Patent Publication Number: US-2006005334-A1

Title: Shovel for removing snow or water

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a shovel, and more particularly to a shovel having a simplified structure for removing snow and/or water without assembling processes.  
      2. Description of the Prior Art  
      Various kinds of typical shovels have been developed and comprises a blade secured thereto with fasteners, for removing snow and/or water, or for cleaning vehicles or the like.  
      For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,439 to Guo discloses one of the typical shovels including a metal blade secured to a shovel body with a base panel, for removing snow or the like.  
      Normally, the typical shovels include a metal blade and a number of parts or elements that are required to be secured together with a number of fasteners, such that a number of assembling processes are required to assemble and to manufacture the typical shovels. In addition, the fasteners may be exposed and may have a good chance to scrape or damage the windows or the vehicle bodies inadvertently.  
      The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional shovels.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a shovel including a simplified structure for removing snow and/or water.  
      The other objective of the present invention is to provide a shovel including a simplified structure that may be easily manufactured without assembling processes and that is excellent for mass production.  
      In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a shovel comprising a stem including a first side having a first blade extended therefrom, and including a second side having a second blade attached thereto, and the second blade is made of resilient material different from that for the stem, and molded and solidly attached to the stem without assembling processes.  
      The first blade includes a plurality of depressions formed therein, and defined between protuberances to form a rough structure for the first blade. The stem includes a rib extended from the second side of the stem, and engaged into the second blade, to solidly attach the second blade to the stem.  
      A handle may further be provided and attached to the stem. For example, the handle includes a bore formed therein, the stem includes a shank extended therefrom and engaged into the bore of the handle.  
      The handle may further include an outer covering attached thereto. For example, the outer covering includes at least one opening formed therein, the handle includes at least one projections extended outwardly therefrom and engaged into the opening of the outer covering, to solidly attach the outer covering onto the handle, and to prevent the outer from being rotated relative to the handle.  
      A second handle may further be provided and selectively attached to the stem when the handle is removed from the stem, and the second handle may include a length greater than that of the handle.  
      Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a shovel in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the shovel;  
       FIGS. 3, 4  are cross sectional views of the shovel, taken along lines  3 - 3  and  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2  respectively,  
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating the other arrangement of the shovel; and  
       FIG. 6  is plan view illustrating the operation of the shovel for removing water or for cleaning a vehicle. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring to the drawings, and initially to  FIGS. 1-4 , a shovel in accordance with the present invention comprises a stem  10  including a first blade  11  extended from one side  12  thereof, and preferable made of plastic or metal or composite or synthetic materials or the like, for engaging with and for removing snow or other materials from objects, such as roof of house families, vehicles, or the like.  
      It is preferable that the stem  10  and the first blade  11  are made of the same strong materials, such as plastic or metal or composite or synthetic materials or the like, and may be formed by such as molding or mold-injecting processes, for allowing the stem  10  and the first blade  11  to be solidly secured together, and to be easily manufactured in a single molding process without further assembling processes.  
      It is preferable that the first blade  11  includes a number of depressions  13  formed therein, and defined between protuberances  14 , for forming a serrated or rough structure, for allowing the first blade  11  to easily remove snow or other materials from roofs of house families, vehicles, or the like.  
      The stem  10  further includes another side  15  having a second blade  16  extended therefrom, or attached thereto, and preferable made of softer materials, such as rubber materials, synthetic materials, or the like, for engaging with and for removing water or fluid or other materials from planar objects, such as windows of house families, windshield of vehicles, or the like.  
      The second blade  16  may also be formed onto or solidly secured onto the other side  15  of the stem  10  with such as molding or mold-injecting processes, for allowing the stem  10  and the second blade  16  to be solidly secured together, and to be easily manufactured in a molding process without further assembling processes.  
      For example, the stem  10  further includes a rib  17  ( FIGS. 1, 3 ) extended from the other side  15  thereof, and the second blade  16  may then be formed onto or solidly secured onto the other side  15  of the stem  10 , with such as molding or mold-injecting processes, by engaging onto the rib  17  of the stem  10 , to allow the second blade  16  to be solidly secured onto the other side  15  of the stem  10  with the rib  17 .  
      The stem  10  further includes a shank  18  extended downwardly therefrom and having a non-circular cross section, for attaching or securing a handle  20  thereto. For example, the handle  20  includes a bore  21  formed therein for receiving the shank  18 , and for allowing the handle  20  to be attached or secured to the stem  10 . It is preferable that the handle  20  includes one or more projections  22  extended outwardly therefrom ( FIG. 1 ).  
      A soft or resilient outer covering  23  may further be provided and engaged onto the handle  20 , for allowing the users to softly or comfortably hold or grasp the handle  20 . For example, the outer covering  23  includes one or more openings  24  formed therein for receiving the projections  22  of the handle  20 , and for allowing the outer covering  23  to be solidly attached onto the handle  20 , and to be prevented from rotating relative to the handle  20 .  
      Alternatively, as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , when the handle  20  is removed from the stem  10 , another longer handle  30  may further be provided and selectively or changeably attached onto the shank  18  of the stem  10 , for allowing the users to use the blades  11 ,  16  to clean or to remove snow, water or fluid or other materials from higher objects, such as roofs or the like.  
      It is to be noted that the stem  10  and the blades  11 ,  16  may be easily and quickly formed or manufactured with molding or mold-injecting processes, for allowing the stem  10  and the blades  11 ,  16  to be easily and quickly manufactured without further assembling processes, and for allowing the shovel to be made in mass production.  
      Accordingly, the shovel in accordance with the present invention includes a simplified structure for removing snow and/or water, and which may be easily manufactured without assembling processes and that is excellent for mass production.  
      Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.