Weight measuring shovel
OwnerJeffrey Johnsoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Described herein is a weight or pressure measuring shovel. The shoveling apparatus has a broad blade assembly or scoop assembly including an elongate handle member. A coupler assembly is designed to couple the curved plate assembly to allow angular orientation or movement of the curved plate assembly to be adjusted relative to the handle member. A force transducer converts the weight or pressure of a material on the curved plate assembly into an electrical signal designed to communicate the weight or pressure of a material such as snow, sand, dirt, or ice. A control module in a housing mounted on the elongate handle is designed to receive electrical signals from the force transducer assembly or a load cell assembly. A display assembly is coupled to the electrical scale assembly and control module.
Claims20
A weight measuring shoveling apparatus comprising:
- an elongate shaft member having a proximal end and a distal end;
- a broad blade plate assembly coupled to the distal end of the elongate shaft member, the broad blade assembly having a distal edge portion designed to collect a substance from a surface and a proximal connecting portion, wherein the broad blade plate assembly includes a bottom plate and a top plate disposed over the bottom plate to form a cavity therebetween;
- a load cell assembly housed in the cavity between the top and bottom plates, the load cell assembly having a base coupled to the bottom plate and a pressure sensing element in contact with the top plate, wherein the load cell assembly includes an analog to digital converter and amplifier adapted to convert a weight or pressure of a material on the top plate of the broad blade assembly into an electrical signal;
- and
- a control module disposed on the shaft member and adapted to receive the electrical signal from the load cell assembly, the control module including a microcontroller circuit, a display assembly and a power source module coupled to the microcontroller assembly and the display assembly, wherein the microcontroller assembly is adapted to generate data and display data on the display assembly, wherein the data includes weight of a substance on the broad plate assembly, calories burned by user during shoveling event, accumulated time of the shoveling event and alerts or warnings provided to user of overexertion events.
A shoveling apparatus with a broad blade assembly or scoop assembly comprising:
- an elongate handle member having a proximal end and a distal end;
- a curved plate assembly coupled to the distal end of the elongate handle member, the curved plate assembly having a distal edge portion designed to collect a substance from a surface and a proximal connecting member;
- a coupler assembly adapted to couple the curved plate assembly to the distal end of the handle member wherein the coupler assembly is adapted to allow angular orientation or movement of the curved plate assembly to be adjusted relative to the handle member;
- a force transducer assembly coupled to the curved plate assembly adapted to convert a weight or pressure of a material on the curved plate assembly into an electrical signal adapted to be received by an electronic module representing an electrical scale assembly, wherein the electrical scale assembly and module disposed within the coupler assembly coupled to the handle member configured to receive electrical signals from the force transducer assembly:
- and a display assembly coupled to the electrical scale assembly and module.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.