Deck cleaning tool

Abstract

A tool for clearing debris wedged between floorboards of a structure, such as a deck, has an elongated shaft, a tine and a gauge member. The tine is inserted into the space between floorboards to remove the debris. A gauge member attached to the tine prevents the tine from abrading the bottom of the crevice resulting in damage to the underlying structure by limiting the extent that the tine can be inserted into the crevice. The gauge member is attached to the tine by placing each of two sections of the tine through apertures in the gauge member. The gauge member includes a plurality of apertures located at various distances from one end of the gauge member. The location of the gauge member on the tine depends on which apertures are used. The different placements of the gauge member on the tine allows the limit on the extent of insertion of the tine below the floorboards to be varied. The tine has a rectangular cross-section, a bevelled tip and a flat face which is perpendicular to the direction of cleaning when the tool is in use which provides improved clearing of the debris from the crevice. The elongated shaft allows the tool to be utilized in a standing position without bending over. The shaft is hollow and includes grips for convenient placement of the users hands during operation.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.