Adjustable Shovel Guide for Break Line Traversal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hand shovels struggle to efficiently navigate uneven surfaces with break lines, leading to wear on the shovel blade, increased operator effort, and potential injury due to the need for frequent lifting and adjustment.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable shovel guide system that includes a guide plate removably attached to the shovel blade edge, allowing for adjustments in position along the blade edge and angle with respect to the blade, thereby enabling smooth traversal of break lines without impairing the shovel's function.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed guide is mounted through the shovel blade to address break lines, then the guide provides stable support, but the shovel blade function is permanently impaired and adjustment is impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The guide system is divided into separate components: a guide member and a mounting mechanism that attaches to the blade edge without penetrating it. This segmentation allows the guide to be adjusted and repositioned along the blade edge while maintaining stability, resolving the contradiction between fixed stability and adjustability.
Solution Approach 2:
A mounting mechanism acts as an intermediary between the guide member and the shovel blade. This intermediary component enables the guide to be securely attached to the blade edge through holes in the mounting mechanism rather than directly through the blade, preserving blade integrity while allowing guide adjustment.
2Ease of manufacture
If through holes are drilled in the shovel blade to mount guides, then the guides can be attached, but the shovel blade function is impaired and drilling takes time
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting mechanism is designed with pre-formed attachment features (such as slots or recesses) that allow the guide to be quickly mounted without requiring field drilling. The guide can be attached using simple fastening methods like screws or clips that can be applied without specialized tools or time-consuming operations.
3Device complexity
If the shovel blade contacts break lines directly, then the shovel structure remains simple, but wear occurs on the blade and operator injury risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member serves as an intermediary between the shovel blade and the break line. It contacts the break line first, guiding the blade over the obstacle and preventing direct contact between the blade and the break line. This reduces blade wear and eliminates the need for operators to lift the shovel, thereby reducing injury risk without significantly increasing structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An adjustable shovel guide for a hand shovel includes an apparatus along a side edge of the hand shovel, the apparatus includes a_plate mount removably attached to a blade of the hand shovel along a blade front face and a blade back face between a blade lower surface and a blade upper surface for a first adjustment, a guide plate is removably attached to each of the plate mount, the guide plate has at least one through passage for a second adjustment, an adjustable wear guide slidably is attached to the guide plate for a third adjustment, and the adjustable shovel guide includes guide wheel attachment, further a method of adjustment is provided.