| US5570524A | 1996-11-05 | |||
| US2973948A | 1961-03-07 | |||
| US4607872A | 1986-08-26 |
| P a t e n t c l a i m s 1. A snow clearing device (1), preferably for removing snow from a sloping house roof, including at least one plate (2) of semi-rigid material, characterised in that at least one long side has corrugations or teeth (3) for cutting sideways into a snow layer and having handles for cutting motion arranged on at least one side of the plate (2). 2. A snow clearing device according to claim 1 , characterised by including handles (4) on at least one long side, preferably on both long sides, of the at least one plate (2). 3. A snow clearing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised by including handles (5) on a short side of the at least one plate (2). 4. A snow clearing device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the handles (4, 5) are configured as openings in the plate (2). 5. A snow clearing device according to claims 3 and 4, characterised in that the handle (5) on the short side is formed with a reinforcement (6) in an upper edge of the handle (5). 6. A snow clearing device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the handle (5) on the short side is formed with an attachment for a safety rope (7). 7. A snow clearing device according to claim 6, characterised in that the attachment is arranged in the reinforcement (6). 8. A snow clearing device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised by including several, advantageously three, plates (2, 8, 9) that are hinged together. 9. A snow clearing device according to claim 8, characterised in that the middle plate or plates (8) is/are longer than the outer plates (2, 9) for easy folding up of the snow clearing device 1 for storage or transport.. 10. A snow clearing device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the one outer plate (2) in which handles (5) are formed in a short side thereof is flexible so as to be able to transfer the sawing motion in the snow layer from an angled position to a position parallel with a roof surface. 11. A snow clearing device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the plate or plates (2, 8, 9) have smooth side faces (12) for easy sawing in the snow layer and so as to allow a portion of the snow layer loosened by sawing to slide down the side faces (12). 12. A snow clearing device according to claim 11, characterised in that a lower end (10) of the snow clearing device opposite the short side configured with handles (5) is provided with a mountable, roll-up plastic sheet for extension of a slide or chute for the loosened portion of the snow layer. |
The present invention relates to a snow clearing device, and more specifically to a snow clearing device as disclosed in the preamble of claim 1.
As an example of the prior art, mention may be made of FI 874371 A, US 5943796 A and US 5570524 A, all of which describe different types of snow clearing devices.
The present invention seeks to provide more efficient snow removal by means of a snow clearing device as disclosed in the characterising clause of claim 1.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.
A detailed description of an advantageous, non-limiting embodiment of the snow clearing device according to the invention is provided in the following description and with reference to attached Figure 1.
Figure 1 shows a snow clearing device 1 according to the invention, including three plates 2, 8, 9 of semi-rigid material where the long sides of the plates 2, 8, 9 have corrugations or teeth 3 for cutting sideways into a (non-illustrated) snow layer. The plates, as shown, are connected to each other via hinges 11 in each short end of a middle plate 8. Fig. 1 also shows a user of the snow clearing device 1, who is holding it up in a possible position of use.
Handles 4 are advantageously arranged on both long sides of the plates 2, 8, 9.
Furthermore, handles 5 are advantageously arranged on a short side of the outer plate 2, and, as shown, the handles 4, 5 are advantageously configured as openings or holes in the plates 2, 8, 9.
The formation of handles 4, 5 on both the short side and the long side of the snow clearing device allows two persons to work together on the snow cutting in that one person uses the handles 5 on the short side (as shown in Figure 1) and the other person uses two of the handles 4 on a long side of the snow clearing device 1. When the snow clearing device 1 has been sawn into the snow layer, the portion of the snow layer that is on top of the snow clearing device can advantageously be loosened by inserting a spade into it along a long side of the snow clearing device 1. The handle 5 on the short side is advantageously formed with a reinforcement 6 in an upper edge of the handle 5, the handle 5 on the short side advantageously being formed with an attachment for a safety rope 7 and the attachment advantageously being arranged in the reinforcement 6.
The middle plate 8 is advantageously slightly longer than the outer plates 2, 9, for easy folding up of the snow clearing device 1 for storage or transport.
At least the one outer plate 2 in which handles 5 are formed in a short side thereof is advantageously flexible so as to be able to transfer sawing motion in the snow layer from an angled position to a position parallel with a roof surface.
The plates 2, 8, 9 advantageously have smooth side faces 12 for easy sawing in the snow layer and so as to allow a portion of the snow layer loosened by sawing to slide down the side faces 12.
A lower end of the snow clearing device 1 opposite the short side configured with handles 5 is advantageously provided with a (non-illustrated) mountable, roll-up plastic sheet for extension of a slide or chute for the loosened portion of the snow layer, preferably beyond the roof so that the snow falls down from the roof after it has been loosened.
Although in the illustrated embodiment three interhinged plates 2, 8, 9 are used, a snow clearing device 1 with a different number of plates, the minimum being a single plate 2, is also conceivable. The one plate of flexible material, advantageously having a length equal to that of the illustrated embodiment, will on account of the material hardly be capable of being folded up flat in the same way as the illustrated, hinged embodiment, but will more likely be capable of being rolled up into a roll owing to the same flexible material properties.
In an advantageous embodiment, the at least one plate 2 is made of a suitable plastic material, but may alternatively be made of thin plate or sheet metal or other suitable flexible material with a smooth surface.
The present invention should not be regarded as limited to the embodiments described above, but may be varied within the scope of the attached claims.