Abstract:
A handheld modular mechanized windshield scraper with a rotating brush attachment to remove snow, and a rotating scraper blade attachment to scrape ice and frost from the windshield and window panes. The unit can have a built-in power source or can be connected directly to the power outlet of the automobile.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application entitled Powered mechanical apparatus for removing frost and snow from windshield and other viewing areas and having application Ser. No. 11/160,253, filed on Jun. 15, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0002]    This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application entitled “Powered snow and frost remover,” having application No. 61/058,246, filed on Jun. 3, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
       REFERENCE CITED 
       [0000]    
       
         U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,425—David Weissberger 
         U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,176—Gideon Gelman 
         U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,646—David Kim 
         U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,294—Michael Schatt et al. 
         U.S. Pat. No. 6,969,828—William J. Deane III et al. 
       
     
     
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present invention relates to handheld power operated mechanical devices for removing frost and snow from windshields and window panes of automobiles, trucks and other types of vehicles. 
       BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0009]    The most common snow removal devices found in automobiles are simple hand-held devices having a scraper blade and/or brush on one or both ends of the handle. Generally, the hand-held devices tend to require a great deal of effort and are extremely slow in removing frost and snow, especially when the snow has hardened. To make it a little easier to remove frost and ice, heating devices generally comprising of an electrical coil, and battery to power the heater element, have been disclosed. The heating devices are of only slightly greater efficiency, since their power output is low and it takes a long time to melt the snow on the window pane or windshield. These have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,294—“Heated windshield scraper device” awarded to Michael Schatt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,646—“Heated ice scraper” awarded to David Kim, U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,176—“Combination heated scraper and brush” awarded to Gideon Gelman and U.S. Pat. No. 6,969,828—“Ice scraper” awarded to William J. Deane III et al. Because the power output of the heater is limited while the heat required to melt snow on the windshield is large, the task of removing snow from a windshield is still likely to take a considerable amount of time. 
         [0010]    To overcome the above limitations, David Weissberger obtained a patent with U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,425 for a “Mechanized electrically heated windshield cleaner”. In this, the scraper head is moved back and forth in a straight line by a motor. At the same time, the tip of the scraper is heated using a heating element. Though this is a much better solution than the ones cited above, it also suffers from certain drawbacks. First, since it takes a relatively long time to melt snow, the heating element is ineffective. Second, since the scraper head does not have a guide, optimal scraping angle and pressure cannot be applied to the scraper head for it to do a good job. Third, since the scraper blade is not enclosed, it is not safe to work with an exposed blade. Fourth, the back and forth motion is not very efficient since the blade tip goes from zero velocity to a maximum velocity and back to zero velocity before changing its direction of movement. Fifth, to transfer a rotational motion of the motor to linear motion, a few linkages have to be used which increases the cost of manufacture. Sixth, since it has only one blade to scrape frost and snow off, it will be less efficient than a unit with multiple scraping blades. 
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0011]    The primary objective of the present invention is to come up with a powered mechanical scraper that overcomes the above mentioned deficiencies so as to minimize the driver&#39;s exposure to the elements and help the driver do a better job of cleaning the front and rear windshields and side window panes. 
         [0012]    Another objective of the present invention is to make the manufacture of the improved mechanized scraper cost effective for the manufacturer to adopt it. 
         [0013]    The foregoing objectives are attained by having a multi-blade circular scraper (so called because of the circular motion of the scraper blades) attached to a motorized reduction gear module. In this, the driver can apply optimal pressure on the scraper blades. The multi-blade design hastens the process of frost and ice removal from the automotive windshield and window panes. 
         [0014]    To aid in the fast removal of the scraped snow from the work area, a fan is attached to the motor shaft, before attaching the reduction gear module. The air blown by the fan is directed at the work area and the scraped snow is blown away from the work area through vents in the circular housing. 
         [0015]    The scraper blade assembly can be removed from the motor to attach a brush so that accumulated snow can be brushed off before scraping frost from the windshield. 
         [0016]    The scraper unit can be powered by rechargeable battery that can be charged using the car power outlet. Or it can be directly connected to the car power outlet using a long wire. 
         [0017]    In the ensuing description, frost, ice and snow are used interchangeably. 
         [0018]    In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
         [0019]    As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the modular portable mechanized scraper of the present invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the power drive module of the present invention with the inside components visible. 
           [0022]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the power drive module of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the lock pin, spring, drive shaft and electric motor arrangement of the present invention. 
           [0024]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the scraper drive module attachment of the present invention. 
           [0025]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of the scraper drive module attachment of another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0026]      FIG. 7  is a view of the permeable membrane attached to the scraper drive module attachment of the present invention. 
           [0027]      FIG. 8  is a block diagram of the fan module of the present invention. 
           [0028]      FIG. 9  is the side view of the first reduction gear module of the present invention. 
           [0029]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the first reduction gear module of the present invention. 
           [0030]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the electric motor with drive shaft mating with the connector module of the present invention. 
           [0031]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the scraper shaft mating with the output shaft at the second end of the first reduction gear module of the present invention. 
           [0032]      FIG. 13  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention for the scraper blade module where the blades are straight and where the blades do not meet at the center. 
           [0033]      FIG. 14  is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention for the scraper blade module where the blades are straight and where the blades meet at the center. 
           [0034]      FIG. 15  is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention for the scraper blade module where the blades are curved and where the blades do not meet at the center. 
           [0035]      FIG. 16  is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention for the scraper blade module where the blades are curved and where the blades meet at the center. 
           [0036]      FIG. 17  is a perspective view of the brush module attachment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0037]    The numbering is kept consistent across  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 17  for clarity. Hence like reference numerals designate like parts. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0038]      FIG. 1  refers to a preferred embodiment of the present invention of a modular, portable mechanical scraper unit with its major internal parts exposed. The whole unit is generally referred to as  1 . Unit  1  has a power drive module  2  and a scraper drive module attachment,  3 . Power drive module  2  can also be used with a brush module attachment,  4 , shown in  FIG. 17 . Thus scraper drive module attachment,  3  and brush module attachment,  4  are attachments to power drive module,  2 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  are different views of the power drive module.  FIG. 4  shows the lock pin arrangement inside power drive module  2 . Referring to  FIG. 2  through  FIG. 4 , power drive module  2  comprises of a hollow handle,  7 , with a first end  8  and a second end  9 . Inside the hollow handle are contained an electric motor,  10 , a drive shaft,  11 , lock pin  12 , spring  14 , rechargeable battery,  16  and an electric switch,  17 . Drive shaft  11  is rigidly attached to shaft  18  of electric motor,  10 . The terminals of rechargeable battery,  16  are connected to the terminals of electric motor  10  via switch  17 , using wires  5 A,  5 B and  5 C. Rechargeable battery terminals are also connected to two electrical contact pins, numbered  6 A and  6 B located on the second end of the hollow handle. In this arrangement, when the switch is turned on, electric power is applied to electric motor  10  and drive shaft  11  rotates. Electrical contacts  6 A and  6 B mate with an external charging unit to recharge the battery. Locator pin  15  on first end  8  is used to align the power drive module with any of the said attachments. Lock pin  12  is normally pushed up by spring  14 . The end of lock pin that is away from the spring protrudes out through a hole in handle  7  and is numbered  13 . Henceforth, this protruding part,  13 , of the lock pin will be referred to as lock pin release button. When the scraper drive module attachment or the brush module attachment is to be attached to the power drive module or detached from the power drive module, lock pin  12  is disengaged by pushing down the lock pin release button,  13 . When the operator releases the finger from the lock pin release button, if locator pin  15  is aligned properly with the attachment, the spring pushes the lock pin back to its original state, locking the brush module attachment or scraper drive module attachment with the power drive module for a proper assembled relationship. The cross section of drive shaft  11  should be such that positive drive without slippage can be imparted to said attachment by the power drive module. Hence it is preferable to have a non-circular cross section for drive shaft  11 . In  FIG. 2  through  FIG. 4 , the cross section of drive shaft  11  is hexagonal. 
         [0040]      FIG. 5  shows scraper drive module,  3 . It comprises of a uniform cylindrical hollow body,  30 , inside which are contained a fan module,  35 , a first reduction gear module,  36 , a scraper blade module,  37 , and a connector module,  34 . The cylindrical hollow body has a first end, marked  31 , and a second end marked  32 . A permeable membrane,  39 , covers the opening at first end,  31 , of the cylindrical hollow body as shown in  FIG. 7 . Close to second end,  32 , all around the circumference of the cylindrical hollow body,  30 , are a number of vents, marked  38 . When the fan module,  35 , is operated, air is sucked in through permeable membrane,  39 , and ejected through vents,  38 . Near first end  31 , a section of the circumference of cylindrical hollow body,  30 , where the scraper drive module attachment is mated with the power drive module is marked  33 . In section  33 , there is a complimentarily configured locator hole,  19 , which will removeably engage with locator pin  15  of the power drive module when the power drive module and the scraper drive module attachment are in an assembled relationship.  FIG. 6  is similar to  FIG. 5  except that the cylindrical hollow body,  30 , is tapered from first end,  31 , to second end,  32 . Because of the taper, air velocity is increased as the air reaches the work surface where the scraper blade module,  37 , is acting to remove frost and snow. 
         [0041]      FIG. 8  shows the fan module,  35 , which consists of a shaft,  42 , with a first end,  43 , and a second end,  44 . A miter gear,  45  is rigidly attached to first end,  43  of the fan module. Two or more fan blades,  46  are attached to the circumference of shaft  42  at second end,  44 . 
         [0042]      FIG. 9  and  FIG. 10  show the different views of first reduction gear module,  36 . The first reduction gear module consists of two plates, numbered  58  and  59  between which are rotatetably mounted a combination of gears numbered  54 ,  55 , 56  and  57 . These gears driveably engage with each other as shown in the figure to reduce input rotational speed or angular velocity to the desired output rotational speed or angular velocity. A shaft,  52 , having a first end  64  and a second end  66  is rigidly attached to gear  54 . Second end  66  of shaft  52  loosely passes through the center of gear  57  such that gear  57  can rotate independently of shaft  52 . First end  64  of shaft  52  rotatetably passes through plate  58 . Miter gear  60  is rigidly attached to shaft  52  at said first end  64 . Gear  57  is rigidly connected to a hollow output shaft  53 . Gear  57  and hollow shaft  53  together have a first end,  65  and a second end,  51 . Shaft  53  passes rotatetably through plate  59  and provides the first reduction gear module output at the second end,  51 , which is also the second end of the first reduction gear module. Miter gear  60  is the first end of first reduction gear module  36 . The first reduction gear module receives input through miter gear  60 . Shaft  61  is rigidly attached to gears  55  and  56  as shown in the figure. Though four spur gears are shown in the module, there can be any number of gears in the reduction gear module to accomplish the desired speed reduction. Also, the gears could be of other types such as planetary gears, combination of planetary and spur gears etc. The inside surface,  62 , of output shaft  53  is complimentarily configured to scraper shaft  70  of said scraper blade module such that scraper shaft  70  is rigidly fixed to output shaft  53 . The cross-section of shaft  53  of the first reduction gear module and scraper shaft  70  on said scraper blade module is shown in  FIG. 12 . 
         [0043]      FIG. 11  shows the connector module,  34 , removeably and driveably mating with drive shaft,  11 . The connector module consists of a miter gear  20  with a hollow input shaft  21  as shown in  FIG. 11 . The inside surface,  23 , of input shaft  21  is complimentarily configured to drive shaft  11  on said electric motor such that input shaft  21  can removeably and driveably connect to drive shaft  11  and receive rotational input from drive shaft  11 . Input shaft  21  has a groove  22  on its surface such that when the power drive module and the scraper drive module are in an assembled relationship, lock pin  12  will engage in groove  22 , thus preventing the power drive module from separating from the scraper drive module. Miter gear  20  engages rotatetably with miter gear  45  of the fan module and miter gear  60  of the first reduction gear module as shown in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  to transmit rotational output to the fan module and the first reduction gear module. 
         [0044]      FIG. 13  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of scraper blade module  37 . Scraper blade module,  37  has a scraper shaft  70 , to the circumference of which a scraper blade assembly, consisting of a plurality of straight scraper blades,  73 , are attached radially. The angular distance between any two consecutive scraper blades is substantially the same. All the scraper blades are substantially the same linear length and their lengths are such that the bottom edge of the scraper blade module can fit inside the cylindrical hollow cylinder,  30  at the second end. The scraping edges,  74 , of these plurality of scraper blades are substantially on the same plane which coincides with the plane of the second end of the cylindrical hollow cylinder,  30 . To increase the rigidity of these scraper blades, the radial ends of this plurality of scraper blades that are removed farther away from scraper shaft  70 , are attached to the inner circumference of a ring  71 . The bottom end of the scraper shaft does not extend to the scraping edges  74  of the scraper blades. Hence, when the scraper blades scrape snow, the scraper shaft does not touch the glass. Bottom edge,  72 , of ring  71  does not extend to the scraping edges  74  of the scraper blades so that scraped snow and frost can escape through the gap between edge  72  and the surface being scraped. In this embodiment, the scraper blades do not meet at the center. Scraper shaft  70  is rigidly connected to output shaft  53  of the first reduction gear module such that the output at the second end of said first reduction gear module is transmitted to the scraper blade module. 
         [0045]      FIG. 14  is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the scraper blade module  37 . It is the same as  FIG. 13  except that the scraper blades meet at the center. 
         [0046]      FIG. 15  is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the scraper blade module  37 . It is similar to  FIG. 13  except that all the scraper blades are curved substantially in the same direction by the same angle. Since the scraper blades are curved, it requires less power than the straight scraper blades to scrape snow. In this embodiment, the scraper blades do not meet at the center. The arrow shows the direction of rotation of the scraper blades. 
         [0047]      FIG. 16  is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the scraper blade module  37 . It is the same as  FIG. 15  except that the scraper blades meet at the center. 
         [0048]      FIG. 17  is a perspective view of brush module attachment,  4 . It consists of a cylindrical shaft,  80 , and a second reduction gear module,  83 . The cylindrical shaft has a first end,  90  and a second end,  91 . Its circumference is covered with bristles. First end,  90  has a hole at the center to accept output shaft of said second reduction gear module,  83 . Second reduction gear module  83  has a first end,  84  and a second end,  85 . A hollow input shaft,  86 , extends from first end,  84  and an output shaft,  82  extends from second end,  85 . The diameter of output shaft  82  is such that output shaft  82  is rigidly connected to cylindrical shaft  80  via hole  81 . The inside surface,  87 , of input shaft  86  is complimentarily configured to drive shaft  11  such that input shaft  86  can removeably and rotatetably engage and disengage with drive shaft  11 . The output rotational motion or angular velocity of the second reduction gear module is less than the input rotational motion or angular velocity. Input shaft  86  has a groove,  88 , such that when the power drive module and the brush module attachment are in an assembled relationship, lock pin  12  will engage in groove  88 , thus preventing the power drive module from separating from the brush module attachment. First end  84  of the second reduction gear module has a complimentarily configured locator hole,  89 , with which locator pin  15  of the power drive module will removeably engage when the power drive module and the brush module attachment are in an assembled relationship. Inside the second reduction gear module,  83 , is gear arrangement similar to that found in the first reduction gear module. Since the rotational speed of the brush can be more than the rotational speed of the scraper blade module, the gear ratio of the first reduction gear module,  36 , is higher than the gear ratio of the second reduction gear module,  83 . 
         [0049]    When the user wants to clear the windshield of snow and frost, he presses down the lock pin release button and attaches the power drive module to the brush module attachment, making sure that the locator hole  89  is aligned with the locator pin  15 . When the user releases the finger from the lock pin release button, lock pin  12  will engage in groove  88  and lock pin release button,  13  will be pushed up by spring  14 . Then he turns on switch  17  to power the electric motor. The motor turns the second reduction gear module which in turn, turns the bristles on the brush module attachment. The user moves the rotating brush over the accumulated snow and clears it from the windshield. Then he powers off the motor, presses the lock pin release button and releases the brush module attachment. While holding down the lock pin release button, he attaches the scraper drive module attachment, making sure that the locator pin  15  is aligned with locator hole  19 . When the finger is released from the lock pin release button, if the scraper drive module attachment is properly attached to the power drive module, lock pin  12  will engage in groove  22  of the connector module and lock pin release button,  13  will project out. The user then turns on power to the electric motor. This turns the connector module which in turn, turns the fan module as well as the first reduction gear module. The scraper blade module, which is rigidly connected to the output of the first reduction gear module, rotates to remove frost from the windshield. The user holds the portable mechanical scraper in such a way that the scraper blades touch the frost and scrape it. The fan blades draw air through the permeable membrane and blow it on the scraped frost. The scraped frost is blown out through vents,  38 , adjacent to the scraper blades. Once all the glass surfaces such as the front and rear windshield and window panes have been cleared of frost, the user can power off the unit and replace it in the car power outlet to recharge the unit for future use.