Patent Grant
9468137
Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure are generally directed to devices for extracting weeds, woody plants and other vegetation from the ground. More particularly, illustrative embodiments of the disclosure relate to a plant extracting assembly which utilizes leverage to extract woody plants and other vegetation having extensive roots from the ground.
Undesirable or invasive vegetation is frequently removed from fields, roadsides and natural areas where it is removed for eco system preservation (this tool is used to remove invasive or unwanted plants that can overtake and destroy areas they invade) or for some other purpose. Typical methods of removing undesirable vegetation from the ground require that a person crouch on his or her knees and pull the vegetation from the ground using the hands, or labor intensive hand tools such as a mattock. This method is, however, cumbersome and labor-intensive. Moreover, removal of undesirable vegetation having extensive roots, such as woody plants, may require that a considerable force be applied to the plant to uproot it from the ground. Frequently, the magnitude of force which must be applied to successfully uproot the plant exceeds the force which a person is capable of exerting using his or her hands. Alternately heavy machinery may be used, but this is damaging to sensitive areas and indifferent to beneficial species, which are removed as well. This method also increases the possibility of seeds from undesirable plants being moved from one site to the next increasing spread of invasive plants.
Accordingly, a plant extracting assembly which utilizes leverage to extract woody plants and other vegetation having extensive roots from the ground may be desirable for some applications.
Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure are generally directed to a plant extracting assembly which utilizes leverage to extract woody plants and other vegetation having extensive roots from the ground. An illustrative embodiment of the plant extracting assembly includes a fulcrum; a lifting arm subassembly carried by the fulcrum in fixed relation thereto, the lifting arm subassembly having a lifting arm jaw; a kinetic arm subassembly having a kinetic arm jaw disposed in facing relation to the lifting arm jaw of the lifting arm subassembly; and a pivoting lever carried by the lifting arm subassembly and pivotally engaging the kinetic arm subassembly, the lever operable to selectively displace the kinetic arm jaw toward and away from the lifting arm jaw by pivotal actuation of the kinetic arm subassembly responsive to pivoting of the lever relative to the fulcrum.
Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is non-limiting and is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, the illustrative embodiments described herein are not exhaustive and embodiments or implementations other than those which are described herein and which fall within the scope of the appended claims are possible. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. Relative terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “front”, ‘rear”, “side”, “interior” and “exterior” as used herein are intended for descriptive purposes only and are not necessarily intended to be construed in a limiting sense.
Referring to the drawings, an illustrative embodiment of the plant extracting assembly is generally indicated by reference numeral 1. The plant extracting assembly 1 may include a fulcrum 2 which may be generally elongated. A lifting arm subassembly 3 may be supported by the fulcrum 2 in fixed relation thereto. The lifting arm subassembly 3 may have a lifting arm jaw 5. A kinetic arm subassembly 8 may include a kinetic arm jaw 10 which is disposed in facing relation to the lifting arm jaw 5 of the lifting arm subassembly 3. A pivoting lever 24 may be supported by the lifting arm subassembly 3. The lever 24 may pivotally engage the kinetic arm subassembly 8. Accordingly, the lever 24 may be operable to selectively displace the kinetic arm jaw 10 of the kinetic arm subassembly 8 toward and away from the stationary lifting arm jaw 5 of the lifting arm subassembly 3 by pivotal actuation of the kinetic arm subassembly 8 responsive to pivoting of the lever 24 relative to the lifting arm subassembly 3. In some embodiments, a lever handle 25 may extend from the lever 24. In exemplary application of the plant extracting assembly 1, as illustrated in
The lifting arm subassembly 3 of the plant extracting assembly 1 may include a lifting arm 4. The lifting arm 4 may be generally elongated and disposed in perpendicular relationship to the fulcrum 2. The lifting arm jaw 5 may include a flat plate which terminates the lifting arm 4. In some embodiments, multiple gripping elements 6 may be provided on the surface of the lifting arm jaw 5 which is opposite the lifting arm 4.
The lever 24 may be pivotally attached to the fulcrum 2 and/or to the lifting arm 4 of the lifting arm subassembly 3, as illustrated. Accordingly, as illustrated in
The kinetic arm subassembly 8 of the plant extracting assembly 1 may include a kinetic arm 9. The kinetic arm 9 may include an elongated main arm segment 9a and a jaw segment 9b which terminates the main arm segment 9a. The jaw segment 9b may be disposed in perpendicular relationship to the main arm segment 9a. The kinetic arm jaw 10 may include a flat plate which is supported by the jaw segment 9b. In some embodiments, multiple gripping elements 11 may be provided on the surface of the kinetic arm jaw 10 which is disposed in facing relationship to the gripping elements 6 on the lifting arm jaw 5.
In some embodiments, the lever 24 may pivotally engage the kinetic arm 9 of the kinetic arm subassembly 8 through an arm linkage 15. A pair of spaced-apart linkage flanges 14 may be provided on the main arm segment 9a of the kinetic arm 9. As further illustrated in
In some embodiments, the main arm segment 9a of the kinetic arm 9 may slide back and forth within a slide bracket 20 on the lifting arm 4 of the lifting arm subassembly 3. The slide bracket 20 may be attached to the lifting arm 4 via welding, fasteners and/or other attachment technique. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Next, the lever 24 is pivoted from the angled position in
While illustrative embodiments of the disclosure have been described above, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications can be made and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 216090 | Hodges | Jun 1879 | A |
| 229776 | Thompson | Jul 1880 | A |
| 334577 | Anderberg et al. | Jan 1886 | A |
| 367328 | Todd | Jul 1887 | A |
| 638169 | Bloodgood et al. | Nov 1899 | A |
| 711693 | Bloodgood | Oct 1902 | A |
| 935020 | Harvey | Sep 1909 | A |
| 1024328 | Grosser | Apr 1912 | A |
| 1452753 | Otto | Apr 1923 | A |
| 2125619 | Parent | Aug 1938 | A |
| 2178792 | Holmboe | Nov 1939 | A |
| 2379107 | Scheck | Jun 1945 | A |
| 2876814 | Leister | Mar 1959 | A |
| 4181289 | Koffski | Jan 1980 | A |
| 4576367 | Horn | Mar 1986 | A |
| 4856759 | Ness | Aug 1989 | A |
| 5255471 | Shaw | Oct 1993 | A |
| 5671988 | O'Neill | Sep 1997 | A |
| 6123326 | Kleinbongartz | Sep 2000 | A |
| D609540 | Oberg | Feb 2010 | S |
