Patent Application
20200077568
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The disclosure and prior art relates to trencher devices and more particularly pertains to a new trencher device for digging a trench with existing weed trimmers.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a weed trimmer that is manipulated by a user. The weed trimmer has a motor, a pole and a drive that is positioned within the pole. The drive is rotatably coupled to the motor such that the motor rotates the drive when the motor is turned on. A trenching unit is removably coupled to the pole such that the trenching unit lies on the ground when the weed trimmer is employed. The trenching unit is releasably coupled to the drive for powering the trenching unit thereby facilitating the trenching unit to dig a trench in the ground.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A trenching unit 22 is provided and the trenching unit 22 is removably coupled to the pole 16 such that the trenching unit 22 lies on the ground when the weed trimmer 12 is employed. The trenching unit 22 is releasably coupled to the drive 18 for powering the trenching unit 22 thereby facilitating the trenching unit 22 to dig a trench 24 in the ground. The trenching unit 22 comprises a housing 26 that has a top wall 28 extending between a first lateral wall 30 and a second lateral wall 32. The top wall 28 is concavely arcuate between a front side 34 and a rear side 36 of the housing 26 such that the housing 26 has a fender shape. The housing 26 has a shield portion 38 extending forwardly away from the front side 34 of the housing 26. The shield portion 38 has a distal end 40 with respect to the front side 34 and the shield portion 38 is elongated between the front side 34 and the distal end 20.
The trenching unit 22 includes a rod 42 that has a first end 44 and a second end 46; each of the first 44 and second 46 ends is open and the rod 42 is hollow. The rod 42 has a bend 48 thereon defining a first portion 50 of the rod 42 forming an angle with a second portion 52 of the rod 42. The first end 44 is coupled to the first lateral wall 30 of the housing 26 having the first portion 50 of the rod 42 angling upwardly and rearwardly away from the housing 26. Additionally, the second end 46 releasably engages the distal end 20 of the pole 16. The distal end 20 of the pole 16 may include a locking mechanism similar to that of the Stihl® KombiSystem or other weed trimmer 12 that is manufactured to accept a variety of landscaping attachments. The rod 42 includes a locking mechanism that is designed to be compatible with the locking mechanism on the pole 16.
A wheel 54 is rotatably coupled to the first lateral wall 30 of the housing 26. The wheel 54 rolls along the ground when the rod 42 is releasably coupled to the pole 16 for guiding the trenching unit 22. Additionally, the wheel 54 supports the weight of the trenching unit 22 thereby reducing fatigue for the user. A drive shaft 56 is rotatably positioned within the rod 42 and the drive shaft 56 engages the drive 18 of the weed trimmer 12 when the second end 46 of the rod 42 is releasably coupled to the distal end 20 of the pole 16. Thus, the motor 14 rotates the drive shaft 56 when the motor 14 is turned on. Additionally, the drive shaft 56 extends through the first lateral wall 30 of the housing 26.
A chain bar 58 is included that has a primary end 60, a secondary end 62 and an outer edge 64. The chain bar 58 may be a chain bar that is similar in construction and size to chain bars used on chainsaws. The primary end 60 of the chain bar 58 is pivotally coupled to the housing 26 having the chain bar 58 being positioned between the first 30 and second 32 lateral walls of the housing 26. Additionally, the chain bar 58 is oriented collinear with and is positioned beneath the shield portion 38 of the housing 26. A trenching chain 66 is positioned around the chain bar 58, the trenching chain 66 extends around an entire perimeter of the outer edge 64 of the chain bar 58 and the trenching chain 66 has a plurality of claws 68 thereon for digging. The trenching chain 66 may be a miniaturized version of existing trenching chains used on full sized trenching machines.
A sprocket 70 is rotatably coupled to the chain bar 58 and the sprocket 70 engages the trenching chain 66 for urging the trenching chain 66 to travel around the chain bar 58. A first gear 72 is rotatably coupled to an interior surface of the first lateral wall 50 of the housing 26. The drive shaft 56 engages the first gear 72 such that the drive shaft 56 rotates the first gear 72 when the motor 14 is turned on. A second gear 74 is rotatably coupled to the chain bar 58 and the second gear 74 engages the sprocket 70 such that the second gear 74 rotates the sprocket 70.
A belt 76 extends around the first and second gear 74s such that the first gear 72 rotates the second gear 74 when the motor 14 is turned on. In this way the sprocket 70 is rotated to urge the trenching chain 66 to travel around the chain bar 58. A pin 78 extends through the chain bar 58 and engages the housing 26 at a selected one of a plurality of engagement points in the housing 26. In this way the chain bar 58 is retained at a selected downward angle for digging the trench 24 to a selected depth. The trenching chain 66 may be capable of digging the trench 24 to a depth ranging between approximately 18.0 inches deep and 1.0 inch deep. In this way the trenching chain 66 can dig the trench 24 in a yard or other landscaped area for installing sprinkler lines, cable television, telephone lines and any other object that is commonly buried in landscaped areas.
The discrete nature of the trenching unit 22 as compared to full sized trenching machines facilitates the trench 24 to be dug with minimal impact on the surrounding area. Thus, the trenching unit 22 enhances efficiency with respect to installing buried objects in a landscaped area by minimizing the amount of cleanup and repair to the surrounding area. Additionally, the modular nature of the trenching unit 22 facilitates the trenching unit 22 to be employed with existing weed trimmer technology that is already commonly owned by professional landscapers. In this way the professional landscapers can begin performing trench work with existing weed trimming equipment and avoid having to purchase or rent a full sized trenching machine.
In use, the second end 46 of the rod 42 is releasably coupled to the distal end 20 of the pole 16 thereby facilitating the drive shaft 56 to engage the drive 18. The weed trimmer 12 is manipulated to position both the wheel 54 and the trenching chain 66 on the ground. The motor 14 is started thereby urging the trenching chain 66 to travel around the chain bar 58, thereby digging the trench 24. The weed trimmer 12 is urged along a selected route thereby facilitating the trench 24 to be dug along the selected route. Thus, the trench 24 can be dug in a landscaped area, such as a residential yard or the like, without requiring the use of heavy equipment. In this way the surrounding area with respect to the trench 24 is disturbed as little as possible, thereby minimizing cleanup and repair work commonly associated with trenching.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
