초록 ▼

A household tool for gathering and picking material comprising two rake head and handle units arranged side by side with both rake heads arranged in substantially the same plane for raking. The units are temporarily held in this position by several possible fasteners along the length of the units. O

A household tool for gathering and picking material comprising two rake head and handle units arranged side by side with both rake heads arranged in substantially the same plane for raking. The units are temporarily held in this position by several possible fasteners along the length of the units. One version is joined at a pivoting joint that allows each of the units to separately pivot about its own longitudinal axis so that their undersides are substantially facing each other and to swing opposite each other for picking. Another version allows both units to be completely disconnected when in the pick-up mode. The handle lengths can be adjustable and can be extended for raking and retracted for picking. Each rake unit may have a fixed or adjustable hand grip or arm grip for less fatigue when picking. The rake heads may overlap to provide more picking-up capacity and more stability to the components.

대표청구항 ▼

I claim: 1. A method for performing pre-picking, picking, and pre-raking operations comprising: a) providing a picking rake made up of a first rake unit and a second rake unit, wherein the first rake unit has a first rake head and a first rake handle, wherein the second rake unit has a second rake

I claim: 1. A method for performing pre-picking, picking, and pre-raking operations comprising: a) providing a picking rake made up of a first rake unit and a second rake unit, wherein the first rake unit has a first rake head and a first rake handle, wherein the second rake unit has a second rake head and a second rake handle, wherein the first rake handle is an elongated member having a longitudinal axis, a lower end and an upper end, wherein the second rake handle is an elongated member having a longitudinal axis, a lower end and an upper end, wherein each of the first and second rake heads has a face having a bottom edge and a top, wherein the lower end of the first rake handle is attached to the top of the first rake head, wherein the lower end of the second rake handle is attached to the top of the second rake head, wherein the first and second rake units are connected proximal to each other at a section along the length of the first and second rake handles, and wherein the bottom edge of the first rake head is aligned with and adjacent to the bottom edge of the second rake head effecting one combined raking span, wherein the connected section along the length of the first and second rake handles comprises a multi-axial pivotal connection having multi-axial pivotal means for allowing the first and second rake handles to flex independently of each other substantially about their respective longitudinal axes and for allowing one of the first and second rake heads to swing away and towards the other of the first and second rake heads when the face of the first rake head is substantially facing the face of the second rake head, and b) performing a pre-picking operation taken from the viewpoint of a user facing the picking rake comprising at least one of the following: i. flexing the first rake handle independently of the second rake handle in a counterclockwise direction substantially about the longitudinal axis of said first rake handle until the face of the first rake head is at least substantially facing the face of the second rake head, and wherein the rake handles remain connected together at the section along the length of the first and second rake handles, and ii. flexing the second rake handle independently of the first rake handle in a clockwise direction substantially about the longitudinal axis of said second rake handle until the face of the second rake head is at least substantially facing the face of the first rake head, and wherein the rake handles remain connected together at the section along the length of the first and second rake handles, c) performing a picking operation comprising, swinging at least one of the first and second rake heads outwardly away from the other rake head, grasping a material between the faces of the rake heads by swinging at least one of the first and second rake heads inwardly towards the other rake head, and swinging at least one of the first and second rake heads outwardly away from the other rake head to release the grasped material, wherein the rake handles remain connected together at the section along the length of the first and second rake handles, the connected section abutting and leveraging the rake units against each other during the picking operation, d) performing a pre-raking operation comprising at least one of the following: i. flexing the first rake handle independently of the second rake handle in a clockwise direction substantially about the longitudinal axis of said first rake handle until the bottom edge of the first rake head is aligned and adjacent with the bottom edge of the second rake head effecting one combined raking span, and wherein the rake handles remain connected together at the section along the length of the first and second rake handles, and ii. flexing the second rake handle independently of the first rake handle in a counterclockwise direction substantially about the longitudinal axis of said second rake handle until the bottom edge of the second rake head is aligned and adjacent with the bottom edge of the first rake head effecting one combined raking span, and wherein the rake handles remain connected together at the section along the length of the first and second rake handles. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the flexing of the first rake handle independently of the second rake handle in the counterclockwise direction during the pre-picking operation is performed using the left hand of the user; wherein the flexing of the second rake handle independently of the first rake handle in the clockwise direction during the pre-picking operation is performed using the right hand of the user; wherein the flexing of the first rake handle independently of the second rake handle in the clockwise direction during the pre-raking operation is performed using the left hand of the user; and wherein the flexing of the second rake handle independently of the first rake handle in the counterclockwise direction during the pre-raking operation is performed using the right hand of the user. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said multi-axial pivotal connection is disposed towards the upper end of one of the rake handles. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second rake handles are substantially parallel and adjacent to each other when the bottom edge of the first rake head is aligned and adjacent to the bottom edge of the second rake head effecting one combined raking span. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second rake handles are substantially parallel and adjacent to each other when the bottom edge of the first rake head is aligned and adjacent to the bottom edge of the second rake head effecting one combined raking span, wherein the connected section along the length of the first and second rake handles further comprises a gripping connection having a first attachment point on the first rake handle and a second attachment point on the second rake handle, wherein the first and second attachment points are apart from said pivotal connection, wherein said gripping connection comprises a gripper disposed on one of the first and second attachment points, said gripper having an opening for receiving the other of the first and second attachment points, wherein the pre-raking operation further comprises snapping or urging the other of the first and second attachment points into said opening of said, gripper, and wherein the pre-picking operation further comprises snapping or urging the other of the first and second attachment points out of said opening of said gripper. 6. The method of claim 5 further including: a) a first aperture on said gripper, b) a second aperture disposed on a predetermined section of the other of the first and second attachment points, c) a snap button disposed inside the predetermined section of the other of the first and second attachment points, said snap button having a positioning head, said positioning head outwardly engaged in the second aperture, d) wherein the gripper snaps on and holds the other of the first and second attachment points, the positioning head further engaging outwardly into the first aperture when the two rake heads are aligned and adjacent, and e) wherein the pre-picking operation further comprises depressing inwardly the snap button to disengage the snap button from said first aperture prior to snapping the other of the first and second attachment points out of the opening of the gripper. 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first rake handle has a first hand grip and the second rake handle has a second hand grip, wherein the first hand grip comprises a branch extending substantially transversely intermediate the upper and lower ends of the elongated member of the first rake handle, wherein the second hand grip comprises a branch extending substantially transversely intermediate the upper and lower ends of the elongated member of the second rake handle, and wherein the method further includes the user holding the rake handles by their respective hand grips while doing any portion of the pre-picking, picking, and pre-raking operations. 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the branch comprising the first hand grip is extending substantially transversely leftwardly and wherein the branch comprising the second hand grip is extending substantially transversely rightwardly. 9. The method of claim 7 further including a method of performing a raking operation prior to performing a pre-picking operation comprising the user holding the rake handles by at least one of the first and second hand grips to move the picking rake to gather the material that is subsequently grasped in the picking operation. 10. The method of claim 7 wherein the connected section along the length of the first and second rake handles further comprises a gripping connection having a first attachment point on or proximal the first hand grip and a second attachment point on or proximal the second hand grip, wherein the first and second attachment points are apart from said pivotal connection, wherein said gripping connection comprises a gripper disposed on one of the first and second attachment points, said gripper having an opening, wherein the other of the first and second attachment points is received into said opening, and wherein the pre-raking operation further comprises snapping or urging the other of the first and second attachment points into said opening of said gripper, and wherein the pre-picking operation further comprises snapping or urging the other of the first and second attachment points out of said opening of said gripper. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the other of the first and second attachment points has a recessed section of predetermined size and wherein said recessed section is received into the opening of the gripper, whereby stability is enhanced in the connected rake units by confining the gripper within said recessed section. 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the flexing of the first rake handle counterclockwise and the flexing of the second rake handle clockwise in the pre-picking operation are both performed and are performed substantially simultaneously. 13. The method of claim 1 wherein the flexing of the first rake handle clockwise and the flexing of the second rake handle counterclockwise in the pre-raking operation are both performed and are performed substantially simultaneously. 14. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the first and second rake handles comprises at least two tubes, an inner tube receivable inside an outer tube, and cooperating retaining means for keeping the inner tube connected to the outer tube when the inner tube is extended from or retracted into the outer tube, and wherein the pre-raking operation further comprises extending the inner tube from the outer tube, and wherein the pre-picking operation further comprises retracting the inner tube into the outer tube. 15. The method of claim 1 wherein the first rake head has a right inner extension and the second rake head has a left inner extension, and wherein the aligned and adjacent rake heads have an overlapping section; wherein the overlapping section comprises one of the right and left inner extensions extending over the other of the right and left inner extensions, and whereby the overlapping right and left inner extensions are providing additional abutment to the aligned and adjacent picking rake heads, and whereby the inner extensions are providing additional pick-up capacity during the picking operation. 16. The method of claim 1 wherein said multi-axial pivotal connection further includes a snapping means for detaching said multi-axial pivotal connection hardware from the connected section thereby providing a quasi-permanent pivotal connection. 17. The method of claim 1 wherein the first rake handle has a first hand grip and the second rake handle has a second hand grip, wherein the first hand grip comprises a branch extending substantially transversely intermediate the upper and lower ends of the elongated member of the first rake handle, wherein the second hand grip comprises a branch extending substantially transversely intermediate the upper and lower ends of the elongated member of the second rake handle, wherein the connected section along the length of the first and second rake handles further comprises an interlocking connection comprising providing a predetermined shape to the first and second hand grips in order to effect an interlocking connection between the first and second hand grips when the bottom edge of the first rake head is aligned with and adjacent to the bottom edge of the second rake head effecting one combined raking span.