Harvesters – Motorized harvester – Having motor on ground-supported carrier
Patent
1997-09-17
1999-11-02
Pezzuto, Robert E.
Harvesters
Motorized harvester
Having motor on ground-supported carrier
5640002, 56364, A01D 5100, A01D 7702
Patent
active
059747714
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a raking apparatus for raking or scarifying lawns and other fine turf areas such, for example, as golf course greens, tennis courts, bowling greens and cricket creases. The raking apparatus of the present invention can also be used on areas of artificial grass such as that which is available commercially under the trade name ASTROTURF.
In order to maintain a grass lawn or other turfed area in good condition it is necessary regularly to remove from the grass nap any materials which obstruct the flow of air between the individual blades of grass and the underlying soil; the nap must be allowed to "breathe" in order to permit proper drying. Such obstructing materials include patches of moss, debris such as fallen leaves and also blades of grass which grow generally horizontally in the nap. A typical grass lawn may comprise a substantial proportion of grass which grows otherwise than vertically, and such grass can have an injurious effect on the condition of the lawn overall. It is of course also necessary to remove any rotting matter.
These lawn treatments have been traditionally carried out manually using a hand-operated lawn rake of the kind well known in the art comprising a hand-held elongate shaft which carries a rake-head at one end. The head comprises a plurality of elongate tines which are typically disposed in a common plane and splayed outwardly with respect to one another from the end of the shaft. One or more cross-pieces are usually provided to reinforce the tines, and the tines themselves are typically cranked at their extremities for engaging the ground. Traditional hand rakes of this kind are widely used in commercial and domestic gardening, and are generally satisfactory for de-thatching lawns and other grassed areas of moss deposits, and for lifting horizontally growing blades of grass. The use of a traditional hand rake is however very time-consuming, and is therefore not practical for use on very large areas of grass such, for example, as tennis courts and particularly golf courses.
Many tennis courts are now being constructed using artificial grass (e.g. that which is commercially available under the trade mark ASTROTURF) which has a carpet-like construction comprising a flexible backing sheet in which are anchored a plurality of synthetic piles which form a nap. As will be well known to a person skilled in the art, sand is brushed into the nap of artificial grass prior to use. The interstitial spaces between the piles of the grass are filled with the sand to a predetermined depth, such that only the extremities of the piles, remote from the backing layer, project above the layer of sand. In a typical artificial grass assembly, the pile has a length of about 18 mm, and the sand is filled to a depth of about 12 mm, such that about 6 mm of the pile projects above the sand. Of course, the depth of the sand used will vary according to the application for which the artificial grass is required.
A problem associated with the use of artificial grass of the kind described above, is that from time to time the sand in the nap must be replaced. This entails removing the existing sand, and then replenishing the artificial grass with fresh sand. Traditional hand rakes of the kind described above are wholly unsuitable for removing the sand from an area of artificial grass.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,273 discloses an automated lawn scarifier which comprises carriage means adapted for translational movement over the ground, particularly natural or synthetic grass, a cylindrical rake mounted on the carriage means for rotation about its axis in juxtaposition with the ground, and rotating means for rotating the cylindrical rake; which cylindrical rake comprises a plurality of elongate tine-carrying members spaced around the circumference of the rake, which tine carrying members carry a plurality of tine elements thereon. Each tine element of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,273 scarifier is constituted by a torsion coil spring comprising a single coil and two protruding free ends. A respect
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Pezzuto Robert E.
Ransomes, Sims & Jeffries Ltd.
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