# Atlas Sr. Design Progress



## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

Hello, we are students at Eastridge High School in Rochester, N.Y. We are in a class where we design and produce an effective prototype of our groups choice. My group decided to do a snow removal device for driveways and walkways. This thread is designed to keep everyone updated on our progress.

we will post concepts as soon as possible

please leave any comments


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## mercer_me (Sep 13, 2008)

I am looking forward to se what you guys come up with.


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

here is the concept we came up with, it is just one of five, but it is a new and potentially good idea
it is a Snow Rake, or what we came up with, Snake. it utilized the raking motion instead of pushing. What is unique is the second level rake teeth, this captures the snow that can flow between the first set and moves more snow than just one level of rake teeth. The teeth are also wide to move snow.


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## JohnnyU (Nov 21, 2002)

That pulling/twisting motion is more harmful for a person's back than the actual lifting motion.


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## mercer_me (Sep 13, 2008)

I'll be honest I don't think it would work that great.


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

like i said its just one of five other prototypes, we are producing them in inventor studio right now


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## mercer_me (Sep 13, 2008)

Atlas Sr Design;1222042 said:


> like i said its just one of five other prototypes, we are producing them in inventor studio right now


I'm looking forward to seing you other designs.


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

Our other option is a shovel with interchancheable heads that include a plow like shovel that angles to the left, one to the right, a thin shovel for sidewalks, a wide shovel for driveways, and. an icepick attachment


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## mercer_me (Sep 13, 2008)

Atlas Sr Design;1226668 said:


> Our other option is a shovel with interchancheable heads that include a plow like shovel that angles to the left, one to the right, a thin shovel for sidewalks, a wide shovel for driveways, and. an icepick attachment


That sounds like a great idea if you build it good and rugged.


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## magik235 (Dec 28, 2007)

mercer_me;1227023 said:


> That sounds like a great idea if you build it good and rugged.


... I agree


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## Mabepossibly (Dec 12, 2010)

Id never buy one, but a shovel with a battery heated handle grip and integrated LED light would probably sell pretty good.


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## EvenCutLawnCare (Aug 12, 2008)

Mabepossibly;1227851 said:


> Id never buy one, but a shovel with a battery heated handle grip and integrated LED light would probably sell pretty good.


LED work light or LED flasher? ID say work light would be pretty cool, the other not so much


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

Our other and more practical idea includes a universal handle that attaches to multiple snow shovels
This is our ice pick attachement

the wedge feature seperates ice, while the blade is still long enough to be able to push it away

additional ribs are included for support


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## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

I think this is far more practical than the rake...snow is too heavy to rake effectively, you have to be able to move it a good distance and get it out of the way.

When I was a kid my parents had a snowshovel that was really cool. It had a wide curved steel blade that would pivot when you rotated the handle so you had your choice of pushing snow straight or effectively using it as an angle plow to roll it off to one side. It absolutely sucked as a lifting shovel because it didn't have a T at the end so if you tried to pick up snow it would just rotate in your hands and dump the snow where you picked it up from...but if you had a paved driveway it would have been great for rolling windrows over.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

On your ice pick. Make sure you have a little "give" between the pick and handle . Nothing worst then chopping and and having the shocking going right to your hands and arms.


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## mercer_me (Sep 13, 2008)

That looks like a pretty good design. It's alot better then that snow rake.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Put a few springs in it.


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## jklawn&Plow (Jan 8, 2011)

When doing sidewalks say a corner house with 150 in front and 200 on side the idea of a shovel with angles off to each side would be good. If it had some mechanism to lift a little upon impact with a raised sidewalk block would save the rib cage some possible damage when your really moving. A spring in the handle would also be good for other reasons. Weight would not be to much of a concern if not lifting. Most shovels put the extremes break where th handle attaches to the shovel. Even heavily reenforced ones. Look at the "Bigfoot" 24" pusher Design for this. It is a less brittle plastic-haven't broken one of these yet. It does wear down quick though. Snowplow-snowpushers are recommended on this site also but haven't used one yet.


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## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

I have a bigfoot snow dozer...easily the best and most durable snow shovel I've ever used.










The fat handle is key, it seems to distribute weight alot better across its cross section...I've lifted some stupidly heavy scoops of slushy snow (stupid as in "I'll probably hurt my back doing this" heavy) and it hardly even flexes.


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## zabMasonry (Oct 13, 2007)

What modeling software are you using?


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

zabMasonry;1256966 said:


> What modeling software are you using?


we are using Autodesk Inventor 2011


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## coldcoffee (Jul 17, 2008)

grandview;1256607 said:


> Put a few springs in it.


Yea, so this could happen :redbounce:laughing:


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

we will have more pictures soon, we are currently working on the angled shovels like you see on public snow plows, the ones that move snow to the side


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

We are beginning our building phase for our prototype. The working prototype is due in three weeks and we decided we are going to mold our heads with fiberglass.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Make sure you put air holes in it so you can breathe !


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## jklawn&Plow (Jan 8, 2011)

Post picks I'll try to get back and check out. What width did you go with?


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

the width of the shovel heads will range from 18" for the regular heads to 26" for the wide shovel, and the ice scraper will be about 8"


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

Hi everyone, we're in the final stage of our class this year, we've come up with a universal handle that attaches to a snow shovel, an ice scraper, and a push broom, we're also open to the idea of other regular lawn tools, like spades and rakes, we'd like to thank everyone who helped answering our questions and interviews and also who supplied us with ideas


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

here is our snow shovel attachment


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## mercer_me (Sep 13, 2008)

Atlas Sr Design;1284937 said:


> Hi everyone, we're in the final stage of our class this year, we've come up with a universal handle that attaches to a snow shovel, an ice scraper, and a push broom, we're also open to the idea of other regular lawn tools, like spades and rakes, we'd like to thank everyone who helped answering our questions and interviews and also who supplied us with ideas
> 
> View attachment 97776
> 
> ...


Looks good. Do you pictures of the other atachments?


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## Atlas Sr Design (Dec 2, 2010)

yes, The way this works is kind of like the Gillete Fusion Razors. You can remove the heads anr replace it with a different one. A button at the bottom releases the head and it slides out. We were coming up with more attachements but our school year is almost over


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## mercer_me (Sep 13, 2008)

Looks great guys. Thumbs Up


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