Abstract:
An ice chopper has an elongated handle terminating in a non-linear chopping element with a lower edge. The chopping element could be two L-shaped wings forming an angle of 45-150 degrees or could be arcuate.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to provisional application Ser. No. 61/345,660 filed on May 18, 2010 and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0003]    This application pertains to an ice chopper used manually on a sidewalk or other flat surfaces to break the ice formed thereon during or after inclement weather. 
         [0004]    2. Background of the Invention 
         [0005]    During the winter when the weather gets cold, ice alone or in combination with frozen snow frequently forms on sidewalks, driveways and other flat surfaces on which people walk or drive. This ice or ice/snow mixture forms a flat covering sheet that can become extremely slippery. This ice sheet is dangerous to use, and frequently leads to injuries to people slipping and falling down, or motor vehicles slipping and sliding across it. (Hereinafter it should be understood that the term ‘ice’ refers to an ice and snow mixture and frozen snow as well). Frequently, to avoid this problem, salt, sand, ash, other material is spread on the surface of the ice to cause it to melt and/or to make it less slippery. 
         [0006]    However, in many instances, these solutions are ineffective and the only way to solve this problem is to break up the ice using ice choppers. A typical ice chopper consists of an elongated handle made of wood, metal, plastic, or other material, and terminating in a flat plate having a somewhat sharp edge on the bottom. The chopper is held upright with the flat plate being oriented substantially vertically and the chopper is then brought up and down to pound the top surface of the ice with the edge of the plate thereby causing the ice to break. 
         [0007]    A problem with the existing ice choppers is that they are very inefficient, especially when the ice sheet is fairly thick, and it could take several hits to cause the ice sheet to break at any given location. A further problem is that the ice chopper plate is generally symmetrical and therefore when it does break the ice sheet, it causes the resultant ice chips to fly in different arbitrary directions. There is therefore a need for an improved ice chopper that operates more effectively, and that causes ice chips to flow in a known direction so that their spread can be controlled and they can easily collected or swept away. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    An ice chopper constructed in accordance with this invention includes an elongated handle terminating at its lower end with a non-planar chopping element. The chopping element could be an arcuate plate, or it could be formed of two wings disposed at an angle of 45-150 degrees. The two wings could be rectangular and they could have the same dimensions, or one wing could be wider than the other. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  shows an isometric view of an ice chopper constructed in accordance with this invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 1A  a shows a bottom view of the ice chopper; 
           [0011]      FIG. 1B  shows a cross-sectional view of one of the wings of the chopper of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 1C  shows an embodiment of the wing with a serrated lower edge; 
           [0013]      FIG. 1D  shows a different embodiment with the bottom edge being formed with different shaped cutous; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  shows an embodiment of the chopper with uneven wings; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  shows a chopper with two wings connected at 120 degrees; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  shows a bottom view of a chopper having a handle with each wing being connected or mounted on the handle, rather then to each other; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  shows a chopper with a curved blade; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  shows another chopper with a curved blade. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Referring first to  FIGS. 1 and 1A  an ice chopper  10  includes a straight handle  12  made of wood, plastic, metal, etc., and preferably having a circular cross section of about ¾-1½″ in diameter so that it is comfortable by a person while it is moved or reciprocated up and down. The handle terminates at the top with a grip  12 A made rubber, plastic or other material that makes it easier to hold the chopper  10  and hit an ice sheet. 
         [0020]    A chopper element  14  is attached to the bottom of the handle  12  in any conventional manner. For example, the chopper element  14  could be nailed and/or glued to the handle. Alternatively, the chopper element  14  can be formed with a sleeve (not shown) sized and shaped to accept the end of the handle  12  and form an interference fit therewith. 
         [0021]    The chopper element  14  is preferably made of a metal such as steel so that it is strong, relatively heavy so that it will last long. Of course, the chopper element could also be made of a high impact plastic material as well and if the handle is made of plastic, the chopper could be made as a single unitary device. However, for the sake of clarity, in the present application, the chopper is illustrated as having separate elements for the sake of clarity. 
         [0022]    The chopper element  14  may be painted or coated with some other weather resistant material to protect it from the ice, water, salt, etc. 
         [0023]    In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , the chopper element  14  consists of two wings  14 A  14 B of equal size. For example, in one embodiment, each wing may be about 100-200 mm wide, 100-200 mm high and 1-4 mm thick. Of course chopper elements having different dimensions may work as well. Moreover, while in the figures the wings have a generally rectangular shapes, it should be understood that they could have other shapes as well as long as they have a straight cutting edge  16 A,  16 B. To make these edges more effective they may be wedged shape to make them sharper, as shown in  FIG. 1B . In an alternate embodiment, the bottom edge of the wings could be serrated as shown in  FIG. 1C  or formed with a plurality of cutouts  1 D having different geometric shapes. More specifically, in  FIG. 1D , the bottom of each wing has triangular cutouts, but other shaped cut-outs may be provided as well. 
         [0024]    In the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-1D  the two wings  14 A,  14 B have the same size. In an alternate embodiment, shown in  FIG. 2  one of the wings, e.g., wing  114 A is wider than the second wing  114 B. 
         [0025]    In the embodiments of  FIGS. 1 ,  1 A- 1 D,  2 , the two wings are connected and disposed at right angle with respect to each other to form an L-shape. In another embodiment, the two wings are still disposed at an angle with other but are not connected, but instead they are separated by a narrow gap indicated in  FIG. 1  by dotted lines  40 . 
         [0026]    In another embodiment, the two wings form an angle that is either less or more than 90 degrees. For example, the angle may range from 45 degrees to 150 degrees. As an example, in  FIG. 3  the wings  214 A,  214 B are disposed at 120 degrees with respect to each other. 
         [0027]    In yet other embodiments, the two wings are not directly attached to each other directly, but instead, each wing  414 A,  414 B is attached separately to the handle  412 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0028]    In another embodiment, the chopping element is formed of an arcuate plate  500  when viewed in a horizontal plane as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . For example, plate may have the cross-sectional shape of an arc of circle with the radius ranging from 8″ to 36″ or more. 
         [0029]    All these embodiments have several advantages over conventional ice choppers. First, as the chopping element hits the ice sheet, the ice sheet is broken up match faster and easier and requires less force. Second, the ice chips formed when the sheet is broken up tends to fly in a direction between the two wings and not behind the chopping element. Accordingly, it is much easier to control their direction of flight. Third, the resulting ice chopper can stand upright resting only on the chopping element. Prior art choppers cannot stand on their own and must be laid down to the ground or must be propped against a wall while not in use. 
         [0030]    Obviously numerous modifications may be made to the invention without departing from its scope as defined in the appended claims.