convenience of holding when the ice scraper is being used and
to provide a pleasing appearance. In general, the ice scraper 10
shown in FIGS. 1-11 may be considered as containing a blade 14 that
folds into a position adjacent to the handle 12 creating a compact
tool that can be stored in less than about 1/2 the space that it
would otherwise occupy. As later described, to operate the ice
scraper 10 the user would simply squeeze spring return buttons 24
which form part of the joint mechanism 16 in order to release the
blade from its storage condition. In a preferred practice of the
invention this results in disengaging an 8-tooth crown clutch
through a 4-fluted spline so that the blade rotates, preferably
165.degree., to the detented position and then locks into place.
The ice scraper 10 is thereby moved to and from the condition shown
in FIGS. 7-11 and the condition shown in FIGS. 1-6.
[0030] Although an 8-tooth crown clutch is preferred, any other
arrangement could be used such as eight teeth in each set resulting
in a 16-tooth crown clutch.
[0031] Apart from the durability of the tool or ice scraper 10 the
ice scraper also has aesthetic appeal. The design enables it to
facilitate corporate identification and promotion by providing
suitable logos or other indicia or information 26 as shown in FIG.
18. Such information 26 could, of course, be provided at any
suitable part of the ice scraper 10. For example, the flat side of
the blade 14 could have a recess or pocket which contains a logo or
other information including a 3-D insert. Such recess could be of
any shape, such as a horse shoe or U shape. Thus, the blade, the
buttons and the handle parts can easily be customized with an
appropriate logo or advertisement provided by the manufacturer or
by the retailer or attractive to a customer.
[0032] The ergonomic shape particularly of the handle 12 includes
the provision of a concavity 28 in its upper surface for receiving
a finger of the user, such as shown in FIG. 23. Each side of the
handle 12 contains a generally longitudinal outward bulge 30 to
also aid in providing a comfortable grip. Handle 12 is also
ergonomically formed by its elongated shape which preferably avoids
sharp edges or transition areas. Preferably handle 12 is of a
length generally long enough to accommodate the entire hand of the
user with the fingers wrapped around the handle and the thumb on
the upper surface in concavity or recess 28, as shown in FIG. 23.
Depending on how the handle is gripped, the forefinger, for
example, may be placed in concavity 28 instead of the thumb. For
the purpose of convenient gripping, handle 12 may have an overall
length of slightly more than six inches. Preferably the rear end 32
of handle 12 is rounded in its elevation view as shown, for
example, in FIGS. 1, 2 and 23.
[0033] Instead of having a handle in the form illustrated herein
which is of generally longitudinal shape and of ergonomical design
other types of handle structures could be used. For example, the
handle could simply be a block having depressions or extensions for
facilitating the grasping and holding of the handle or omitting any
particular grasping structure.
[0034] Handle 12 is preferably made in the form of a pair of
generally mirror image shells which form a right handle portion and
a left handle portion. If desired bulges 30 on the handle sides
could be integral with the shells or a separate piece could be
secured to each shell. Each shell has a ring-like extension 34. See
FIGS. 20 and 22. In addition, a stop shoulder 36 is provided
adjacent the ring-like extension 34 and a second stop shoulder 38
is provided at an opposite portion of the handle shell near
ring-like extension 34. These stop shoulders 34,38 function to abut
against the heel 18 of blade 14 when the blade is in its operative
condition with heel 18 disposed against stop 36 as shown, for
example, in FIGS. 12 and 15. Similarly, stop 38 is disposed against
heel 18 when the blade 14 is in its folded condition such as shown
in FIG. 14. The heel 18 of blade 14 also includes a recess or
pocket 40 on its rib reinforced underside between the downwardly
extending flanges at the side edges of blade 14. The pocket 40,
such as shown in FIGS. 6 and 12-14, snugly receives the curved stop
shoulder 38 as best shown in FIG. 14.
[0035] In the preferred practice of this invention handle 12 and
blade 14 are rotatably connected together by the joint mechanism
16. The invention could, however, be practiced where other types of
motions are utilized which would result in the capability of having
the blade 14 disposed generally against the handle 12 in its
complete storage condition and which would have at least one other
position which would be the operative position. In the preferred
practice of the invention, however, the movement is rotatable. In
addition, an indexing mechanism is used for holding the blade 14
and handle 12 in their various positions with respect to each
other. The invention may be broadly practiced with different types
of indexing mechanisms. In the preferred practice of this invention
a double crown clutch is used.
[0036] As shown in FIG. 22 the ring-like extension 34 of each
handle shell is provided with two sets of spaced teeth 42,42 which
are coarcuately arranged and spaced from each other a distance
slightly off a diametrical alignment so that when the blade 14 is
moved to its operative position, such as shown in FIGS. 12 and 23
the blade has been rotated to an angle less than 180.degree. and
preferably 165.degree.. As a result, the hand of the user would be
generally in line with the blade 14, which is against windshield
59, as shown in FIG. 23, to maximize the thrust in the scraping
action during use of the ice scraper 10. While 165.degree. is the
preferred angle to offset the blade from being in line with or
180.degree. from the handle 12, a preferred range would be
160-170.degree.. The invention could also be practiced where the
rotation is in, for example, the range of 155-175.degree.. The
invention could also be practiced where the rotation is 180.degree.
or even greater, although not as preferred.
[0037] As shown, for example, in FIGS. 18 and 19 the heel 18 of
blade 14 also includes a ring-like centrally mounted extension 44.
A spline 46 is centrally mounted to the ring-like extension and
extends outwardly from each side of the ring-like extension. See
FIG. 18. Spline 46 is fluted with a series of ribs/channels. In the
illustrated embodiment spline 46 has four flutes.
[0038] As shown in various figures such as FIGS. 12-15 and 19 heel
18 includes an inclined stop shoulder 48 which is inclined at the
same angle as shoulder 36 to abut against shoulder 36 when handle
12 and blade 14 are in the operative position such as illustrated,
for example, in FIGS. 12 and 15.
[0039] The locking mechanism 16 includes a pair of stop buttons 24.
The stop buttons are illustrated in various figures including FIGS.
16, 17 and 21. As shown therein, each stop button 24 has a
cylindrical side wall with an outer wall 50 exposed on each side of
handle 12. Each button 24 terminates in an outwardly extending
annular flange 52. The inner surface of button 24 is provided with
a series of ribs/channels 54 so that, for example, the flutes or
channels 47 of spline 46 mate with the ribs/channels 54. As a
result, buttons 24 may freely slide inwardly and outwardly on
spline 46 but buttons 24 are prevented from rotating with respect
to spline 46. The outer surface of ledge 52 which is the surface
that is disposed toward ring extension 34 of handle 12 is provided
with two sets of teeth 56,56 at a location and of a size and shape
so that teeth 56 of one set intermesh with a corresponding set of
teeth 42 on handle extension 34. The both sets of teeth on each
ledge 52 and on each ring extension 34 can intermesh at only two
different relative positions of blade 14 with respect to handle 12.
One of these positions would be where blade 14 is folded against
handle 12 as illustrated in FIG. 14. The other position would be
where blade 14 has been rotated to its operative position as
illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 23. Because of the displacement of the
two sets of teeth for the button and handle when the blade 14 is in
its operative position, as previously discussed, blade 14 is
slightly offset from being completely in line with or at a
180.degree. angle with respect to handle 12. A comparison of FIGS.
12 and 14 shows the rotation of blade 14 to be over an arc of
165.degree.. Thus, the blade 14 is displaced from the axis of
handle 12 by an angle of 15.degree. which is labeled by the
reference letter A.
[0040] As illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17 spline 46 has a central
web partition 58 thereby creating a pair of pockets 60,60 on each
side of partition 58. A spring 62 is mounted in each pocket and
extends into the central opening of button 64 to be disposed
against the inner surface of outer wall 50. Springs 62,62 thus urge
each button 24,24 outwardly into contact with the ring extension 34
of each shell portion of handle 12. When the two sets of teeth 56
on button 24 are properly aligned with the corresponding sets of
teeth 42 on each shell portion of handle 12 the sets of teeth would
be forced into locking engagement with each other by virtue of the
springs 62 pushing the buttons into contact with handle 12. This is
the condition shown in FIGS. 12, 14 and 16. Since each button and
each corresponding shell portion of the handle includes two sets of
teeth the engagement of these indexing members permits the handle
to be disposed in two different positions. If desired, the
invention could be practiced by having additional sets of teeth.
Such additional teeth permits additional locked positions, if, for
any reason, one would want to have more than two positions, such as
an intermediate position which could be desirable particularly for
tools other than ice scrapers or perhaps for display purposes or to
fit customized irregularly shaped storage areas. Preferably,
however, the invention is practiced where the blade 14 would only
be in two positions. The engaged teeth serve to lock the blade 14
in one of its two desired positions. The provision of a stop
member, particularly stop shoulder 36, functions to absorb the
thrust that would result during use of the ice scraper.
Accordingly, the teeth take the initial surge but the engagement of
the stop shoulders 36 and 48 takes the jolt of the scraping.
[0041] An advantage of the buttons 24 is that the buttons take the
stress from the blade 14 to the spline and then to the buttons and
then to the handle. When the buttons are squeezed the blade freely
rotates until all of the locking teeth are aligned.
[0042] When it is desired to change the position of blade 14 the
buttons 24 are pressed toward each other by a squeezing against the
outer wall 50 of each button as shown by the arrows in FIG. 17.
This squeezing overcomes the outward bias force of coil springs 62
and disengages the teeth. Thus, buttons 24 function as a release
mechanism to disengage the indexing structure. Once the indexing
mechanism or teeth are disengaged blade 14 rotates freely without
the necessity to continue pressing against the buttons 24. The
blade would then be rotated to one of its two desired positions.
The outward force of coil springs 62 cause the teeth to engage with
a snapping action that results in audible click to assure the user
that the blade is in its desired locked position.
[0043] Although the invention has been described with regard to its
preferred form of practice it should be appreciated that the
invention may be broadly practiced with other variations. For
example, the preferred embodiment of the invention uses an indexing
mechanism which incorporates sets of teeth which intermesh. Other
forms of indexing mechanisms could also be used. One example would
be to use a system similar to what has been used for milling
machine tables where a set of tapered indexing holes would be
provided for the blade and the handle and a pin, such as a tapered
pin fitting in the tapered holes could be inserted through sets of
aligned holes when the desired orientation of the blade with
respect to the handle has been achieved. This is not as preferred
as with the illustrated embodiment since this variation would
require the user to follow more difficult instructions than would
be required with the preferred embodiment where all that is
necessary is a squeezing of the buttons 24 and then a rotation of
the handle 14 to the desired position. Another variation of
indexing mechanism could be through the use of a ratchet connection
between the handle and blade. A further variation of the indexing
could be achieved through the use of friction. Another possibility
would be to have different types of locking and complementary
locking structure on the handle and blade that create
inter-engagement when the blade is in an intended position. Other
variations of the indexing mechanism would also be apparent to
those of ordinary skill in the art giving the teachings and
guidelines of this invention.
[0044] FIG. 24 illustrates a further variation of the invention. As
shown therein the ice scraper 10 is used in combination with a
glove 64. This could be done in any suitable manner such as by
providing a slit or opening 66 in the generally closed end of glove
64 so that the handle 12 can be inserted through the slit or
opening and be located within the glove. The blade 14 would extend
outwardly. The user's hand would be placed within the glove 64
through the open end 68 so that the handle 12 could be grasped and
the blade 14 could be used for ice scraping. The glove 64 could
also function as a storage case for the ice scraper, particularly
when the ice scraper is folded to its storage condition. In such
practice, glove 64 would be of a length slightly longer than the
folded ice scraper.
[0045] The invention may also be practiced where the blade 14 is
detachable so that a different blade or different tool could be
mounted to the handle 12. Handle 12, for example, is shown as
having the two shell portions secured together by suitable
fasteners, such as screws 70, shown in FIG. 20. When the fasteners
or screws 70 are detached the shell portions could be separated and
a different tool, particularly one having the same structure for
the heel 18 portion of the tool, could be mounted to handle 12 when
the shell portions are secured back together. Thus, an ice scraper
blade 14 such as of the shape shown in FIG. 18 could be replaced by
a different shape such as the shape shown in FIG. 24. If desired,
instead of using the device as an ice scraper a different tool such
as a brush having a heel 18 could be connected to handle 12.
[0046] When a blade 14 is removed it could be replaced by a
different scraper blade or by a tool which would also be
conveniently used to clean an automobile windshield such as a brush
or squeegee.
[0047] FIG. 25 shows a further variation for permitting the
detachability of blade 14 and its replacement by a different tool
to handle 12. As shown therein any suitable detachable locking
structure, such as a dovetail 72, is provided on blade 14 in the
general area of the heel. Accordingly, the same heel structure
could remain connected to handle 12, but a different tool could be
mounted to the heel through use of the detachable fastening
structure. Additional fastening structure such as clamps, pins or
the like could also be utilized to assure a secure attachment of
the tool to the handle.
[0048] Any suitable materials could be used for making the various
components of the tool. Handle 12 and buttons 24 could be made of
any suitable material such as ABS or Lexan or its equivalent. The
tool itself could be made of various materials. Where an ice
scraper is used the blade 14 could be made of Lexan. If, however,
other tools are used then other materials might be appropriate.
Where the tool is a brush, for example, the working end of the tool
would have bristles. Where the tool is a scrubbing member the
working end may be made of a fabric or sponge-like material. Other
tools might be made of metal, depending on intended end use.
[0049] The invention could be practiced with numerous variations.
For example, weights could be incorporated in the handle and/or
blade.
[0050] In another practice of the invention, ice scraper 10 could
also be used as a trouble light. This could be accomplished by
making some or all of handle 12 transparent. A battery operated
light bulb could be housed in the hollow handle 12 so that its
light could be transmitted through the transparent handle and
readily seen when the bulb is actuated. Such actuation could be
done in any suitable manner such as by a separate switch on the
handle. Alternatively the actuation could result by movement of the
blade resulting in contacting and actuating the switch. Such
contact could result when blade 14 is in one of its two positions,
preferably the operative position. This would result in the bulb
remaining on while the blade is in that position to provide the
user with light while the windshield is being scraped. A further
possibility would be to provide additional sets of teeth on the
handle 12 and buttons 24 to create an intermediate position
(between the folded and operative positions) where the handle and
blade assume a generally V-shape. In that intermediate position one
of the rotating parts (e.g. blade or buttons) could contact and
depress a switch located on or in the handle to actuate the bulb.
In this intermediate position, the blade could be placed on the
ground, or on the vehicle or on any other surface which would point
the handle upwardly so that the light coming from the handle could
be readily seen.
[0051] In general, the invention is broadly directed to a foldable
hand tool where a tool portion is connected to the handle with the
tool portion having a connecting end mounted by a joint mechanism
to the handle and with the tool including an opposite working end.
The tool would be movable to at least two different positions. One
position would preferably be where the tool portion is folded back
toward and preferably against the handle so as to be of minimal
size in its storage condition. Another position would be in the
working position of the tool where the tool portion is moved away
from the handle, but still connected to the handle. A particularly
useful practice of the invention is where the tool is an ice
scraper.
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