The present disclosure relates to a push rod mechanism and a lawnmower having the push rod mechanism.
A lawnmower is provided with an operating rod for pushing. The operating rod usually includes a lower push rod connected to two sides of a housing of the lawnmower and an upper push rod connected to the lower push rod. The lower push rod is equipped with a grip part for pushing during operation of the lawnmower.
When the lawnmower is in operation, the operating rod extends a certain length towards a rear of the lawnmower for an operator to work within a safe distance of a certain length away from a cutting tool. When the lawnmower is not in operation, it needs to be kept in place and stored. People have designed the operating rod to be foldable or telescopic for storage purposes, and in order to meet safety requirements, a safety switch mechanism has been added during folding or telescopic process to reduce the possibility of accidents. However, existing technical solutions are either too complex in structure, or have low reliabilities and potential safety hazards.
In view of this, it is indeed necessary to provide an improved push rod mechanism to overcome the shortcomings in the related art.
A technical solution provided by the present disclosure is a push rod mechanism. The push rod mechanism includes a lower push rod and an upper push rod relatively telescopic to each other; and a telescopic control assembly sleeved at a joint position between the lower push rod and the upper push rod. The lower push rod defines a through hole passing through a side wall of the lower push rod. The telescopic control assembly includes a limiting member at least partially accommodated in the through hole. The limiting member abuts against the side wall of the upper push rod and has a position-limiting state that restricts stretch and telescopic of the upper push rod relative to the lower push rod. The telescopic control assembly includes an operating member capable of pressing against the limiting member, and an operating handle for controlling movement of the operating member. The operating handle defines a first position and a second position and is able to move between the first position and the second position. When the operating handle is in the first position, the operating member presses against the limiting member to keep the limiting member in a limited state. When the operating handle is in the second position, the operating member gives way to the limiting member to allow the limiting member to exit the position-limiting state.
Another technical solution provided by the present disclosure is a lawnmower. The lawnmower includes a housing, a grass collection bag located behind the housing, and a push rod mechanism located on two sides of the housing. The push rod mechanism is the push rod mechanism described above, and the push rod mechanism is located above the grass collection bag.
The following is a further detailed explanation of specific embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Terms used in the present disclosure are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. For example, terms indicating orientation or positional relationship such as “up”, “down”, “front”, and “back” described below are only based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device/element referred to must have a specific orientation or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore are not able to be construed as limiting the present disclosure.
As shown in
In the embodiment, the lawnmower 100 also includes the push rod mechanism 1, and the push rod mechanism 1 is arranged on two sides of the housing 2 and is located above the grass collection bag. The push rod mechanism 1 may be retracted and folded for storage when not in use, thereby saving storage space. In order to prevent a user from accidentally starting the lawnmower 100 when the push rod retracts or folds and thus causing safety accidents, the push rod mechanism 1 is provided with a safety switch 5. In other words, when the push rod mechanism 1 is in a folded and retracted state, the lawnmower 100 is not able to walk or perform cutting operations. The push rod mechanism 1 and the safety switch 5 are described in detail below.
As shown in
Due to restriction of the operating member on the limiting member, the limiting member may exit the position-limiting state only when the operating member moves to the second position, thereby allowing the upper push rod 12 to stretch or retract relative to the lower push rod 11. During the operation of the lawnmower 100 (i.e., when the operating handle 14 is in the first position), a telescopic operation between the upper push rod 12 and the lower push rod 11 is prohibited, such that operation safety of the lawnmower 100 is improved. The push rod mechanism 1 has a simple structure, is easy to be manufactured and assembled, and has high stability.
The limiting member and the operating handle 14 of the push rod mechanism 1 have a mutually limiting effect. Only when the upper push rod 12 is stretched from the lower push rod 11 to a suitable working position, and the limiting member enters a position between the upper push rod 12 and the lower push rod 11 and remains in the position-limiting state, the operating handle 14 may be fixed in the first position (i.e., locked state), thereby allowing the lawnmower 100 to start. On the other hand, the limiting member may only exit the position-limiting state only when the operating member is moved to the second position (i.e., unlocked state), allowing the upper push rod 12 to stretch or retract relative to the lower push rod 11. The telescopic control assembly 8 arranged in this way has a simple and clever structure, which may effectively reduce the possibility of misoperation of the lawnmower 100 and safety accidents as a result.
In the embodiment, the operating handle 14 rotates around a pivot shaft 15 between the first position and the second position. The operating handle 14 is connected to the pivot shaft 15 in a transmission way, and the operating member is connected to the pivot shaft 15. The operating handle 14 is connected to the pivot shaft 15 in the transmission way through a non-circular contact surface, such as cooperation between a hexagonal surface and an inner hexagonal surface. Those skilled in the art may think of many alternative ways, which will not be exemplified here. In summary, the operating handle 14 drives the pivot shaft 15 to rotate through a rotating operation, such that the operating member rotates accordingly. Therefore, when the operating handle 14 rotates between the first position and the second position, the operating member also rotates between a position of pressing against or giving way to the limiting member.
In other embodiments, the manner in which the operating handle 14 drives the operating member to move may also be linear reciprocating motion, vertical conversion motion or other motion modes, which will not be repeated here.
As shown in
As shown in
Both the upper push rod 12 and the lower push rod 11 are hollow tubular members, which may be round tubes or flat tubes. The upper push rod 12 and the lower push rod 11 shown in the embodiment are both flat tubes. The push rod mechanism 1 in the embodiment includes two lower push rods 11, which are respectively pivotally arranged on two sides of the housing 2. Correspondingly, there are also two upper push rods 12, and two ends of the telescopic control assembly 8 are respectively sleeved on junction positions of the lower push rods 11 and the upper push rods 12.
Two sets of telescopic control assemblies are provided in the embodiment, that is, a first limiting member and a first operating member cooperating with the first limiting member, and a second limiting member and a second operating member cooperating with the second limiting member. In the embodiment, the first operating member and second operating member are in cooperation with the operating handle 14. In other words, when the operating handle 14 rotates, the first operating member and the second operating member are controlled to simultaneously press against the first limiting member and the second limiting member respectively, or to simultaneously give way to the first limiting member and second limiting member respectively. Simultaneous application of the two sets of telescopic control assemblies facilitates to strengthen the stability of the position-limiting state and provides double guarantees for telescopic control. As shown in
As shown in
In the embodiment, the telescopic control assembly 8 includes a shell 13 for accommodating the first limiting member and the operating member. The first limiting member includes a limiting plate 17 pivotally arranged on the shell 13 and a limiting ball 18 connected to the limiting plate 17. The limiting ball 18 is at least partially accommodated in the positioning hole 111, and a diameter of the limiting ball 17 is equivalent to a size of the positioning hole 111. In the embodiment, both the positioning hole 111 and the limiting hole 121 are round holes, and the limiting ball 18 is a steel ball with high strength and wear resistance. In other embodiments, the limiting ball 18 may also be made of other metal or plastic materials.
In the embodiment, the limiting plate 17 is provided with a receiving groove for accommodating the limiting ball 18, or providing a receiving space for the limiting ball 18. The limiting plate 17 is pivotally connected to the shell 13, such that the limiting ball 18 may enter or exit the positioning hole 111 along with the limiting plate 17.
The telescopic control assembly 8 also includes an elastic member 81 disposed between the limiting plate 17 and the shell 13. The limiting plate 17 has a movement tendency to push the limiting ball 18 into the limiting hole 121 under elastic force of the elastic member 81. The limiting plate 17 is elastically supported and has a movement tendency towards the limiting hole 121. In this way, when the upper push rod 12 is stretched or retracted in place relative to the lower pushing rod 11, the limiting plate 17, driven by the elastic force, drives the limiting ball 18 through the positioning hole 111 and the limiting hole 121 to enter the tube wall of the upper pushing rod 12. In this case, the operating handle 14 may only be moved from the second position to the first position, and the lawnmower 100 may only be started when the operating handle 14 is moved to the first position. In the first position, due to the pressing of the operating member, the limiting ball 18 is not able to withdraw from the limit hole 121, such that telescopic operation of the upper push rod 12 relative to the lower push rod 11 is limited. In the second position, the operating member gives way to the limiting plate 17, and the limiting ball 18 may be pushed out of the positioning hole 111 through the tube wall of the upper push rod 12 to cross a surface of the limiting ball 18 for telescopic operation.
The arrangement of the elastic member 81 allows the limiting plate 17 to move towards the positioning hole 111, such that the limiting ball 18 is kept in the positioning hole 111 and the limiting hole 121. In the embodiment, the elastic member 81 is a spring, and the spring is stretched in a natural state. The compressed spring allows the limiting plate 17 to have a tendency to approach the positioning hole 111. In other embodiments, the elastic member 81 may also be a torsion spring, and two leading ends of the torsion spring respectively press against one end of the shell 13 and one end of the limiting plate 17, such that the limiting plate 17 keeps a tendency to approach the positioning hole 111 in a natural state.
As illustrated in
When the operating handle 14 is rotated, the first operating member (i.e., the stopping member 19) is driven to rotate to arrive at one position of pressing against the first limiting member (i.e., the limiting plate 17 with the limiting ball 18) and another position of giving way to the first limiting member, such that the telescopic operation of the upper push rod 12 relative to the lower push rod 11 is restricted or unrestricted.
As shown in
When the second limiting member is the flexible member 83, the second operating member cooperating with it is a second cam 82 arranged around the pivot shaft 15. The second cam 82 is in alignment with the flexible member 83 along the axial direction of the pivot shaft 15. The second cam 82 has a short diameter and a long diameter around an outer circumference of the pivot shaft 15. When the operating handle 14 is in the first position (as shown in
When the upper push rod 12 and the lower push rod 11 are stretched-retracted in place, the operating handle 14 may be moved to and fixed in the first position. In this way, the second cam 82 moving with the operating handle 14 rotates to a position where a part of the second cam 82 with the long diameter presses against an outer wall of the upper push rod 12 through the flexible member 83, thereby preventing the telescopic movement of the upper push rod 12 relative to the lower push rod 11. When the upper push rod 12 needs to be retracted, the operating handle 14 is rotated to move to the second position. The second cam 82 rotates along with the operating handle 14 to a position where a part of the second cam 82 with the short diameter faces the flexible member 83. At this time, a length of a protrusion of the second cam 82 is not deep enough to touch the upper push rod 12, thus not capable of limiting the upper push rod 12, and the upper push rod 12 may be stretched and retracted relative to the lower push rod 11.
The telescopic control assembly 8 further includes a receiving part 84 located between the flexible member 83 and the second cam 82. The receiving part 84 is configured to receiving and supporting the flexible member 83.
As shown in
In summary, the lawnmower 100 and its push rod mechanism 1 provided by the present disclosure, due to the mutual restriction of the operating member and the limiting member, the lawnmower 100 may only be triggered to start when the upper push rod 12 and the lower push rod 11 are stretched and retracted in place. During the operation of the lawnmower 100, the telescopic operation between the upper push rod 12 and the lower push rod 11 is prohibited. As two sets of telescopic control assemblies movable synchronously are provided, the stability of the push rod mechanism 1 is better, and the operation safety of the lawnmower 100 is better.
The present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. Those skilled in the art may easily understand that there are many alternatives for the lawnmower and the push rod mechanism of the present disclosure without departing from the principle and scope of the present disclosure. The protection scope of the present disclosure shall be determined by the contents of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202110976600.1 | Aug 2021 | CN | national |
The present application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2022/114158, filed Aug. 23, 2022, which claims the priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202110976600.1, filed Aug. 24, 2021, both of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2022/114158 | Aug 2022 | US |
Child | 18398246 | US |