GB2494869A

GB2494869A - Sieving tool

Info

Publication number: GB2494869A
Application number: GB1116232.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jonathan Anthony Blake Price
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-09-20
Filing date: 2011-09-20
Publication date: 2013-03-27
Also published as: GB201116232D0

Abstract

A sieving tool 100 comprises a handle 102, 104; a sieving arrangement 108 including a plurality of apertures or slots 107, and a container portion 106 located between the sieving arrangement and the handle. The sieving arrangement may comprise first and second pluralities of spaced apart tines. The container portion may have a box-like shape with an open face, the first plurality of tines may extend from a first edge of the open face and the second plurality of tines may extend outwardly from an edge of the open face that is opposed to the first edge. The end portions of the first plurality of tines and the second plurality of tines may be convergent.

Description

Sieving Tool The present invent ion relates to a sieving tool.

A conventional fork is used to separate different types of material in many situations, e.g. clearing horse manure from bedding in stables. Although a fork is reasonably effective, it can be a time-consuming and tiring operation, requiring much bending and lifting. Further, it is common for pieces of manure to fall back off the fork after they have been scooped up, which prolongs the job.

Embodiments of the present invention are intended to address at least some of the abovementioned problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a sieving tool including: a handle; a sieving arrangement including a plurality of apertures or slots, and a container portion located between the sieving arrangement and the handle.

In use, when the tool is shaken, smaller particles fall out through the apertures or slots and larger particles are cast back and held in the container portion for separate removal from the tool.

The sieving arrangement may comprise a plurality of spaced apart tines.

The container portion may be at least partially formed of portions of at least some of the tines.

End portions of the tines may extend at an angle with respect to a main axis of the handle.

The container portion may have a box-like shape with an open face. The plurality of tines may extend outwardly from a first edge of the open face. The tool may include a second plurality of spaced apart tines. The second plurality of tines may extend outwardly from an edge of the open face that is opposed to the first edge. End portions of the firstmentioned and the second plurality of tines may be convergent.

The firstmentioned plurality of tines may, in use, be used to scoop particles from a surface. The firstmentioned plurality of tines may be angled so as to be upstanding that when the handle is, in use, held horizontally. For example, the firstmentioned plurality of tines may be angled at around 200 -400 to the horizontal. The firstmentioned plurality of tines and/or the second plurality of tines may be angled so as to deflect particles that, in use are shaken off the tines, towards the container portion. The firstmentioned plurality of tines may extend further outwardly beyond a front end of the tool than the second plurality of tines.

The handle may be connected to the container portion at an angle so that when, in use, the handle is rotated so as to invert the container portion, an open end of the container portion is oriented downwards. For example, the handle may extend upwardly at an angle of around 5° -20° (and in some cases around 10°) when a flat rear face of the container portion is vertical.

The box-like shape may be defined by: a rear face to which the handle is connected; a first main face extending forwardly from the rear face; a second main face, spaced apart from the first main face, and extending forwardly from the rear face, and a pair of opposed side faces extending at least partly between the first main face and the second main face.

At least part of the first main face and/or the second main face may be formed by portions of the firstmentioned and/or the second plurality of tines.

At least one of the side faces may include at least one aperture for reduced weight.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a sieving tool including: a handle; an arrangement including a plurality of apertures or slots for, in use, sieving out particles that have a smaller dimension than the apertures or slots, and a portion for temporarily holding particles that have a larger dimension than the apertures or slots.

Whilst the invention has been described above, it extends to any inventive combination of features set out above or in the following description.

Although illustrative embodiments of the invention are described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise embodiments. As such, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art.

Furthermore, it is contemplated that a particular feature described either individually or as part of an embodiment can be combined with other individually described features, or parts of other embodiments, even if the other features and embodiments make no mention of the particular feature. Thus, the invention extends to such specific combinations not already described.

The invention may be performed in various ways, and, by way of example only, embodiments thereof will now be described, reterence being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D are side, plan, perspective and end views, respectively, of a first example sieving tool; Figure 2 is a side view detailing a container portion and tines of the tool; Figures 3A, 3B and 3C are side views illustrating use of the tool; Figures 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D are side, plan, perspective and end views, respectively, of a second example sieving tool.

Referring to Figures 1A -1D, a first example sieving tool 100 is shown.

The tool has a handle including an elongate shaft 102 and a hand grip 104. In the example, the shaft has a length of around 1050 mm and a diameter of around 26 mm, and is formed of steel. The hand grip is similar to those found on conventional garden forks and the like. However, it will be appreciated that the dimensions, shape and material(s) used for the handle can be varied.

The end of the shaft 102 remote from the hand grip 104 is fixed to a container portion of the tool 100, shown generally at 106. In the example, the container portion has a box-like shape with an open face. The container portion is formed of portions of a plurality of spaced-apart tine components, shown generally at 108. The tine components are rigidly held in place by virtue of being clamped between a pair of rectangular plates 110. The plates include grooves (not visible) that hold the tines in place at defined intervals. In the example, the tines are spaced apart by around 19 mm, which the inventor has found to be a good spacing for allowing wood shavings to be sieved. However, it will be appreciated that the spacing can be varied (and may also be non-uniform), e.g. for use with different types of stable bedding, such as hemp, pellets or sawdust.

In general, the spacing will be in the range of around 3 mm -30 mm to give manufacturing tolerance and to cater for different sizes of particles. It will be understood that sieving tools of different sizes may be produced. For instance, instead of the illustrated embodiment, a hand held version of the tool can be produced that has the size of a conventional trowel. This can be used with cat litter, removing rabbit droppings from shavings or for gardening when removing weeds or stones from tilth. Another larger, embodiment suitable for mucking out larger animals such as elephants may also be produced.

The pair of plates 110 may be fixed together around the tine components by any suitable method, e.g. nuts/bolts or welding. The end of the shaft is fixed to an outer one of the plates, e.g. by means of being fitted and nailed into a cylindrical portion 113 that extends from the back of the plate. In the example, the shaft extends upwardly at an angle of around 10° when the plates are standing vertical. In general, this angle will be in the range of around 5°-20°.

Figure 2 is a side view of one of the tine components 108. Each tine component is formed of a length of bent, rigid material. It will also be appreciated that this construction can vary, e.g. it may be formed of separate pieces connected together. In the example, aluminium of square cross-section is used, but it will be understood any rigid, hard-wearing material, including spring steel or strong plastic(s), could be used.

As can be seen, each tine component 108 includes a straight portion 202 that is used to form a part of the rear face of the container portion 106 of the tool 100. When this rear face portion is standing vertically, a lower portion 204 (having a length of around 150 mm) extends generally horizontally from its lower end. In use, when sieving, this lower portion forms part of the lower face of the container portion 106. A further portion 206 (having a length of around 225 mm) extends upwardly from the end of this lower portion 204, at an angle of around 25° with respect to the horizontal. In general, this angle may be around 20° to 400; this range has been found to produce ergonomic results when the tool is used as described below. A portion of the free end 207 of the further portion 206 is chamfered on its upper surface. In use, when sieving, the further portion 206 acts as a lower tine of the tool.

An upper portion 208 (having a length of around 160 mm) extends from the upper end of the rear face portion 202, at an angle of around 65° with respect to the vertical. In use, when sieving, this upper portion forms part of the upper face of the container portion 106. A further portion 210 (having a length of around 125 mm) extends horizontally from the end of this upper portion 208. In use, when sieving, this further portion 210 forms an upper tine of the tool and also assists with emptying the container portion, as will be described below. As can be seen, the ends of the lower tine portion 206 and the upper tine portion 210 are generally convergent.

Returning to Figures 1-10, a first side plate 112A is fitted to the left-most tine component 108 and a second side plate 11 2B is fitted to the right-most tine component. The edges of each side plate generally follow the shapes of the portions 202, 204, 206, 208 and 210 of the tine component 108, but the edge fitted against upper tine portion 210 is only around 45 mm in length, meaning that a portion (of around 80 mm) of the upper tine extends beyond the plate.

Similarly, the edge of the plate fitted against the lower tine portion 206 has a length around 140.5 mm, meaning that a portion (of around 84.5 mm) of the lower tine extends beyond the plate. The side plates may be connected to the tine components by any suitable method, e.g. welding or bending tab portions.

In the example, each side plate includes several circular holes 114, which have a diameter of around 19 mm. These holes reduce the overall weight of the tool 100.

Thus, when the tool is assembled, the side plates 112A, 112B, the rear wall portions 202, the lower face portions 206 and the upper face portions 208 of the tine components form a box-like shape with an open face, with upper 210 and lower 206 tines extending forwardly (at convergent angles) from the upper and lower edges, respectively, of the open face.

Figures 3A -3D illustrate how the tool is used. For clarity, the side plates 112A, 112B are not included in these Figures. In use, a user holds the tool 100 using the hand-grip 104 and the shaft 102 with the lower tines 206 adjacent (and typically parallel to) the ground to be cleared of, for example, manure 301 (see Figure 3A). He/she then pushes the lower tines underneath the mixture of wood shavings and manure, causing some of the mixture to be held on top of the lower tines. This procedure may be repeated if desired to collect more of the mixture.

Next (see Figure 3B), the user lifts the end of the tool away from the ground, typically until the shaft is at an angle of less than around 20° with respect to the horizontal. He/she will then shake the tool, normally up and down, and may also tilt the tool further back/upwards. The shaking motion causes smaller particles, such as the shavings, to fall out of the tool through the spaces 107 between the lower tines 206. Larger particles cannot escape through these spaces and are, instead, cast backwards and held in the container portion 106 of the tool. The shape of the bottom half of the container portion 106 is important because once the mixture has been scooped up and the tool raised from the floor, the lower tines 206 are inclined above the horizontal and, when the tool is shaken, they help to throw particles backwards into the container portion and prevent larger particles from escaping out the front of the tool.

When as much of the shavings as possible has been sieved out of the tool 100 in this way, the user can then move to a location, such as a bucket 303, where the retained larger particles are to be disposed. He/she then rotates the shaft by around 180° (see Figure 3C). As the handle is attached to the container portion at an angle as described above, once the tool has been inverted, the open face (between the free ends of the upper 210 and lower 206 tines) of the tool/container portion 106 is oriented generally downwards. The open face can be positioned above the disposal point so that the larger particles conveniently roll/fall out of the tool after it has been inverted. The user may also tilt the handle further if needed.

Figures 4A -4D show an alternative embodiment 400 of the sieving tool.

In this embodiment, the tine components 408 are formed of wire bent to a pattern (so that two tines are formed as a pair, which can give them rigidity at the correct spacing and also prevents twisting). The tine components are then inserted through a crossbar 410 that is connected to the handle 402.

It will be appreciated that many variations to the embodiments described above are possible. For example, the shape of the top half of the container portion 106/upper tines 210 could be different, e.g. there could be a constant curve from near the handle 202 to the starting point of the upper tines. Further, at least part of the container portion could be formed of at least one component other than portions of the tines, e.g. the solid box-like shape could be formed of at least partially solid walls (although using the tines for the container walls can have benefits in terms of simplicity and reduced weight). Further, an arrangement including a reinforced mesh or other sieving device could replace at least some of the tines.

The tool described herein is simple to construct and requires little/no skill to operate. It can save on bedding costs by efficiently removing manure at low expenditure of energy. Embodiments are ergonomically efficient and can relieve the operator of much of the bending and lifting that is often required to clean a stable. Unloading manure from the tool is simple and accurate, thereby preventing waste escaping, unlike a normal fork allows waste to escape in all directions when it is rotated/tilted for emptying.

Claims

<claim-text>CLAIMS1. A sieving tool (100) including: a handle (102, 104); a sieving arrangement (108) including a plurality of apertures or slots (107), and a container portion (106) located between the sieving arrangement and the handle.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. A tool according to claim 1, where, in use, when the tool (100) is shaken, smaller particles fall out through the apertures or slots (107) and larger particles (301) are cast back and held in the container portion (106) for separate removal from the tool.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. A tool according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sieving arrangement includes a plurality of spaced apart tines (206).</claim-text> <claim-text>4. A tool according to claim 3, wherein the container portion (106) is at least partially formed of portions (204, 208) of at least some of the tines (108).</claim-text> <claim-text>5. A tool according to any one of claims 3 to 4, wherein end portions of the tines (108) extend at an angle with respect to a main axis of the handle (102).</claim-text> <claim-text>6. A tool according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the container portion (106) has a box-like shape with an open face.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. A tool according to claim 6, when dependent on any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the plurality of tines (206) extend outwardly from a first edge of the open face.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. A tool according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein the tool (100) includes a second plurality of spaced apart tines (210).</claim-text> <claim-text>9. A tool according to claim 8, wherein the second plurality of tines (210) extend outwardly from an edge of the open face that is opposed to the first edge.</claim-text> <claim-text>10. A tool according to claim 8 or 9, wherein end portions of the firstmentioned (206) and the second (210) plurality of tines are convergent.</claim-text> <claim-text>11. A tool according to claim any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the firstmentioned (206) plurality of tines, in use, are used to scoop particles from a surface.</claim-text> <claim-text>12. A tool according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the firstmentioned (206) plurality of tines are angled so as to be upstanding that when the handle (102) is, in use, held horizontally.</claim-text> <claim-text>13. A tool according to claim 12, wherein the firstmentioned plurality (206) of tines are angled at around 25° -30° to the horizontal.</claim-text> <claim-text>14. A tool according to any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the firstmentioned (206) plurality of tines and/or the second (210) plurality of tines are angled so as to deflect particles (301) that, in use are shaken off the tines, towards the container portion (106).</claim-text> <claim-text>15. A tool according to any one of claims 8 to 14, wherein the firstmentioned (206) plurality of tines extend further outwardly beyond a front end of the tool (100) than the second (210) plurality of tines.</claim-text> <claim-text>16. A tool according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the handle (102) is connected to the container portion (106) at an angle so that when, in use, the handle is rotated so as to invert the container portion, an open end of the container portion is oriented downwards.</claim-text> <claim-text>17. A tool according to claim 16, wherein the handle (102) extends upwardly at an angle of around 7° -15° when a flat rear face (202) of the container portion (106) is vertical.</claim-text> <claim-text>18. A tool according to any one of claims 6 to 17, wherein the box-like shape is defined by: a rear face (202) to which the handle (102) is connected; a first main face (204) extending forwardly from the rear face; a second main face (208), spaced apart from the first main face, and extending forwardly from the rear face, and a pair of opposed side faces (112A, 112B) extending at least partly between the first main face and the second main face.</claim-text> <claim-text>19. A tool according to claim 18, when dependent upon claim 8, wherein at least part of the first main face (204) and/or the second main face (208) is formed by portions of the firstmentioned (206) and/or the second (210) plurality of tines.</claim-text> <claim-text>20. A tool according to claim 18 or 19, wherein at least one of the side faces (1 12A, 112B) includes at least one aperture (114).</claim-text> <claim-text>21. A sieving tool (100) including: a handle (102, 104); an arrangement (108) including a plurality of apertures or slots (107) for, in use, sieving out particles that have a smaller dimension than the apertures or slots, and a portion (106) for temporarily holding particles that have a larger dimension than the apertures or slots.</claim-text> <claim-text>22. A sieving tool substantially as described herein and/or with reference to the accompanying drawings.</claim-text>