Snow rake

Details Snow rake Snow rake

2000-02-08

2001-02-20

Kramer, Dean J. (Department: 3652)

Handling: hand and hoist-line implements

Hand forks and shovels

Snow shovel

C037S285000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06189942

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to snow rakes. In particular, the present invention pertains to a snow rake including a low friction of lubricious sheath.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ice dams occur when water from melting snow freezes near the edge of a roof, such as a gutter line, and traps other melt water behind it. This water can run back up under the shingles and rot the wood sheathing and leak into the house. Snow melt can be caused by ambient weather conditions or from heat escaping from the house. One way of preventing ice damming is removing snow from the roof before the snow melts. To avoid the risks associated with climbing onto the roof, snow rakes have been developed which can be manipulated by a user on the ground.
Conventional snow rakes include an elongate handle and a blade disposed at the distal end of the handle. A user standing on the ground can lift the handle such that the blade is disposed several feet above the edge of a pitched roof. The blade is disposed transversely to the pitch or fall line of the roof. Then, the handle is pulled proximally toward the user. This drags the blade down the roof. As the blade is dragged down the roof, snow is scraped from the roof and falls downward. Depending upon the depth of the snow, several passes will be necessary to skim off successive layers of snow. After successive layers of snow have been skimmed off from a particular portion of the roof, until the roof is exposed, then the user can move the rake to another portion of the roof.
As several layers of snow must generally be skimmed off before an area of a roof is cleared or exposed, clearing a roof with a conventional snow rake can be a time consuming chore. It would thus be desirable to have a tool which can more efficiently be used to clear snow from a roof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to a snow rake for removing snow from a roof. The snow rake includes an elongate handle and a blade disposed at the distal end thereof. The blade extends transversely to the handle. An opening extends through the blade. A bottom portion of the blade is preferably sharpened to create a frost edge. Extending distally from the blade is a partially coiled, low friction lubricious sheath.
A user standing on the ground raises the blade several feet above the edge of a pitched roof. The blade is then drawn downward, slicing through the snow, until it reaches the surface of the roof. As the blade is drawn through the snow, most of the snow passes through the opening, remaining in place on the roof. The lubricious sheath, however, is uncoiled beneath snow as the blade is dragged downward. Once the sheath is disposed between the roof surface and the snow, the relatively high frictional interface between the snow and the roof is replaced by a low friction interface between the snow and the sheath. The snow then readily slides downward off the roof.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3998486 (1976-12-01), Mittelstadt
patent: 4089127 (1978-05-01), Maijala
patent: 4253257 (1981-03-01), Albert
patent: 5083388 (1992-01-01), Cooley
patent: 5570524 (1996-11-01), Groat
patent: 5943796 (1999-08-01), Hedstrom

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