Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention relates generally to the field of lawn care and more specifically to a grounds maintenance tool and process for making same.
Demand for lawn care equipment in the United States is expected to reach $10.7 billion in 2009. This is likely because American home lawns are relatively large, its economy is consumption based and the global lawn industry continues to promote new cutting edge innovation. The US lawn care market is made up of about two-thirds commercial and one-third residential equipment dealers with a significant percentage of landscapers converting their string trimmers into lawn edgers. With such a large and diverse lawn tool trade market, it is important that consumers know the differences between these two horizontal and vertical turf grooming practices.
Commercial landscapers prefer to use gear driven brush cutters to keep a fast pace trimming route through thick brush. Straight shaft brush cutters typically facilitate string line filament on lawns for more torque and a slower head speed to buzz through vegetation with little resistance, sometimes in difficult to reach or view spots. This is a case where a straight shaft turtle will out run a high speed curved shaft rabbit to eventually chop down a large tree with a slower speed gear ratio. Many arborists have a difficult time promoting brush cutters for that very reason and will only recommend garden bed edging techniques after receiving feedback that straight shaft cutting planes opened up some serious horizontal cut wounds around tree bases for entry of unwanted pests. In addition to pest issues, lawn equipment safety standards require that straight shaft brush cutters be longer than normal residential lawn trimmers to meet the needs of taller grounds maintenance individuals. It is crucial that tall lumber jacks hold longer brush cutters in balance when cutting tree saplings due to the potential of lateral kick back and because of the orthogonal stress it can put on a torso. This is why some brush cutters come equipped with lateral bar arms or a two-way bull horn handle.
Brush cutters are linked to a global forestry market with an objective of maintaining, harvesting and replanting trees. Accordingly, outdoor power equipment manufacturers will want to mesh their global forestry assembly line with lawn power tools production. This merging of industries poses a problem when most metallic brush cutters facilitate tree sapling horizontal cuts whereas the American lawn market has more than fifty-percent of lawn tools sold as horizontal string trimmers and lawn edgers. Initial horizontal ground level forestry constraints outside of a boom application may lean the competitive forestry OEM industry into designing lawn tools like their chainsaws with a limited horizontal cut method. As eluded to earlier, forestry equipment dealers will likely sell high torque and cool sounding motor features which may play a part in OEM decisions not to separate lawn and forestry brush cutters parts from the assembly line. Consequently, untrained grounds workers may attempt to lawn edge with vertically imbalanced brush cutters having a high potential of causing them to let go of the handle to grab a hold of another element on the brush cutter center of rotational symmetry. It's going to happen and hard to stop from happening.
Outdoor equipment manufacturers have already attempted to correct the rotational constraints of multi-task forestry and lawn care products by adding string line filament cutting heads to their line of steel brush cutters. Although far safer to use than metallic cutting blades, string line filament brush cutters still pose a serious risk to end users and their property because (1) A two-fold rotational method for horizontal trimming and vertical edging will expose the edging operation to an operator, edging operation is directed significantly away from the transport path which can put strain on a neck and obstruct the view of oncoming objects and could cause injury when a significant portion of string line filament is used to complete work or (2) A pre-fold horizontal trimming and vertical edging route can cause fuel motors to be located near sensitive breathing passages or encourage the removal of cutting guards because the lawn edging angle is flawed. Having a flawed edging angle by design encourages operators to remove cutting guards which will be explained more in detail below. When lifting up string line filament from a grounds surface at a predetermined speed for lawn edging, it is believed that the outer segment length hitting a pavement is directly proportional to hand-arm wave frequency injuries. In an attempt to solve this conflict, many lawn tools have been purposely designed with a pre-fold lawn edging method in order to maintain a low height for lawn edging. However, a horizontal leaning pre-fold angle for edging can wear out the lower segments of string line filament proportional to its vertical leaning complimentary angle, thus leaving more questions to be answered. One can assume that a pre-fold lawn care method may cause serious harm to some of the best landscapers on the planet.
Lawn equipment dealers may offer shorter bent shaft string trimmers to their patrons as a low cost alternative to brush cutters. Bent shafts generally produce higher speeds and lower torque for lawns which some arborists will promote as a last alternative to those persistent pests that insist on horizontal yard trimming along tree perimeters. However, shorter bent shafts may expose the tool area to the about average thirty-one inch stride of an operator. It can be determined that a two fold lawn grooming framework will orientate the horizontal trimming operation to the north of a transport route and the vertical lawn edging operation to the east or west of a transport route. The two-fold bent shaft landscape method mostly constrains workers to a forty-five degree height angle, thereby limiting height variations and shaft lengths for many taller end users of lawn tools. Furthermore, the leading edge of the curved shaft string line filament must is generally held about three inches off the ground by an elongated bent shaft and should further be raised about another five inches off the ground for lawn edging which in many cases doesn't meet a plastic elasticity limit. Moreover, a wider two-fold lateral cutting and motor operating framework can put stress on a body by pulling an index finger and other body parts further away from a transport path. A two-fold cutting framework is clumsy because the east or west tool position for lawn edging diminishes the view of a transport path and perhaps there is less leverage to slowly elevate string line filament to an optimal holding point. Many combination grounds trimmer and lawn edger asymmetrical curved shafts could be uncomfortable to use increasing the odds that they will remain in the tool shed. Currently, there are a few bent shaft methods to orientate lawn tools in two-fold equilibrium, but the downward bend facilitated for trimming shortens the length of the shaft that an operator can stride into.
Bent and straight shaft trimmers typically include cutting guards that can flip upside-down in a two orthogonal fold method for lawn edging, further adding risk to an operator for being injured. Historically, owner's manuals have purposely warned landscapers against removing cutting guards because of customer feedback involving hand/arm related stress injuries possibly related to a three inch tool origin for horizontal trimming being about five inches lower than an eight inch tool origin for vertical edging. There are even some lawn tools that allow a cutting guard to pivot upward towards an operator which exposes trimming operation to an operator. Surprisingly, more than fifty-percent of combination trimming and edging commercial lawn tools come into the repair shop with their cutting guards removed according to a 2006 Van Wall Equipment personal survey taken in Olathe, Kans. Although the Van Wall report requires more investigating, the isolated problem may explain why lawn tools are perhaps the second or third leading cause of accidents among American high school students. In addition, cutting guards should substantially hug a lawn edge or surface and this is only possible for single-fold lawn care. There could be another reason why asymmetrical or symmetrical cutting guards are removed from operative power tools if any of the side walls won't line up with the lawn surface. String trimmers with straight or bent shafts should have cutting heads with cutting guards that maintain good balance and proper rotational symmetry.
Lawn string trimmers are dominant in the United States because many cities have ordinances and deed restrictions on how tall grass can grow before a fine is assessed on violators. When having to cope with many regulations, some Americans will take the more affordable path. This is why a high percentage of manufacturers will install inexpensive D handles with a two spoke design onto lawn power tools. However, the work can become cumbersome requiring an interchanging of the D handle with a bull horn handle that requires more lateral swing balance. Plus, it has been recognized that extra spokes add structure to a handle while being capable of reducing weight and will control vibration more evenly. Vibration caused by disturbances is very common in lawn care which can make operators more susceptible to stress injuries when asymmetrical shaped D handles are used. Having less symmetry for lawn edging, the D handle may transfer longitudinal, lateral and vertical tension to an operator from either a power source or tool region. Accordingly, lawn work can easily be done with common everyday D handles, but the operator may become fatigued when the handle is not properly fitted for lawn trimming and edging. Handles should have uniform circular tension and suspension during operation in order to stabilize resistance factors more evenly. A bar arm is sometimes fastened near D handles to prevent such an event from occurring. However, lateral bar arm interchanging or placement brings us back to the dilemma of adding more elements to power tools when the real problem could simply go away by having equilibrium. Bar arms or bull horns are practical for heavy brush use, but the question remains if landscapers will take the time to remove and replace them.
Whether lawn tools need to be sold separately or combined for use, they do help landscapers perform difficult lawn chores. The problem with selling individual handheld lawn tools separately is convincing businesses like Home Depot, Sears, Lowes and other fine lawn tool retailers that half their landscape isle should be reviewed in the same light as the auto industry mandated air bags which doesn't go over too well with loyal customers. Another alternative is to give customers what they want in a safe manner which is generally the best way to go.
It would be beneficial to bring a uniform handle, safe cutting guard and cutting tool assembly to market for a single-fold operation where the leading edge and tip of string line filament will substantially maintain equilibrium. Several types of handles, disks and power sources have been developed for multiple lawn tool applications. However, most of these products have fast moving parts that can translate or rotate away from a forward transport route or problems continue to take hold with a flawed pre-fold cutting method. Apparently, there doesn't seem to be a simple way to bring affordable, more balanced combination trimming and edging grounds maintenance tools to market which this application tries to address in a single-fold lawn application.
One such handle from U.S. Pat. No. 7,131,499 B2 orientates a frontal control handle to the far east or west side of an operator during edging operation with respect to a north orientation for trimming operation. This design is a disadvantage because the orientation shifts the operator's eyes and leg movement away from a forward progressing transport route or parallel oncoming traffic. Furthermore, the shield doesn't protect the operator from fast moving projectiles when the frontal handle is flipped over for edging operation. Wearing a shoulder harness may pull the device towards the operator during edging which could be dangerous. There doesn't appear to be good balance for reducing stress on an operator's torso unless the cutting tool is moved closer to the operator which can further be dangerous. These sandwiched motor and cutting tool machines rely on a frontal handle fulcrum which can swing towards an operator when loosing their balance. It takes twice as much work to fold U.S. Pat. No. 7,131,499 B2 into a second vertical isometry when comparing the operation to a single fold framework. Elevating or lowering the string line filament of this invention could fatigue an operator. The frontal handle appears to have more material than standard frontal handles which could be a cost factor.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,585 B2 provides for a D shaped handle as a main disadvantage for lawn care when the side of the handle is gripped asymmetrically for lawn edging. The lawn edging cutting angle could cause tool imbalance which encourages operators to let go of the D handle which could be dangerous. A lawn edging angle wears more on the ground side of the cutter which can end up causing additional vibration disturbances. Without a vertical angle for edging this invention may further require a lateral bar to be installed for thick brush work, thus adding more costs and maintenance to lawn care service.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,960 claims to use a handle assembly for power line trimmers which retains the operator's fore arm into a shaft in a thirty-five to fifty-five degree longitudinal axis position to help guide the tool operation from a motor end. In addition, a wheel may be installed near the shaft trimmer end to help an operator guide a cutting unit. The main concern with this invention is that American lawn care is now turning more and more to vertical edging of lawn beds because of the damage lawn trimmers can do to property. The wheel of this invention could get stuck in a lawn rut. A lawn care provider may become suspended on the tool longitudinal axis when slipping which may only leave one free hand to help break a fall while attempting to push away from fast moving parts. Furthermore, the operator is more likely to bend the shaft by downward load resistance which could cause significant vibration. The brace can act as a vice to sandwich an index finger onto the throttle control trigger at wide open throttle after a full drop has occurred on a hard surface. Combined trimming and edging operation has many different elastic elements which this device appears to constrain. Lastly, grounds maintenance can be a sweaty profession and a top to bottom strapped on fore arm brace is likely to cause discomfort in that situation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,737 B1 is a tool that can substantially maintain its stability when spun on a horizontal plane. The stability is made by using less material near the inner core and by providing a more elastic outer surface when being spun rapidly into areas like narrow intersecting fence lines. Although this invention takes aerodynamic features into consideration for the hand held operator, the main difficulty with this invention is that the tool is controlled in a horizontal plane which can gyrate when moving between
U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,960 claims to use a handle assembly for power line trimmers which retains the operator's fore arm into a shaft in a thirty-five to fifty-five degree longitudinal axis position to help guide the tool operation from a motor end. In addition, a wheel may be installed near the shaft trimmer end to help an operator guide a cutting unit. The main concern with this invention is that American lawn care is now turning more and more to vertical edging of lawn beds because of the damage lawn trimmers can do to property. A lawn care provider may become suspended on the tool longitudinal axis when slipping which may only leave one free hand to help break a fall while attempting to push away from fast moving parts. Furthermore, the operator is more likely to bend the shaft by downward load resistance which could cause significant vibration. The brace can act as a vice to sandwich an index finger onto the throttle control trigger at wide open throttle after a full drop has occurred on a hard surface. Combined trimming and edging operation has many different elastic elements which this device appears to constrain. Lastly, grounds maintenance can be a sweaty profession and a top to bottom strapped on fore arm brace is likely to cause discomfort in that situation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,737 B1 is a tool that substantially maintains its stability when spun on a horizontal plane. The stability is made by using less material near the inner core and by providing a more elastic outer surface when being spun rapidly into areas like narrow intersecting fence lines. Although this invention takes much appreciated aerodynamic features into consideration for the end hand held tool user, the main difficulty with this invention is that the tool is released often from the grip of an operator in a horizontal plane which can gyrate when moving between ground trimming and lawn edging modes complimentary horizontal and vertical modes of operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,266,893 provides affordable means for grass trimming and edging with a two-part speed control switch. The motor is placed near the grounds region and the power source is put substantially on the other orthogonal power control grip. This invention is designed as a two-fold trimming and edging method which orientates the tool origin to the side of an end user with respect to a forward transport route. The overall weight of this machine is likely to be imbalanced with the fulcrum being set close to a lateral frontal control handle grip region. A few other disadvantages of having a frontal control handle fulcrum is that a longitudinal axis can not be easily secured to lower resistance levels created by variable string line filament elevations, the cutter can pivot into grounds projectiles (in trimming mode) and into bodily organs (in edging mode) when a hand suddenly dislodges from the other power control grip, the two-part motor speed control adds more capital costs to the process and an asymmetrical load put in front of an operator usually translates to more stress on a torso. Finally, the lawn edging operation further exposes string line filament and potential projectiles directly towards the worker.
The primary object of the invention is to provide a lawn tool that operates within one orthogonal isometry to perform safe grounds maintenance and transport.
Another object of the invention is to provide a lateral control handle that can be held comfortably by an operator with their left or right hand.
Still yet another object of the invention is for the lateral control handle to easily fit onto most elongated lawn tool shafts.
Another object of the invention is to provide means for a lateral and overhand grip for different lateral control handle hand positions.
A further object of the invention is to provide the lateral control handle with uniform bar spokes that will help stabilize the lawn tool from lateral kick back.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sturdy trimming and edging height adjuster at the lateral control handle yoke center of percussion.
Still yet another object of the invention is to provide the yoke with a lower skid that aligns with the cutting guard and power source lower skids to help keep the shaft from bending.
Another object of the invention is to provide a longitudinal power control handle that can be held by an operator with their left or right hand.
Another object of the invention is to provide the longitudinal power control handle with a back arm rest and lever instead of a full locking brace that controls vertical tool movement for a plurality of tool attachments.
A further object of the invention is to provide the operation with a way to slowly raise or lower the tool.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a brake or cam lock that can quickly clamp the shaft and handles in place.
Still yet another object of the invention is to provide means for an auxiliary harness to substantially balance the lawn tool on either side of an operator's torso.
Another object of the invention is to provide means for uniform compression and suspension of the shaft inner workings with an optional harness, the power control handle and the lateral control handle.
Another object of the invention is to promote six or more different lawn care hand-arm exercises to shorten repetitive tool gripping cycles.
A further object of the invention is to provide a low and regular motor speed trigger for the purposes of controlling noise, allowing for slow motion along high risk slopes and to help with following governmental ordinances or standards.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a ski type design at the base of each skid to help glide the lawn tool down slopes or to slow it down when being pulled backwards.
Still yet another object of the invention is to provide hand grips that orientate an operator's elbows comfortably back behind their torso.
Another object of the invention is to provide a bow shaft and shaft casing for a flexible drive shaft that reduces vibration and improves the balance.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cutting disk that brings a string line filament spool out to manageable suspension and compression dimensions.
A further object of the invention is to provide one or more cutting disk barrels on the cutting disk cover that can be interchanged or lengthened.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary cutting disk with a thin profile that has a standard length and weight for a typical lawn cutting head assembly.
Still yet another object of the invention is to provide dimples inside and out of the cutting disk cover to reduce weight and prevent membrane surfaces from binding.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cutting guard that protects the operator in an isometry operating framework.
Another object of the invention is to help provide a more stable lawn cutting operation.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is disclosed a grounds maintenance tool comprising: a lawn tool consisting of a power source, the power source having means to transmit power from a shaft to a cutting disk or the like on a center of rotational symmetry, the cutting disk having means to lock within an orthogonal operating isometry on substantially identical transport routes, the power source maintains an upright position within the orthogonal operating isometry, the power source contained within a power casing, the power casing connected to an upper brace and arm rest, the power casing connected to a lower power skid, the power casing connected to a power control handle, the power control handle operatively connected to the shaft on a longitudinal axis of the orthogonal operating isometry, the power control handle having inner ring supports that hold the shaft in equilibrium, the power control handle having a longitudinal grip, the longitudinal grip having means for an operator to stabilize longitudinal operation with a rearward right or left hand, the longitudinal grip having means of assisting with downward lateral torque, the longitudinal grip having means for an operator to react quickly to lateral or vertical imbalances, the power control handle having a brake or the like to stop the shaft from rotating, the power control handle having a power trigger with one or more speed controls, the power trigger having means to keep an index finger substantially on the speed control trigger in all the lawn tool operating frameworks, the power control handle having an aperture that connects an auxiliary shoulder harness to the lawn tool, the auxiliary shoulder harness having means to the shaft on a vertical axis of the orthogonal operating isometry, the auxiliary shoulder harness having means to interchange the lawn tool to either side of the operator, the lateral control handle operatively connected to the shaft on a lateral axis of the orthogonal operating isometry, the lateral control handle having a horizontal grip for trimming lawns, the horizontal grip having means for an operator to stabilize the lawn tool lateral operation with a forward left or right hand, the horizontal grip having two adjacent side spokes, the side spokes providing a bar for an operator to grasp onto with a lateral grip, the lateral control handle having a right grip for lawn edging, the right grip having means for an operator to lawn edge diagonally to the right of the transport route with a forward right hand grip, the lateral control handle having a left grip for lawn edging, the left grip having means for an operator to lawn edge diagonally to the left of the transport route with a forward left hand grip, the lateral control handle having a yoke, the yoke having means for an operator to hold the shaft in equilibrium in all the lawn tool operating frameworks, the yoke may or may not be coated with an elastic gel material, the yoke having a handle skid that faces the operation, the lateral control handle right and left grips having means for the operator to lawn edge with a overhand, underhand or lateral grip, the lateral control handle trimming grip having means for the operator to lawn trim with a overhand, underhand or lateral grip, the lateral and power control grips substantially align with the operator's forward and rearward hand holding orientations, the cutting disk bringing the string line filament inner and outer spool out in radius to substantially stay within elasticity laws, the cutting disk is able to stabilize quickly, the cutting disk having one or more cutting disk barrels, the cutting disk having means to hold about the same length of string line filament as cutting heads known to the art, the cutting disk having a symmetrical cutting guard, the cutting disk having a disk cover, the disk cover having aerodynamic airfoils, the disk cover having aerodynamic dimples, the airfoils having means to untangle vegetation, the airfoils provide structural support for the string line filament bump and feed skid, the inverted trough provides a wake area to cool off the cutting disk, the airfoils substantially reduce noise in comparison to linear airfoils known to the art, the dimples reduce tool weight, the dimples keep dust away from the spool, the cutting guard may have a standard knife or a bladed claw to chop off string line, the cutting guard radian is generally two times the shaft hypotenuse angle, the cutting guard substantially aligns with the lawn surface and lawn edge, the cutting guard side walls are aerodynamically folded towards a back wall, the back wall having small wings that flare out to prevent most debris from dispersing towards the operator, the cutting guard having a tool skid that glides the lawn tool with forward movement, the tool skid slows backward movement, a grounds wheel may or may not be used in embodiments of this invention, the lawn tool having the power skid, the handle skid and the tool skid all line up to suspend the shaft when accidentally dropped or when starting the motor and the upper brace and arm rest can be used as a blower wand, stick edger brace and the like.
The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments to the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention.
a is an isometric view illustrating a cutting disk cover that can suspend the outer ring of string line filament
b is a cross sectional view of a cutting disk spool of
a is a partial side view of
b is an opposite side view of
Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.
Referring to
Still referring to
Referring again to
Referring now to
Still referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
This is a continuation in part of Ser. No. 11/008,037, filed on Dec. 9, 2004.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 11008037 | Dec 2004 | US |
Child | 12006420 | US |