Patent ID: 8336936

Claim:
A manual trenching tool comprising: a first elongated, rigid, handle composed of a top portion, a middle portion and a bottom portion, the top portion having an upper end and extending at an angle from the middle portion, said upper end being the uppermost extremity of the first handle; a first strike plate rigidly connected to, and extending from, the bottom portion of the first handle; a second elongated, rigid, handle composed of a top portion, a middle portion and a bottom portion, the top portion of the second handle also having an upper end and extending at an angle from the middle portion, said upper end of the top portion of the second handle being the uppermost extremity of the second handle; and a second strike plate rigidly connected to, and extending from, the bottom portion of the second handle; wherein said first and second strike plates have mutually facing surfaces and oppositely facing, substantially planar surfaces, and each of said first and second strike plates has a substantially straight beveled edge; the trenching tool also including a hinge mechanism, located between the first and second strike plates and connecting the first and second strike plates for relative pivoting movement of the plates, from an earth penetrating position to a trenching position, such that, in the earth penetrating position, with the first and second elongated handles spaced apart, the straight beveled edges of the first and second strike plates abut each other coextensively, thereby forming a single, sharp, straight, earth-penetrating edge, and, in a trenching position, with the first and second elongated handles adjacent each other, the beveled edges of the first and second strike plates are spaced from each other; and wherein the top portions of the handles extend from the middle portions thereof in opposite directions, and to an extent such that manually graspable parts of the top portions remain on opposite sides of an intermediate location between said manually graspable parts as the strike plates are moved from the earth penetrating position to the trenching position.