1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for cleaning a lawn mower, comprising a cleaning tub for positioning the lawn mower, wherein outflow openings for a cleaning agent are arranged at an upper tub side.
2. Description of Prior Art and Related Information
It has proven positive to clean lawn mowers directly after every single mowing process and remove any adhering grass cuttings. The term lawn mower includes in principle any known state-of-the-art lawn mowers, in particular electro- or gas motor driven lawn mowers having rollers, rolls or air cushions as well as known lawn mower tractors, which the driver may sit on while mowing.
After use the lawn mower is in the most cases tilted to the side for cleaning, and the contaminations and deposits at the lower side thereof are washed off with a water hose. By removing grass cuttings in particular in the knife chamber of the lawn mower there is prevented that the cutting faces of the knife tools corrode and become blunt during the idle periods of the lawn mower, this is in-between mowing processes. Cleaning on a regular basis will not only increase service life of the lawn mower but rather also prevent worsening of the cutting effects when mowing.
By regular cleaning directly after the respective mowing process there is prevented that the grass cuttings adhering to the lawn mower will shrivel up and become so hard that removal is only possible in a mechanical way with mostly enormous efforts. Such a mechanical cleaning of the knife chamber, however, is very dangerous and may lead to severe injuries in particular with motor-driven lawn mowers, which are not sufficiently protected against unintentional start-up. As tools for the mechanical cleaning there are most frequently used scrapers, knives, blades or wire brushes. These tools, however, have the disadvantage that the housing of the lawn mower will be scratched or damaged, respectively, therewith.
The currently used cleaning methods are disadvantageous insofar as in each case the lawn mower has to be tilted to the side with huge effort and secured in this tilted position in the case of wet cleaning by means of washing off with a water hose as well as in the case of mechanical dry cleaning. In wet cleaning it is further disadvantageous that the grass cuttings will be distributed within a larger radius around the site of cleaning due to the line pressure of the water hose and that the cleaning person will be contaminated by moist grass cuttings and water splashing around. For this reason, it is nearly impossible, in particular for older and more fragile persons, to perform regular cleanings of the lawn mower using conventional cleaning methods.
From prior art there is, for example, known a cleaning device for lawn mowers from the document U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,028. Thereby, a lawn mower to be cleaned is arranged on a platform made of wood, plastics or metal, which has a circular opening in the region of the mowing knife. At the edge of this opening, a hose is circumferentially attached in circular arrangement, which has several hose openings at the upper side thereof. The annular hose is therefore connected with a water line, through which water flows through the hose openings upwards to the lower side of the dirty lawn mower. In this embodiment it is of a disadvantage that the hose openings are arranged only along the annular hose, which is why a uniform and thorough cleaning of the entire knife region of a lawn mower using this cleaning device is not possible. Also if the lawn mower remains on the cleaning device for a long period of time, firmly adhering contaminations in the area of the mower knife may be cleaned only insufficiently. An additional manual or mechanical, respectively, cleaning thus is still required in order to thoroughly clean a lawn mower after its use.
The invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of prior art and therefore provide a cleaning device for lawn mowers, by means of which a regular as well as quick cleaning of the lawn mower is carried out especially conveniently, without any effort as well as without any contamination of the cleaning person.
These tasks are solved by a cleaning device according to the preamble of claim 1 with the features of the characterizing part of claim 1. The depending claims relate to further especially advantageous embodiment variants of the invention.
In a device according to the invention for cleaning a lawn mower, comprising a cleaning tub for positioning the lawn mower, wherein outflow openings for a cleaning agent are arranged at the upper tub side, the outflow openings are connected with a cleaning agent chamber integrated in the cleaning tub at a lower tub side. Such a cleaning device offers numerous advantages: upon use of the lawn mower, it is positioned in the cleaning tub of the device, at the upper tub side of which there are provided outflow openings. The outflow openings are positioned at the upper tub side preferably in such a way that these correspond essentially to a contour of the lawn mower, in particular a contour of the knife chamber of the lawn mower to be cleaned. A cleaning agent, for example water, may be sprayed trough the outflow openings, from the lower tub side upwards to the lower side of the lawn mower. Grass cuttings adhering to the lower side of the lawn mower are loosened up in this way and rinsed off and reaches the cleaning tub. If the cleaning process has been completed, the wet grass cuttings may be simply removed from the cleaning tub and disposed of. The outflow openings are thereby connected with a cleaning agent chamber integrated in the cleaning tub, which is arranged at a lower tub side. A cleaning agent, which is introduced in the cleaning agent chamber under pressure, thus moves via the outflow openings in a distributed way to the upper tub side, or it exits the cleaning agent chamber through the outflow openings upwards, respectively. Through the cleaning agent chamber, which is filled with a cleaning agent and acts like a cleaning agent puffer, an especially uniform water jet of the cleaning agent exiting upwards is guaranteed comparable with a shower head.
In a cleaning device according to the invention the cleaning agent chamber is usefully connected with a cleaning agent terminal As a cleaning agent terminal there is, for example, provided a hose terminal or adapter, respectively, for a garden water hose. In this way, the cleaning device may be independently operating for a longer period of time with a water hose connected. Thereby, water as a cleaning agent enters the cleaning agent chamber and from there upwards through the outflow openings to the lower side of the lawn mower to be cleaned, which is situated in the cleaning tub. Depending on the adjusted pressure of the cleaning agent or depending on the cleaning duration, respectively, even persistent deposits at the lower side of the lawn mower may be cleaned conveniently and without any effort. Instead of clear water as a cleaning agent there may also be used a cleaning agent containing an additional detergent.
In a cleaning device according to the invention the cleaning agent terminal protrudes laterally at the cleaning tub. For this reason, it is especially simple to couple the cleaning device with the garden water hose, or to decouple it therefrom, respectively.
In a first preferred embodiment variant of the invention, the outflow openings are arranged in a cleaning device at the upper tub side essentially in lines, preferably in a circular form. In this embodiment the outflow openings have, e.g., the outline contour of the knife chamber of the lawn mower.
In a further preferred embodiment variant of the invention the outflow openings are arranged in a cleaning device in concentric circles at the upper tub side. In this embodiment the outflow openings have, e.g., the contour of the knife chamber of the lawn mower positioned above, reaching into the centre of the knife chamber approximately into the region of the knife axis of the lawn mower.
In a further preferred embodiment variant of the invention the outflow openings are arranged in a cleaning device at least at an area section of the upper tub side. In this embodiment the outflow openings are distributed, for example, uniformly across the area of the contour of the knife chamber of the lawn mower positioned above.
In a cleaning device according to the invention the outflow openings are advantageously provided each with an outflow nozzle, preferably each with an internal outflow nozzle. In this embodiment each outflow opening has an outflow nozzle at the upper tub side. Such outflow nozzles are essentially comparable with the nozzles in a shower head and have the advantage that the exit velocity of the cleaning agent or the water, respectively, is increased in the outflow nozzles. In this way, there is achieved an especially thorough cleaning of a lawn mower with comparably low consumption of cleaning agent. The outflow nozzles are arranged preferably within the cleaning tub or within the outflow openings, respectively, which is why damage to or contamination of the outflow nozzles is prevented.
In a cleaning device according to the invention there is usefully provided at the upper tub side of the cleaning tub at least at a lateral edge, preferably at least at two opposing lateral edges, in each case a restricting border. The restricting borders will prevent that the lawn mower laterally slides off the cleaning device. In particular in the case of heavy lawn mower tractors this is of importance in order to not endanger persons in the near proximity by a lawn mower sliding off the device. In this embodiment there is further reliably prevented by way of restricting borders during the cleaning process contamination due to water splashing out laterally from underneath the lawn mower or due to grass cuttings exiting laterally. By way of the restricting borders, water and grass cuttings will be collected in the cleaning tub during the cleaning process, or these may exit the cleaning tub only at the sides having no restricting borders. Within the scope of the invention there are conceivable different embodiment forms: for example, there may be provided in a rectangular device restricting borders at both longitudinal sides, at both longitudinal sides as well as at a narrow side or at all lateral edges of the device.
In a cleaning device according to the invention at least one lateral edge of the cleaning tub is provided with a chamfer. A chamfer at least at a lateral edge facilitates positioning the lawn mower on the device or in the cleaning tub, respectively, for cleaning.
In a further embodiment according to the invention of the cleaning device, the upper tub side and lower tub side are section-wise adjoining each other. These sections, at which the upper tub side and the lower tub side adjoin each other, are intended for reinforcing the cleaning device. By these crimps or stiffeners, respectively, which may be arranged like ridges, it is made possible to position even high loads on a cleaning device according to the invention, as this is the case, e.g., with lawn mowers or mowing tractors, respectively with a seat.
In a further advantageous embodiment variant of the invention the upper tub side and the lower tub side are connected with each in a cleaning device in the sections, in which they are adjoining each other. These crimped sections, at which the upper tub side and the lower tub side are connected with each other, are intended as especially robust reinforcement ridges. Deforming or winding up this cleaning device is thus reliably prevented by these reinforcement ridges.
In a development of the invention there is provided in a cleaning device at the upper tub side at least one drain through. Such a drain through is intended so that during the cleaning process residues of the mown grass may be especially easily washed off the upper tub side.
In a cleaning device according to the invention a tub height of the cleaning tub especially advantageously amounts for at most 50 mm, preferably at most 15 mm. In this way, the flat cleaning device may be stored, when it is not used, especially space-savingly and easily.
A cleaning device according to the invention is usefully made of one or several of the following materials: plastics, in particular polyethylene (PE) plastics, fibre-reinforced plastics, in particular glass fibre-reinforced polyester resin, metal, composite materials. Depending on the size and the weight of the lawn mower to be cleaned it is recommended to use a cleaning device made of an especially robust material such as, e.g., metal or glass fibre reinforced polyester resin, in order to clean heavy lawn mower tractors. The cleaning device is advantageously provided with planar and smooth surfaces, which are especially easy to clean.
Further details, features and advantages of the invention become obvious from the following description of an exemplary embodiment that is schematically illustrated in the drawings, wherein:
There is also conceivable within the scope of the invention that outflow openings 7 are distributed extensively across an area section of the upper tub side 4. This is depicted, for example, in
The cleaning device 1 shown herein is made of polyethylene (PE) plastic material. It is also conceivable to produce cleaning devices 1 according to the invention also from other materials, for example from a fibre reinforced plastic material, in particular from glass fibre reinforced polyester resin, from metal or from any other composite material. These embodiments are not explicitly illustrated in the figures.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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GM 50034/2012 | Apr 2012 | AT | national |
13153186.5 | Jan 2013 | EP | regional |