Patent Application
20210345548
The present invention relates generally to a bracket system for attaching a brush to the blades of a rotary lawn mower.
Rotary lawn mowers are well known powered machines for cutting vegetation using a rotating blade or blades. Rotary lawn mowers use a horizontal blade or multiple horizontal blades which rotate around a central axis to cut vegetation, such as grass. The horizontal blades rotate parallel to the ground, and cut the vegetation to a uniform length.
When using a rotary lawn mower to cut vegetation, some additional objects may interfere with the cutting of the vegetation. For example, snow or leaves may need to be swept out of the way before the vegetation can be cut. To solve this, there is a need for a brush attachment to the blades of a rotary lawn mower to sweep away these objects that can interfere with the cutting of the vegetation. There also is a desire to add functionality to a lawn mower to permit it to be used to sweep surfaces such as driveways and sidewalks.
Brush attachments to rotary lawn mowers are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,048,869 to Beatty discloses a brush attachment for rotary mowers. Beatty discloses a brush attachment that is shaped like a separate blade, which is secured above the cutter blade. The brush attachment has two brushes at either end of the brush attachment, and is secured to the rotary mower by removing the cutter blade, inserting the brush attachment to the center bolt that holds the cutter blade, then replacing and securing the cutter blade. One significant issue with this attachment is that it is not easily removable, which is a significant drawback when the user wants to switch back and forth between the sweeping and cutting functions. Additionally, the Beatty brush consumes greater resources because the attachment means utilizes an unnecessary amount of material to attach a small brush to the rotary mower.
There is a need for a brush attachment for a rotary lawn mower that is easily attachable and removable. Additionally, there is a need for a brush attachment that is compact in size and easy to use.
The present invention relates to a bracket system for attaching a brush to the blades of a rotary lawn mower. It is an object of the invention to provide a bracket system that allows for the easy installation and removal of a brush to the blade of a lawn mower. It is another object of the invention to provide a bracket system for attaching a brush to the blades of a rotary lawn mower that is compact in size, and does not require the disassembling of the lawn mower blade to be attached. It is another object of the invention to provide a bracket system for attaching a brush to common non-linear mower blades readily available on the market without alteration to the blade.
The bracket system has a brush attachment. The brush attachment has a brush, an elongated vertical slot, and a flange. The bracket system also has at least one clamp and a fastening device. The at least one clamp is placed around a non-linear lawn mower blade and is secured to the flange by the fastening device. Securing the clamp to the flange by the fastening device secures the brush attachment to the non-linear mower blade. Securing or removing the fastening device allows the attachment or removal of the brush attachment from the clamps, and thus the non-linear mower blade.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become appreciated, as the same becomes better understood with reference to the specification, claims and drawings herein:
The invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may be present there between. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section.
As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” and “have” and/or “having,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Furthermore, relative terms, such as “lower” or “bottom,” and “upper” or “top,” and “inner” or “outer,” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another elements as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to idealized embodiments of the present invention. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, embodiments of the present invention should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing.
A bracket system for attaching a brush to the blade of a lawn mower is provided.
In the preferred embodiment, the bracket system 20 is utilized to attach a brush attachment 21 to a non-linear mower blade 12. The brush attachment 21 includes the brush 26, elongated vertical slot 22, and the flange 24. The brush 26 extends downward from the elongated vertical slot 22, preferably to the surface of the ground. In the preferred embodiment, the brush 26 is made up of a plurality of bristles made of nylon. Alternate bristle materials may be utilized to make up the brush 26 without departing from the concepts disclosed herein.
The elongated vertical slot 22 secures the brush 26 to the brush attachment 21. As shown in
Fixed to the elongated vertical slot 22 is a flange 24. In the preferred embodiment, the flange 24 extends from the elongated vertical slot 22 on the same plane as the elongated horizontal base 22a. But the flange 24 is not require to be in the same plane as the elongated horizontal base 22a, but rather the flange 24 could be secured to the elongated vertical slot 22 at different positions on one of the vertical legs 22b. The flange 24 may either be attached to the elongated vertical slot 22, or the flange 24 and elongated vertical slot 22 may be manufactured out of a single piece of material. The flange 24 is configured to be inserted and fit inside the clamp 28 when the brush attachment 21 is secured to the non-linear mower blade 12.
Preferably, the flange 24 includes at least one flange aperture 34. The at least one flange aperture 34 is configured to align with the clamp apertures 38 of the at least one clamp 28. The end of the flange 24 opposing the elongated vertical slot 22 is the same depth as the non-linear mower blade 12, such that the top and bottom of the flange 24 sits flush with the top and bottom of the non-linear mower blade 12 when the flange 24 contacts the non-linear mower blade 12. The flush top and bottom surface of the flange 24 and non-linear mower blade 12 provide a flat and flush surface to be inserted into the clamp 28.
The clamp 28 is configured to surround the non-linear mower blade 12 and secure the brush attachment 21 to the non-linear mower blade 12 by removably attaching to the flange 24. In the preferred embodiment shown in
The clamp 28 is generally c-shaped, characterized by two clamp legs 28a extending from a rounded base 28b. The length of each clamp leg 28a is greater than the width of the non-linear mower blade 12, such that when the clamp 28 is placed around a non-linear mower blade 12, a portion of each clamp leg 22a extends beyond the non-linear mower blade 12. The gap between each clamp leg 28a is greater than or equal to the depth of the non-linear mower blade 12 and the flange 24. Preferably the clamp 28 is made of a malleable material such that the gap between each clamp leg 28a may be greater than the depth of the non-linear mower blade 12 and the flange 24 when placing the clamp 28 around the non-linear mower blade 12, and equal to the depth of the non-linear mower blade 12 and the flange 24 when securing the clamp 28 to the non-linear mower blade 12. While the preferred shape of the clamp 28 is disclosed in detail, other shapes may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention so long as the clamp sufficiently surrounds the non-linear mower blade 12.
Located in the portion of each clamp leg 22a that extends beyond the non-linear mower blade 12 is a clamp aperture 38. Each respective clamp leg 28a of each clamp 28 includes a clamp aperture 38. The clamp apertures 38 align with the flange aperture 34 the flange 24 contacts the side of the non-linear mower blade 12 and the flange 24 and the non-linear mower blade 12 are inserted into the clamp 28. The alignment of the clamp apertures 38 and the flange aperture 34 allow a fastening device to secure the clamp 28 to the flange 24, thus securing the brush attachment 21 to the non-linear mower blade 12.
In the preferred embodiment, a bolt and nut 30 are utilized as the fastening device to secure the clamp 28 to the flange 24, thereby securing the brush attachment 21 to the non-linear mower blade 12. The bolt 30a is placed through the clamp apertures 38 and the flange aperture 34. The nut 30b is then screwed onto the bolt 30a, thereby securing the clamp 28 to the flange 24. While the preferred fastening device is a bolt and nut 30, other fastening devices may be utilized without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the second clamp aperture 38 may be threaded such that only a bolt 30a is needed to secure the clamp 28 to the flange 24. Alternatively, other methods of fastening the clamp 28 to the flange 24 without the need for the apertures are contemplated as well.
Tightening the bolt and nut 30 secures the clamp 28 to the flange 24 of the brush attachment 21, which thereby attaches the bracket system 20 to the non-linear mower blade 12. The bolt and nut 30 may be loosened and removed subsequently to remove the brush attachment 21 from the non-linear mower blade 12. Thus, the bracket system 20 is removable from the non-linear mower blade 12 such that the brush attachment 21 may be easily attached to or removed from the rotary lawn mower 10.
An alternative embodiment of securing the brush attachment 21 to the clamp 28, thereby attaching the bracket system 20 to the non-linear mower blade 12, is shown in
For the exemplary configuration of the non-linear mower blade 12, the bracket system 20 utilizes two clamps 28 which are positioned on each side of the protrusion 16. Each clamp 28 is secured to the flange 24 by the bolt and nut 30, thereby attaching the bracket system 20 to the non-linear mower blade 12. In the embodiment shown in
While this configuration of a non-linear mower blade 12 with the protrusion 16 is used for exemplary purposes, other configurations of non-linear mower blades may be utilized so long as at least one clamp 28 is positioned such that at least one clamp 28 sits adjacent to the non-linear portion of a non-linear mower blade 12. For example, a blade 12 could be used that has an indentation along its edge. The clamps 28 can be secured within the indentation in order to provide a bracing surface 44 for at least one of the clamps 28 to resist the centrifugal force 18 caused by the rotation 14 of the non-linear mower blade 12.
In the alternative embodiment depicted in
The length of the top flange 84a and top flange clamp 88a is greater than the width of the non-linear mower blade 12. Similarly, the length of the bottom flange 84b and bottom flange clamp 88b is greater than the width of the non-linear mower blade 12. The portion of the top flange clamp 88a that extends beyond the inserted non-linear mower blade 12 includes a top aperture. Likewise, the portion of the bottom flange clamp 88b that extends beyond the inserted non-linear mower blade 12 includes a bottom aperture. The top aperture and bottom aperture are configured to be aligned and receive the fastening device.
The preferred fastening device for the alternative embodiment depicted by
While the invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the words that have been used are words of description and not of limitation. As is understood to persons of ordinary skill in the art, a variety of modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the following claims, which should be given their fullest, fair scope.
