Patent Document

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 61/869,471, filed Aug. 23, 2013. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     On the surface of bodies of water, or below the surface, debris can accumulate, such as refuse, algae and floating aquatic vegetation. 
     U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,811,325; 3,863,237; 5,450,713; 5,705,058; 7,111,741 and 7,603,836 disclose various skimming or raking screens that are pulled through the water by handles or ropes, some floating and others non-floating. 
     U.S. patent application Nos. 2012/0124957 and 2010/0263347 U.S. Pat. No. 7,771,593 disclose floating pond raking or skimming devices. 
     It would be desirable to provide a pond rake that is light weight and able to be handled and deployed by a user, while also being effective in collecting floating vegetation, algae and other debris. 
     SUMMARY 
     A water rake is provided that is lightweight and effectively handled and deployed by a user. The rake provides an apparatus that not only effectively screens water surfaces, and below, but provides a mechanism to retain debris or collected material in the rake for removal and disposal. When held in a vertical orientation debris or collected material can be released by gravity. The rake is adjustable in buoyancy to collect materials at or below the water surface. 
     A water rake is provided that includes a handle and a frame attached to the handle. The handle extends rearward from the frame. The frame has an open area closed by a net. A plurality of prongs extends from the frame generally in a rearward direction. The prongs help retain debris and other collected material in the net or otherwise collected by the frame. 
     The frame is preferably rectangular. The open area of the frame defines a plane and the prongs are arranged at an oblique angle relative to the plane. 
     Prongs along a top area of the frame are declined from the frame and prongs along a bottom area of the frame are inclined from the frame. 
     The handle and frame comprise tubular members. 
     The frame can be entirely sealed from ingress or egress of water. 
     A valve is provided on the rake to selectively accept water into the frame and retain the water in the frame, i.e., in the tubular members of the frame. 
     An angled brace is connected between the handle and the frame, wherein the brace is also tubular and in flow communication with the frame and mounts the valve. 
     Alternately, only selected portions of the rake can receive and retain water, such as the frame, or the brace and the frame. The handle, for example can be sealed from the inside of the frame and could be sealed from ingress or egress of water within the handle, or not. 
     Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims and from the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a rake according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken generally along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged elevation view taken from  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken generally along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings, and will be described herein in detail, specific embodiments thereof with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a rake  10  having in a rectangular collecting frame  14  connected to an elongated handle  18 . The handle extends rearward from the frame toward a user. An angular brace  20  is connected between the frame  14  and handle  18 . 
     A tension wire  26  forms a triangle between three fixed fastening locations  30 ,  32 ,  34  located on the handle  18  and frame  14  respectively. The tension wire  26  structurally stabilizes the frame with respect to the handle, and prevents bending or breaking of the frame  14  subject to vegetation resistance as the frame  14  is pulled through and out of the water by the handle. The locations can be fasteners that are fastened into the frame and handle, wherein the wire is tightly wound a few turns around the fastener. 
     The frame  14  includes a top member  40 , and a parallel bottom member  42  connected together by opposite side members  44 ,  46 . The members  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46  are preferably hollow tubes and can be connected together by 90° hollow tube joints  52 . 
     The handle  18  can be attached to the member  40  using a clamp or a tee joint such as a tubular tee member  56 . In the case of using a tee member, the member  40  is cut and fit into the tee member such that the handle, tee member and upper member  40  are open to each other on the inside. 
     The brace  20  can be attached to the frame member  42  using a clamp joint or a tubular tee member  56 . In the case of using a tee member, the lower frame member  42  is cut and fit into the tee member such that the brace  20 , the tee member  56  and the lower frame member  42  are open to each other on the inside. 
     The handle  18  is preferably a hollow tube and is closed at a distal end to the frame  14  by a cap  60 . A faster such as an eye-bolt  62  is fixed to an end of the cap  60  and is used for attaching a rope  64  to the handle  18 . The rope  64  is sufficiently long for the user to cast the rake out into the pond at a distance from the user. The user can then draw back the rake toward the user handle side first, by reeling in the rope, to rake through the pond. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show that the upper frame member  40  mounts downwardly angled prongs or rods  70 . The prongs are spaced apart along the frame member  40 . The rods  70  extend perpendicularly from the frame member, in parallel, in a direction generally toward the distal end of the handle. The lower frame member  42  mounts upwardly angled prongs or rods  72  that are spaced apart along the frame member  42 . The rods  72  extend perpendicularly from the frame member  42 , in parallel, in a direction generally toward the distal end of the handle. The rods  70 ,  72  can be tubular. The rod  70  in  FIG. 2  is shown in section to show the attachment method for the rods  70 ,  72 . Each of the rods  70 ,  72  is mounted to the frame by a screw  70   a  with a head diameter similar to the diameter of the rods  70 ,  72 . The screw  70   a  freely extends through the rod and is threaded through the wall of the tubular frame member adjacent to the rod and is threaded into but does not penetrate the opposite side of the tubular frame member. Other ways of fastening the rods  70 ,  72  to the frame are encompassed by the invention. 
     A net  80  closes a rectangular open side of the frame  14  defined between the members  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 , opposite the handle  18 . The net has openings sufficiently large to allow water and small objects to past therethrough as the rake is pulled through the water, but small enough to capture the desired vegetation and debris to be removed from the water. The net openings are square with sides parallel to the respective frame sides and can have a width dimension of ¾ to 1″. Alternatively, a lacing or webbing can be provided by lacing or criss-crossing rope or the like between the rods  70 ,  72 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates the connection area of the brace  20  in the handle  18 . The brace  20  terminates in a valve  90  having an open/close mechanism  94 , and an oblique angle fitting such as a 22.5° fitting or a 45° fitting  98  connected to the valve  90 . The fitting has an open end  100  covered by a fine screen  100   a  to prevent debris from entering the open end  100 . The fitting  98  is tightly clamped by a pipe clamp  102  or the like. The pipe clamp  102  includes a fastener  104  that penetrates through holes through the handle  18  and is tightened by a nut  106  to fasten the pipe clamp  102  and brace  20  tightly to the handle  18 . Preferably, the handle  18 , the frame  14  and the brace  20  are all in flow communication via the hollow insides of the tube members. The elbow joints  52  and the tee joints  56  are also in flow communication with the members attached thereto. 
     The valve  90  allows for the entry of a desired amount of water into the rake  10 . By opening the valve while the valve and fitting are submerged, water can pass into the rake through the valve. This can be used to set a desired buoyancy for a desired skimming depth of the frame in the water as a rake  10  is pulled through the water. 
       FIGS. 2 and 4  illustrate some advantageous dimensions. The overall length L of the frame  14  can be 52, 46 or 40 inches, but the invention encompasses other sizes as well. The handle can be 5 feet, 6 inches. The overall width W of the frame  14  can be 8 inches. The spacing of the upper prongs  70  along the member  40  can be 3 inches. The spacing of the lower prongs  72  along the member  42  can be 3 inches. The upper prongs are preferably in line with the lower prongs along the length of the frame. The number of upper prongs can be 16. The number of lower prongs can be 16. The prongs preferably have a length L 3  of about 2 inches and a diameter of about ¼ inch. With the handle  18  held horizontal and the frame  14  oriented vertically, the angle β of the prongs  70 ,  72  to horizontal is preferably about 35 degrees. 
     Advantageously, the members  20 ,  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 , and  52  are tubular plastic pipe elements having a nominal diameter of ¾ inches. Advantageously, the member  18  can be tubular plastic pipe element having a nominal diameter of 1 inch. The upper member  56  can be a tubular plastic pipe element having nominal diameters of 1 inch×¾ inch×¾ inch. The lower member  56  can be a ¾″ by ¾″ by ¾″ tee. 
     From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred.

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