AU2010100211B4 - An upright garden weeder - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATIVE PATENT AN UPRIGHT GARDEN WEEDER The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of utilising it known to me.

2 AN UPRIGHT GARDEN WEEDER The original garden weeder which is still in use is a hand held tool for extracting the shallow type of weed, the tool being used whilst in the kneeling position. Said tool consisting of two prongs at the front that are formed into a vee, which are pushed into the weed 5 just under the top foliage area. Means underneath the tool act like a fulcrum which allow the weed to be extracted by pushing down on the handle, which is positioned at the back of the tool. A modified version of the above described tool has a long handle 10 projecting upwards at an angle allowing the operator to use the tool in a general standing position. The slight drawback is that the operator has to move the end of the handle up and down considerably for each operation. 15 Some weeders on the market are designed mainly for extracting the larger 'deep-rooted' type of weed. They appear to do their job but also suffer from a number of drawbacks, such as being quite bulky to handle considering the task required. Their soil penetrating features require a foot pedal to push the tool into the soil. They 20 require moving parts to function and, partly because of this, are quite expensive to purchase. Other drawbacks are that they are not quite as effective on weeds that spread laterally. The present invention has been devised to overcome the present 25 said disadvantages, and the general object of the invention is to provide a garden weeder which is speedy in operation on either small or large weeds, is easy to use, and is light weight - yet solid in construction. It does not comprise moving parts, and can be produced at low cost. 30 Accordingly, the invention resides in a device comprising an upright rod, the length of said rod being such as to allow the operator to stand in a general upright position. At the very top of said rod, a tee is formed into a handle-bar, said bar being fitted with rubber 35 grips on each end. The bottom end of said rod is relieved on one side at a 45 degree angle, forming a soil-penetrating spike. A short distance above said spike, two semi-circular claws of round or square cross section steel material would be seen projecting out in the same plane, at right angles from the said upright rod. 40 In order that the embodiment of the invention maybe readily understood and carried into practical effect, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which: 45 Figure 1 is a side-view of the weeding tool; 3 Figure 2 is a view looking in the direction of (C) Figure 1; Figure 3 is a view looking in the direction of (D) Figure 1; 5 Figure 4 is an actual full-size plan view showing the upright rod and top claw, the handgrip tee junction being omitted for clarity; and 10 Figure 5 is a part cut-away plan view showing the relationship between the position of the top claw (5A) Figure 1, and the hand grip tee junction (3) Figure 1. In the construction of the invention illustrated there is an upright 15 rod (1) Figure 1, the length of the said rod being such as to allow the operator using the tool to stand in a general upright position. At the top of the rod (1) Figure 1 a tee junction is formed of tubing into a handle-bar (3), said bar being fitted with rubber grips (4) on each end. 20 The bottom end of the rod (1) is relieved on one side at a 45 degree angle, forming a soil spike (2) Figure 1 and Figure 3. A short distance above said spike, two semi-circular claws (5A) and (5B) Figure 1, would be seen projecting out in the same plane at 25 right angles from the upright rod (1), the very end of each claw (5A) and (5B) being relieved at the top to 45 degree, forming a spike (6) Figure 4. In the use of the weeding tool with the flat side of the spike (2) 30 facing the operator, the spike is pushed into the soil as close as possible to the weed, then rotated in a circular 'back-and-forth' motion of the handle-bar (3), the tool is pushed down until the top claw (5A) is just under the soil. The claws are then rotated two or three times, until the operator feels the release of the 35 weeds root system, and the weed is then extracted. On large weeds, the depth of the claws is driven a little further. The flat relief (6) Figure 4 on the end of each claw assisting to drive the claws into the soil, the flat relief on the spike acting to initially keep itself close to the weed. It should be understood that the weeding tool could be 40 manufactured having two or more claws such as (5A) and (5B).

Claims (5)

1. An upright garden weeder comprising an upright rod having a top and bottom end, the length of said rod being such as to allow the operator to stand and operate the tool in a general 5 upright position; at the top of said rod, a tee junction of tubing is formed into a handle bar, said bar being fitted with rubber grips on each end; at the bottom end the said rod is relieved on one side at a 45 degree angle, forming a soil penetrating spike; a short distance above said spike, two semi-circular claws 10 manufactured from either round or square section steel material would be seen projecting out in the same plane, at right angle from the said upright rod, the very end of each claw being relieved at the top 45 degrees, to form a spike. 15

2. An upright garden weeder as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the semi-circular claws being produced from either rounded or square cross section steel material.

3. An upright garden weeder as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the 20 claws would be produced from one piece of material

4. An upright garden weeder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims designed to remove both shallow and deep rooted weeds; 25

5. An upright garden weeder substantially as herein before described with reference to the Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings. R.R. DE CAMPI 26 AUGUST 2010