Patent Application
20080296030
This invention relates generally to apparatus for turning over landscaping top dressing materials such as mulches applied over soil for decorative appearance, moisture retention, and plant nourishment purposes, and more particularly, to a hand held rotary turner for turning over a mulch layer and thickening the layer for aerating and improving hydration and the appearance thereof, without significantly disturbing the underlying soil or other surface.
The disclosure of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/932,917, filed Jun. 4, 2007, is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Top dressings, such as, but not limited to, aggregate shredded wood mulches, wood bark mulches, leaf mulches, other organic material mulches, and man made material such as shredded vehicular tire mulches, are commonly used in landscaping beds around trees and shrubs for increasing the aesthetic appeal thereof, as well as for reducing weeds, improving hydration, aeration, and other useful purposes. Such top dressings typically have a desirable appearance when newly applied and for up to several weeks after application. However, after the passage of such time, the top dressing can begin to look dull and dirty, which is objectionable and undesirable for aesthetic purposes. Such top dressings can also naturally settle and compact so as to be less thick and as a result less permeable to water and air, which is unhealthy and undesirable for plants surrounded by the top dressing. Currently, to overcome these problems, it is known to use a conventional rake having a handle and fixed, elongate tines or fingers to “rake” mulch top dressings. However, this is typically time consuming and often produces clumps and unevenness in the top dressing, and otherwise makes the mulch look less aesthetically appealing than desired. Raking is also a fairly exerting exercise. From my U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,770, it is known to provide a turner and method specifically directed to mulch. However, the barrel or cylinder shaped rolling head of this device can be disadvantageous, as the barrel or cylinder has no capacity to accommodate the irregularity of the mulch surface, and is more costly to manufacture than desired.
Accordingly, what is sought is apparatus for more easily and effectively turning over and thickening or fluffing top dressings such as wood mulches and the like, which does not suffer from the aforementioned problems or disadvantages.
In accordance with the present invention, a turner for quickly, easily, and aesthetically turning over and thickening a settled or compacted layer of an aggregate landscaping mulch material for overcoming the above discussed problems and disadvantages, is disclosed.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the turner includes a handle and a rolling head carried on the handle and configured for rotation relative thereto about a rotational axis. The rolling head includes a first endcap supported about the rotational axis for rotation thereabout, a second endcap supported about the rotational axis for rotation thereabout in axially spaced relation to the first endcap, and a plurality of elongate strips, which function as mulch “flippers”, extending between the endcaps at radially spaced locations around the axis. Each of the strips or flippers preferably has oppositely facing, generally flat surfaces extending between the endcaps and oriented so as to face in opposite directions of rotation of the rolling head, adjacent ones of the strips defining cavities therebetween, respectively, preferably extending the entire distance between the endcaps. And, each of the strips or flippers additionally preferably includes a radial outer edge with a plurality of elongate projections or mulch lifters extending at least generally radially outwardly therefrom at axially spaced locations therealong. The projections preferably have a flatted profile in one direction, to facilitate the mulch lifting function.
In use, the handle is held to push or pull the rolling head across a region of the layer of the landscaping mulch material to rotate the rolling head in contact with the mulch material. The radial outer edges of the strips of flippers are capable of supporting the rolling head for movement over the layer of the mulch material while the projections or mulch lifters will penetrate into the mulch material, and lift and reorient or “flip” portions thereof to thicken the layer. As this is occurring, some of the mulch material will be received or accommodated in the cavities between the adjacent ones of the strips, so as to provide a smoother rolling action, and also for lifting and reorienting at least some of the mulch received in the cavities, to thereby increase the mulch turning capacity of the turner. In this regard, in some instances, the cavities and the surface area of the surfaces of the strips facing the cavities combine to significantly increase the mulch lifting and turning capacity of the rolling head. This rolling head configuration also facilitates manufacture, as the strips and projections or mulch lifters can be easily stamped as a unitary member from a suitable material, such as, but not limited to, a metal such as steel, and the strips are easily assembled with the endcaps. Alternatively, stiff rods or wire can be used in place of the strips, with the projections also comprised of rod or wire, which can be welded or otherwise suitably rigidly attached, and flattened if desired to improve the mulch lifting capability.
Turning now to the drawings, wherein several preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown, in
Referring also to
Each strip 32, and projections 42 thereof, are preferably suitably rigid for use in the intended manner, and integrally formed, such as by die stamping from a metal such as steel, aluminum or the like, although it should be understood that it is contemplated that other constructions can be used for strips 32, including, but not limited to, injection molding from a plastics material.
Each endcap 28 and 30 is preferably generally disc shaped, including passage 48 extending therethrough. Each endcap 28 and 30 additionally includes a plurality of slots 60 configured so as to extend radially outwardly from axis 26, in an angularly spaced array therearound. Each slot 60 is sized and shaped for cooperatively receiving a tab 62 extending longitudinally from the end of one of the strips 32, and retaining the tab 62 for holding the endcap 28 or 30 together with strips 32 engaged therewith. This can be accomplished with a friction fit of tab 62 within slot 60, and/or use of a suitable mechanical detent, such as barbs 70 illustrated, or a suitable fastener or adhesive. This assembly will also be retained together by the positioning of rolling head 24 between distal ends 52 of arms 54 and 56. Endcaps 28 and 30 can be of any suitable construction, such as, but not limited to, injection molded plastics, metal such as a die cast steel or aluminum, or the like.
As illustrated in
Here, it can be envisioned that, as a result of working using turner 20, the individual pieces of the mulch material are now related to one another so as to form relatively large spaces or voids therebetween thereby aerating and thickening the mulch layer. Mulch material 64 is representative of a wide variety of aggregate mulch materials, including, but not limited to, shredded wood mulches, wood bark mulches, leaf mulches, other organic material mulches, and man-made material such as shredded vehicular tire mulches, commonly used in landscaping beds around trees and shrubs for increasing the aesthetic appeal thereof, and for reducing weeds, improving hydration, aeration, and other useful purposes.
For optimal ease of movement over and turnover and thickening or fluffing of a mulch layer, it has been found that the rolling head, such as rolling head 24 illustrated, preferably will have a diametrical extent of no more than about 5 inches, and preferably about 1 to about 3 inches, and projections 42 will preferably have an average length of from about 0.7 inch to about 2.5 inches, larger lengths being best adapted for use with a larger diameter barrel 22, the preferred projection length for use with the preferred 1 to 3 inch diameter rolling head being from about 1 to about 1.5 inches. As one preferred embodiment, rolling head 24 will include at least 4, and preferably 6, and more preferably 8 strips 32, as required for providing the desired mulch turning capability. In this regard, the radial outer edges 40 of the strips will form essentially a hollow “virtual” cylinder on which the rolling head will roll. It should be noted that it has been found that by using a rolling head 24 having the preferred diametrical extent, with 8 strips 32 at equally spaced locations around the head, and projections 42 of the preferred length, rolling head 24 will roll satisfactorily over the mulch surface, and as projections 42 emerge from a mulch layer as rolling head 24 is rotated thereover, projections 42 will be sufficiently near to a horizontal orientation so as to effectively be capable of lifting individual pieces of the mulch material from the surface thereof sufficiently such that the pieces will roll off of projections 42 and turn or flip over so as to be dropped back onto the mulch layer in a different orientation from their original orientation and spaced farther apart, thereby aerating and thickening or fluffing the mulch layer. The flat sectional extent of projections 42 will also facilitate insertion in essentially a knifing action into the mulch material. Due also to the light weight of turner 20, and the length of projections 42 within the specified range, the more compacted soil or other surface underlying the mulch layer will not be significantly disturbed, that is, the soil or other underlying material will not be penetrated and brought to the top surface of the mulch layer by the projections, which is a desirable effect as weeds can grow in unintentionally exposed soil.
It has been found that using a lightweight mulch turner, having components such as rolling head 24, strips 32 including projections 42, and handle 20, made from a lightweight rigid material, such as a plastics material or aluminum, enables rolling head 24 to be easily pushed and pulled to traverse over a top surface of a mulch layer, without significantly plowing or burrowing therein, but such that projections 42 can penetrate into the aggregate mulch material and when withdrawn therefrom by the rotation, lift and re-orient or flip or turn over individual pieces of the aggregate mulch material, to thereby aerate and thicken or fluff the mulch material, and improve its aesthetic look and air and water permeability. In this regard, it has been observed that typical aggregate landscaping mulches have a tendency to settle and compact over time such that a layer or the mulch material can decrease in thickness, for instance, from an original thickness of 4 to 6 inches, to a thickness of 2 inches or less, which drastically decreases the aesthetic appeal thereof, and the greater density of which reduces the ability of air and moisture to pass through the mulch from the top surface thereof, as is desired for proper aeration and hydration of plant roots contained in the underlying soil. Here, rolling head 24 is illustrated supported by a handle having two arms 54 and 56 on either side. However, it should be noted that a cantilever arrangement could also be used, as illustrated in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,770, as would be advantageous to allow easy passage under low canopies and foliage of small shrubs, bushes, flowers, and other plants. The cantilever arrangement also allows easy manipulation over mulch closely around plant stems and trunks and other obstacles. Using the preferred components discussed above, as well as those discussed hereinafter, turner 20 will have an overall weight of less than about 10 pounds, and more preferably 6 to 8 pounds or less, which has been found to provide easy maneuverability and movement with minimal exertion, and also allows the turner to remain on top of the mulch layer, to provide the advantages discussed above.
It should be noted that it is contemplated that rolling head 24 could be manufactured in other ways. For instance, rods or wires could be used in place of or as strips 32, to form a rod or wire frame virtual cylinder shape, and projections 42 could be similarly of rod or wire, welded or otherwise suitably rigidly attached to the rods or wires so as to extend radially outwardly therefrom. The rod or wire projections can also be flattened, or otherwise suitably shaped, to facilitate the mulch knifing and lifting functions discussed above.
As another feature of the invention, due to the rigidity of the structure of rolling head 24, turner 20 has utility for performing light soil aeration, or roughening, for instance, for preparing the soil for planting of seeds and the like.
Thus, there has been shown and described a novel invention in a light weight, easy to use rotatable mulch turner which overcomes many of the problems set forth above. It will be apparent, however, to those familiar in the art, that many changes, variations, modifications, and other uses and applications for the subject device are possible. All such changes, variations, modifications, and other uses and applications that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/932,917, filed Jun. 4, 2007.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60932917 | Jun 2007 | US |
