Patent Application
20250120340
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The disclosure relates to clipping chute devices and more particularly pertains to a new clipping chute device for facilitating grass clippings to be directed laterally away from a push lawnmower. The device includes a chute that is curved which can be mounted to a deck of a push lawnmower having the chute being aligned with an output port in the deck. The device includes a rod that is attached to the chute which is positionable in collection bag mounts that are disposed on the deck for retaining the chute on the deck.
The prior art relates to clipping chute devices including a variety of clipping chutes that are attachable to the deck of a lawnmower with fasteners that engage the deck of the lawnmower for directing grass clippings laterally away from the deck. In no instance does the prior art disclose a clipping chute device that includes a curved chute that is mountable to a deck of a lawnmower and a rod attached to the curved chute that engages collection bag mounts on the lawnmower for removably securing the curved chute to the deck.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a chute that is mountable to a deck of a push lawnmower having the chute being aligned with an output port of the deck. In this way the chute can capture grass clippings produced by the push lawnmower in lieu of a collection bag of the push lawnmower. The chute is curved such that the chute is directed laterally from the deck to direct the grass clippings laterally from the deck. A rod is attachable to the chute such that the rod extends laterally across the chute. Additionally, the rod is positionable in each of a pair of collection bag mounts on the deck of the lawnmower for mounting the chute to the deck.
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
The chute 12 has a top wall 22 and a first lateral wall 24 extending downwardly from a first lateral edge 26 of the top wall 22 and a second lateral wall 28 extending downwardly from a second lateral edge 30 of the top wall 22. Each of the first lateral edge 26 and the second lateral edge 30 extends between a front edge 32 and a back edge 34 of the top wall 22. Additionally, the first lateral edge 26 has a first curve 36 that is located between the front edge 32 and the back edge 34 and the first curve 36 is positioned closer to the front edge 32 than the back edge 34. The second lateral edge 30 has a second curve 38 that is located between the front edge 32 and the back edge 34 and the second curve 38 is located closer to the front edge 32 than the back edge 34. Additionally, each of the first lateral wall 24 and the second lateral wall 28 extends between the front edge 32 and the back edge 34 to define an entry 40 of the chute 12 and an exit 42 of the chute 12.
The chute 12 has a plurality of first holes 44 each extending through the top wall 22 of the chute 12 and the plurality first holes 44 are spaced apart from each other and are distributed along the front edge 32 of the chute 12. The chute 12 has a plurality of second holes 46 each extending through the top wall 22 of the chute 12 and each of the second holes 46 is spaced from and is aligned with a respective one of the plurality of first holes 44. The chute 12 has a plurality of third holes 48 each extending through the top wall 22 and each of the plurality of third holes 48 is positioned closer to the plurality of second holes 46 than the back edge 34 of the chute 12. The plurality of third holes 48 are arranged such that each of the plurality of third holes 48 defines a respective corner of a rectangle.
A rod 50 is provided that is attachable to the chute 12 such that the rod 50 extends laterally across the chute 12. The rod 50 is positionable in each of a pair of collection bag mounts 52 on the deck 14 of the lawnmower 16 for mounting the chute 12 to the deck 14. Additionally, an outer surface 54 of the rod 50 is threaded along an entire length of the rod 50. The rod 50 is positionable on top of the top wall 22 of the chute 12 having the rod 50 being positioned between the plurality of first holes 44 and the plurality of second holes 46. Additionally, the rod 50 has a length that is greater than a width of the top wall 22 of the chute 12 such that the rod 50 extends outwardly beyond each of the first lateral wall 24 and the second lateral wall 28 of the chute 12.
A plurality of brackets 56 is provided and each of the brackets 56 has a curved portion 58 that is centrally located between a pair of flattened portions 60. The curved portion 58 of each of the brackets 56 is positionable on the rod 50 having each of the pair of flattened portions 60 of each of the plurality of brackets 56 lying on the top wall 22 of the chute 12. Furthermore, each of the flattened portions 60 of each of the plurality of brackets 56 is aligned with a respective one of the plurality of first holes 44 and a respective one of the plurality of second holes 46. A plurality of fasteners 62 is provided and each of the plurality of fasteners 62 is extendable through a respective one of the flattened portions 60 of a respective one of the plurality of brackets 56. Each of the plurality of fasteners 62 extends through a respective one of the plurality of first holes 44 or a respective one of the plurality of second holes 46 for securing the plurality of brackets 56 to the top wall 22 of the chute 12. Additionally, each of the plurality of fasteners 62 may comprise a nut and a bolt or other type of releasable, mechanical fastener.
A plurality of nuts 64 is provided and each of the plurality of nuts 64 is threadable onto a respective one of a first end 66 or a second end 68 of the rod 50 when the rod 50 is positioned in the pair of collection bag mounts 52. In this way the rod 50 is secured in the pair of collection bag mounts 52 having the entry 40 of the chute 12 being aligned with the output port 18 in the deck 14. As is most clearly shown in
In use, the output port door 71 on the deck 14 of the lawnmower 16 is urged into an open position and the chute 12 is positioned against the deck 14 such that the entry 40 of the chute 12 is aligned with the output port 18 and the output door 18 rests on the chute 12. Furthermore, the rod 50 is positioned in each of the collection bag mounts 52 and each of the nuts is threaded onto the rod 50 to secure the rod 50 in the collection bag mounts 52. In this way the chute 12 directs the grass clippings 20 laterally away from the push lawnmower 16 while the push lawnmower 16 is being employed for mowing. Thus, a user 74 of the push lawnmower 16 does not have to repeatedly empty a collection bag while the push lawnmower 16 is being employed for mowing. The chute 12 can be removed from the deck 14 of the push lawnmower 16 at any time to facilitate the grass clippings 20 to be collected in the collection bag to suit the preferences of the user 74.
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.
