Harvesters – Motorized harvester – Having motor on ground-supported carrier
Patent
1986-05-05
1987-12-29
Novosad, Stephen J.
Harvesters
Motorized harvester
Having motor on ground-supported carrier
56256, A01D 3526
Patent
active
047151692
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an edging assembly for attachment to a rotary mower.
A rotary mower generally comprises a horizontally rotatable cutting blade supported beneath a housing. The housing is normally supported by ground engaging wheels and a suitable handle-bar assembly is provided to allow the mower to be pushed over the ground.
A motor, generally a two or four stroke petrol motor is mounted on the housing and has a main shaft that drives the cutting blade. In some cases the motor also drives the ground engaging wheels.
Rotary mowers have proved very effective mowers especially in rougher environments.
Recently there has been a growing trend to the use of mechanical edging or trimming devices. These devices comprise a rotating cutting means that can be directed to operate in a variety of planes thus proving a most effective means of trimming edges and cutting grass at places where a mower cannot obtain access, such as against walls or near tree trunks.
To overcome the need for separate mechanical edging devices it has been proposed to provide bolt on attachments for mowers that in effect provide the desired edging facility.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,407,579, 3,871,161, 3,686,839, 2,771,730, 3,710,563 and 3,304,700 all relate to attempts to provide a demountable edging attachment for motor mowers.
The devices disclosed in the U.S. patents referred to above vary in manufacturing cost, simplicity in use and effectiveness.
The present invention reflects an appreciation of the defects and shortfalls of previous attempts to provide an effective, simple to use, reliable and safe edging attachment for motor mowers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided an edging assembly for attachment to a rotary mower of the kind comprising a housing supporting a motor having a main shaft that drives a cutting blade below the housing to rotate about a substantially vertical axis, the assembly comprising a support plate arranged to be secured to the housing of the mower above the rotatable cutting blade, the support plate having mounted thereon an axially rotatable drive shaft, the drive shaft co-axially supporting an idler pulley and a drive pulley, belt means for connecting said pulleys to the main shaft of the mower, means to selectively transfer the belt from one pulley to another, rotatable edging means supported by said plate, and a flexible spindle drive transferring drive from the drive shaft to the edging means.
Preferably the drive shaft and pulleys are mounted on the support plate to be displaceable relative to the motor of the mower to vary the tension in the drive belt.
Preferably the drive shaft is supported to be freely rotatable within a collar that is pivotally supported by the support plate and the constraining means is preferably supported by the collar, means being provided to displace the constraining means to effect displacement of the drive belt from one pulley to another.
In a preferred embodiment the edging means is mounted to be rotatable about a boom assembly secured to the support plate, the boom assembly allowing adjustability of the cutting plane of the edging means.
Preferably the edging means comprises a thin strip of plastics or metal wound on a spool with one end extending radially therefrom, the spool being detachably secured to a rotatable shaft driven by the spindle drive so that in use, the spool is rotated so that the free end of the strip effects a cutting action.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the following drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a motor mower with an edging assembly attached thereto;
FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the assembly with details of the mower omitted;
FIG. 3 is a view taken along the lines 3--3 of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 4--4 of FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The accompanying drawings illustrate an edging attachment for a rotary
REFERENCES:
patent: 3803818 (1974-04-01), Chaney
patent: 3871160 (1975-03-01), Hopper
patent: 4170099 (1979-10-01), Owens
patent: 4242855 (1981-01-01), Beaver, Jr.
patent: 4478028 (1984-10-01), Dawson, Jr.
patent: 4528805 (1985-07-01), Zitta
Neuder William P.
Novosad Stephen J.
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