Harvesters – Cutting and raking
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-12
2001-03-13
Pezzuto, Robert E. (Department: 3671)
Harvesters
Cutting and raking
C056S400140
Reexamination Certificate
active
06199356
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The well known hand rakes do an excellent job but require extraordinary human effort. Raking the lawn, in addition to cleaning the lawn, improve the aeration of the soil which is very important for a healthy lawn. Modern lawnmowers have powerful suction effect to remove some thatch that is not trapped by the grass or is not too close to the ground. They do not provide the scratching effect necessary to remove trapped thatch and for soil aeration. It has long been recognized the possibility of using an attachment to the lawnmower for raking purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,230 issued on Sep. 17, 1985 is too complicated for the common home maintenance lawn person. In order for a lawnmower raking attachment to perform an effective raking operation, it must have tines that satisfy two conditions. First they must be very flexible to flex in a longitudinal and transverse directions relative to the travel direction of the lawnmower. Secondly they must be close spaced to be able to carry forward tiny thatches. Satisfying these conditions cause the tines to entangle with each other requiring manual disengagement. In any raking device there is a tendency of the thatch to be hooked by the tines in an accumulative manner requiring manual removal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The principal object of the present invention is to provide a lawnmower raking attachment that overcomes the problems confronted by a lawnmower raking attachment, is simple, of light weight and economical to manufacture.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a lawnmower raking attachment that scratches the soil for thatch removal and aeration.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a lawnmower raking attachment that is safe to operate.
The present invention provides a plurality of flexible tines anchored to a raking head held rotatably between the two side arms of a U-shaped frame and near its close end. A transverse shaft at the open end of said U-shaped frame pivots in a first and second frame supports. Said first and second frame supports are attached to the forward end of a lawnmower. Stoppers are disposed on said first and second frame supports to limit the rotational travel of said U-shaped frame in the forward and backward directions, allowing said U-shaped frame to adopt a forwardly stable operational position, or an upwardly stable resting position. Said raking head can be rotated and locked into a position to adjust the pressure of said tines on the ground by a first and second thumbscrews. Said tines have their free ends bent to facilitate the engagement of the tines with the thatches. Each tine has at least one heavy slidable bead. When the lawnmower moves forward said plurality of tines scratch the soil loosening the thatches, sucking some or moving some forward where they can be collected. Moving the lawnmower backward disengages the tines from the soil and releases the thatches trapped or hooked by the tines. Said beads allow the tines to be spaced very close without entangling with each other during the raking operation due to the rolling effect among them. Close spacing of tines is very desirable for moving tiny thatch like small leaves during raking operation. In addition said beads prevent any thatch to be hooked beyond the bead making easy their removal by simply moving the lawnmower a little backward. The normal vibration of the lawnmower is transmitted to said beads increasing the penetration of said tines in the lawn surface. Said U-shaped frame can be rotated backward manually and maintained in a resting position by two of said support stoppers.
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Petravick Meredith C.
Pezzuto Robert E.
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