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IMAGES 1- An Overview
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The rake that has been invented revives the use of a cross-head assembly. It further makes use of readily available plastic materials. The rake is disassemblable, with the tines being removable and therefore replaceable. The rake can be used in the standard forward-to-back raking motion. It can be used to rake sideways. It can be used to rake in sweeping, circular motions. It can be used to push leaves forward. The versatility of this rake allows it to be manipulated in any direction.
The rake shown is made from plastic materials, namely polyvinylchloride. In fact all of the materials are available commercially in large volumes. The materials of course must be cut, and/or drilled, and/or heat-formed.
The handle itself possesses the characteristic of resilient flexibility which enhances the overall performance of the rake. An endcap has been placed on each end of the cross-arm in this particular rake.
The rake consists of the two primary components of the handle and the cross-head assembly. The handle unscrews from the cross-head assembly. The cross-head assembly consists of the cross-head (also referred to as a cross-arm) and the tines. The tines are individually removable and therefore replaceable.
The tines generally align in a plane when viewed from the side. However, any curvilinear, skewed, staggered, or offset arrangement of the tines is possible due to the unique and individual installation of each tine, without any structural attachment to a neighboring tine.
The end loop of each tine engages and wraps around the cross-arm. The engagement of the tine with the cross-arm is rigid enough to retain the tine in place during most raking functions, such as when raking on a relatively flat lawn. However, the engagement is sufficiently resilient and loose such that the tine can release from its engagement if a tine impacts a protruding rock, for example. Thus, a tine is prevented from breaking. However, in spite of this, tines do occasionally break but can easily be replaced. In this image the end caps have been removed. The end caps primarily serve a decorative function, and without them the cost of production will of course decrease.
The angularity of the tines with respect to the handle provides an efficient attack angle when the rake is placed in contact with the lawn. This angularity, together with the flexibility of the tines, also enables the capability of pushing leaves into a pile, or continually brushing the leaves directly ahead of the user, as the user walks forward.
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