1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lawn care machinery, and particularly to a lawn mower attachment that provides a combination of soil conditioning rollers and a spreader that can be attached to the rear of a self-propelled lawn mower.
2. Description of the Related Art
Self-propelled lawn mowers are popular and have very good maneuverability in tight areas. Aerators are devices having soil-penetrating tines that, in some cases, are mounted on the front of mechanized lawn equipment. This configuration has proved useful for riding lawn mowers. However, a substantial number of lawn mowers existing in the field are self-propelled, walk-behind lawn mowers. Until the present invention there has not been a combination soil conditioner and spreader that can attach at the rear of a self-propelled walk-behind lawnmower.
Thus, a lawn mower attachment solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The lawn mower attachment provides a combination of lawn roller attachments and a spreader, the combination being attached to the rear of a self-propelled lawn mower. A frame that includes a pivotally connected roller suspension member is attached to the rear of a self-propelled lawn mower via a series of attachment brackets. The roller attachment member can be retracted when not in use. A super-retracted position is available for removal and replacement of the roller. Various style rollers are provided to enable a user to perform aeration, de-thatching, leveling, plugging, and the like. A roller extension member can provide an extra wide path of roller operation. Handle and control extensions are provided for compatibility of the lawn mower attachment with the existing lawn mower. Weights can be added over the rear wheels of the lawn mower to facilitate effective soil penetration of the roller attachment during operation.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
7G is a perspective view of a cultivator roller according to the present invention.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
As shown in
The frame includes pivotal support for a roller linkage assembly 155 and a stop linkage assembly 125, both linkage assemblies being pivotally attached to the roller suspension member 122. The frame may be of a unitary construction or may comprise a plurality of frame members, such as rear, square tubular, lateral frame member 118, roller linkage supporting, square tubular, longitudinal frame member 130, and stop linkage supporting, square tubular, longitudinal frame member 135.
The roller suspension member 122 is a substantially U-shaped member that is reinforced by a cross member 158, which is attached approximately midway a total length of leg formations of the U-shaped roller suspension member 122. Free ends of the U-shaped roller suspension member 122 provide removable attachment points for a rotating roller, such as aerating roller 705, or similar roller attachment, as shown in
The roller suspension member 122 has a laterally extending pivotal mount to the frame members 130 and 135 a predetermined distance in front of lateral frame member 118. The pivotal mount of roller suspension member 122 is provided by gimbal knobs 142. The gimbal knobs 142 have shafts that extend through frame members 130 and 135 and are received by torsion springs 166 and the roller suspension member 122. The gimbal knobs 142 may be retained in position by cotter pins (not shown), at the end of the gimbal knob shafts. Torsion springs 166 are disposed to provide opposing spring biases to the roller suspension member 122 so that when the roller suspension member 122 is rotated to an operational position in a plane approximately perpendicular to the plane of the frame members 130, 135, the suspension member 122 is biased to continue to rotate in a clockwise direction. However, continued rotation is stopped by counteraction of the stop linkage assembly 125, which, when in the raised position, as shown in
Conversely, when the roller suspension member 122 is rotated to a retracted position in a plane approximately parallel to the plane of the frame members 130, 135, the suspension member 122 is biased to continue to rotate in a counterclockwise direction. However, continued rotation is stopped by counteraction of the stop linkage assembly 125, which, when in the lowered position, rests against frame member 135 to prevent further pivoting of the stop link 125, which functions to lock the roller suspension member 122 in the retracted position. Preferably, the stop link 125 can be removably attached to the roller suspension member 122. When the attachment of stop link 125 is removed from the suspension member 122, the suspension member 122 can be rotated into the super-retracted position, raising the roller attachment above the horizontal plane, thus enabling a user to more easily remove and replace roller attachments, such as aerator attachment 705.
Additionally, bracket slide members 146 and 144 are attached, i.e., bolted or welded, to L-brackets 150 and can be slid into or, alternatively, slid over longitudinal frame members 130 and 135 on either lateral side of the device 105 and bolted in place with bolts 137 to affix the device 105 to the rear of the lawn mower LM.
The roller suspension member 122 can be retracted when not in use. The super-retracted position is available for removal and replacement of the roller, e.g., roller 705. Various style rollers are provided to enable a user to perform aeration, de-thatching, leveling, plugging, and the like. As shown in
Handle and control extensions are provided for compatibility of the lawn conditioning mower attachment with the existing lawn mower. Handle extension 120acan be slid onto a lawn mower's tubular handle supports. Control 119 is pivotally disposed on the handle extension 120 to provide control of the roller position, i.e., engaged or retracted, via elongated roller link control arm 164 and the z-roller linkage assembly 155. The z-roller linkage assembly 155 comprises solid V-shaped member 154 pivotally connected at one end to elongate link member 156. The opposing end of elongate link member 156 is pivotally connected to an end of U-shaped roller suspension member 122.
Along the same leg of the Vee 154 as the pivotal connection to elongate link member 156, the Vee 154 is pivotally connected to frame 130. The end of the opposing leg of the Vee 154 is pivotally attached to control arm 164. Thus, as shown in
Brackets 110 are connected to attachment bracket 150 and attachment bracket 152 to provide a support for lawn mower weights 114. As shown in
Pairs of L-shaped weight brackets 110 have matching through bores drilled into a lower portion of a vertical section of the weight brackets 110. Through bores of the attachment brackets 150, the attachment brackets 152, proximate their arcuate leading edges can be aligned with matching through bores in the vertical sections of the weight brackets 110 so that the entire assembly of L-brackets 150, I-brackets 152, and weight brackets 110 can be fastened together onto the rear section, preferably to existing tubular support brackets, of the lawn mower LM by a plurality of bolts and nuts.
Extending from a horizontal section of each of the weight brackets 110 is a weight attachment boss 112. The lawn mower weights 110 can be slidably attached to the weight brackets 110 via the weight attachment boss 112 to add weight over the rear wheels of the lawn mower LM thereby producing a downward force on the device 105 to facilitate effective soil penetration of the roller attachment 705 during operation.
As most clearly shown in
As shown in
A spreader mechanism shaft 611 extends laterally to coincide with a plane that is nearly parallel to a plane that belt flange 607 resides in, the belt flange being attached to a rear wheel of the lawn mower LM. Free end of the spreader mechanism shaft 611 is connected to sheave 609. A belt B is suspended between sheave 609 and belt flange 607. Forward motion of the lawn mower LM rotates the flange 607-belt B-sheave 609-shaft 611 assembly to cause the spreader to dispense its contents.
As shown in
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/842,390, filed Sep. 6, 2006.
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