Sand Trap Rake With Front And Rear Blades For Smooth Surface
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional rakes for sand traps on golf courses fail to efficiently restore a smooth surface, often leaving furrows, ridges, and piles of sand due to their design, requiring users to turn the rake over and make multiple passes.
Innovation Solution
A sand trap rake with an elongate head featuring tines and blades that allow for efficient pushing and pulling motions without turning, including a socket for a handle that enables four selectable raking modes based on handle angle, reducing furrow and ridge formation by optimizing blade and tine interaction with the sand.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional garden-type rakes are used to repair sand trap surfaces, then the tool is simple and easy to manufacture, but it leaves furrows and ridges in the sand, failing to produce a smooth surface
Solution Approach 1:
The rake head is segmented into multiple functional zones: a front blade for initial sand engagement, multiple tines for penetrating and redistributing sand, and a rear blade for smoothing the surface. Each segment performs a specific function in the sand repair process, allowing the tool to achieve smooth surfaces without requiring the user to turn the rake over.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple raking functions (breaking, redistributing, and smoothing sand) into a single integrated rake head structure. The front blade, tines, and rear blade work together in sequence during a single pushing motion, combining what would traditionally require multiple passes with different rake orientations into one efficient operation.
2Productivity
If conventional rakes are used for sand trap repair, then the device structure is simple, but it requires users to turn the rake over and make multiple passes to achieve a smooth surface
Solution Approach 1:
The rake head is designed as a universal tool that performs multiple functions in a single operation: the front blade engages and breaks up sand, the tines redistribute it, and the rear blade smooths the surface. This multi-functionality eliminates the need to turn the rake over or make multiple passes, significantly improving productivity while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The rake head enables continuous useful action by maintaining effective sand engagement throughout the entire raking stroke. The front blade, tines, and rear blade work in continuous sequence from front to back, ensuring that every portion of the stroke contributes to surface repair without requiring the user to reverse direction or reposition the tool.
3Manufacturing precision
If conventional rakes are used, then the tool design is simple, but it causes accumulation of piled sand at the ends of push or pull strokes
Solution Approach 1:
The rake head is segmented into functional zones that process sand progressively: the front blade initiates sand movement, the tines distribute it evenly, and the rear blade levels the surface. This segmentation prevents sand accumulation by ensuring continuous processing of sand throughout the rake head length, eliminating piles at stroke ends.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of relying on a single tined surface that pushes sand and creates piles, the patent inverts the approach by using blades at both the front and rear of the rake head. The rear blade actively levels and smooths the sand surface as the rake moves forward, preventing pile formation at the stroke end rather than addressing it afterward.
Data Source
AI summary
A sand trap rake for use on golf courses includes an elongate rake head having an elongate body member with a front end, a back end, and first and second lateral sides between the front and back ends. The rake head defines a raking direction aligned with a direction extending from the front end to the back end. A plurality of tines extend downwardly from the body member and are spaced apart along a longitudinal direction of the rake head, transverse to the raking direction. The rake further includes an elongate front blade extending downwardly from the front end of the body member, and an elongate rear blade extending downwardly from the back end of the body member. The rake may be used in one of four selectable raking modes to prepare a sand surface for golf play.