Claims
- 1. An air-floated apparatus, comprising:
- a wheel-less housing having an air-inlet opening in an upper portion thereof, the housing having a bottom plate member including a plurality of spaced cutout portions and further including a discharge port;
- a motor including a rotatable shaft;
- an impeller mounted on said shaft for generating pressurized air in the housing, the pressurized air being directed in a downward direction to float the housing above a support surface;
- a cutting blade rotatable on said shaft for generating grass clippings and throwing the grass clippings outwards as the cutting blade rotates; and
- a substantially u-shaped centrifuge raceway receiving the grass clippings thrown outward by the cutting blade as the blade rotates and transporting said grass clippings to the discharge port; and
- wherein the bottom plate member supports the centrifuge raceway in a spaced relationship with respect to an inner wall of the housing to create an air pressure channel between the inner wall and the centrifuge raceway through which the pressurized air is directed downward and then through the spaced cutout portions of the bottom plate member to float the housing.
- 2. The air-floated apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein the centrifuge raceway includes an anti-stick material on its inner surface to facilitate movement of the grass clippings towards the discharge port.
- 3. The air-floated apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein the centrifuge raceway includes an anti-stick coating on its inner surface to facilitate movement of the grass clippings towards the discharge port.
- 4. The air-floated apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein the means for supporting the centrifuge raceway is a plurality of struts located at spaced intervals along the inner wall of the housing.
- 5. An air-floated apparatus, comprising:
- a wheel-less housing having a lower edge thereof and having an air-inlet opening in an upper portion thereof, the housing further including a discharge port;
- a motor including a rotatable shaft;
- means for establishing a cushion of air to float the housing above a support surface;
- a cutting blade rotatable on said shaft for generating grass clippings and throwing the grass clippings outwards as the cutting blade rotates, the cutting blade having a tip exhibiting a tip speed for creating a directional air current as the cutting blade rotates; and
- a centrifuge raceway supported in a spaced relationship from an inner wall of the housing to create an air pressure channel between the inner wall and the centrifuge raceway through which the air cushion is directed downward to float the housing, the centrifuge raceway receiving the grass clippings thrown outward by the cutting blade as the cutting blade rotates, wherein the directional air current created by the cutting blade tip speed transports said grass clippings to the discharge port;
- wherein the centrifuge raceway includes at least one louvered air slit for enabling a portion of the air cushion to flow back into the raceway to increase the directional air current.
- 6. In an air-floated cutting apparatus comprising a housing having a discharge port, a motor, a cutting blade driven by the motor, and an impeller driven by the motor for establishing an air cushion to float the housing above a support surface, the improvement comprising:
- a bottom plate member extending from the housing and including a spaced cutout portion through which pressurized air is directed through to float the housing; and
- structural means supported by the bottom plate member, the structural means receiving grass clippings thrown outward by the cutting blade as the cutting blade rotates and transporting the grass clippings to the discharge port.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of prior copending application Ser. No. 07/587,678, filed Sept. 25, 1990, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of prior copending application Ser. No. 07/528,718, filed May 24, 1990, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1534021 |
Nov 1978 |
GBX |
2028089 |
Mar 1980 |
GBX |
Continuation in Parts (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
587678 |
Sep 1990 |
|
Parent |
528718 |
May 1990 |
|