AU2014101297A4 - Tool For Removing Weeds - Google Patents

Abstract

A garden and lawn weeding tool has a shaft (12) which has a handle (14) at a top end and, at a bottom end, has a forked portion (16) with a pair of tines (17, 18) for penetrating soil to an optimal depth and for engaging opposite sides of one or more roots of a weed, The tool includes means for using leverage to remove the weed when a user grips the handle (14) and is in a standing position. The tool has a downwardly and outwardly projecting foot plate (19) extending rearwardly from a bottom of the shaft (12) and against which a user presses a foot to facilitate soil penetration by the forked portion (16). The foot plate (19) is continuously curved through an angle of between about 80 degrees and about 100 degrees forwardly towards an extended axis of the shaft (12). There is a foot member (22) behind which the foot plate (19) is secured and projects outwardly. The foot member (22) extends beyond a bottom edge of the foot plate (19) to define the forked portion (16). In use, the forked portion (16) and a leading portion of the foot plate (19) penetrates the soil and the continuous curvature of the foot plate acts as a fulcrum against the surface of the soil when leverage is used to remove the weed. -C6 ,c() 0___ LU: oo CA)A >9 + 10N

Description

1 TOOL FOR REMOVING WEEDS TECHNICAL FIELD 5 The present invention relates to a tool for removing weeds from gardens and lawns, although the tool may also be used to cultivate soil for sewing of seeds or for otherwise working the soil. BACKGROUND ART 10 There have been many known tools that have been used to remove weeds and other unwanted plants from the ground. Most of these tools suffer from a variety of limitations or problems, such as the tools often leave big holes in the ground, remove too large an area of grass, fail to remove all of the roots of the weed, or require a person 15 to be on their knees to remove the weed. A range of tools have been developed which address one or some of the aforementioned and other problems of the prior art, but these more recently developed and used tools have introduced other challenges that have prevented their widespread acceptance and 20 general use. Included among such tools are the long handle, forked end portion, leverage applying tools which can be used by a person in a standing position. Whilst these tools represent an advance over the prior art, they are not always ideally suited to removing weeds which have a range of root sizes, such as from a small size of about 1 to 2 mm diameter to a large size of up to about 10mm. Nor are they ideally suited to 25 smoothly and with little effort lift the weed, roots and all, from the soil. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the 30 aforementioned limitations and problems of the prior art, or at least provide a novel and useful alternative. 92/1 n/1 4 2 According to the present invention, there is provided a garden and lawn weeding tool comprising a shaft which has a handle at a top end and, at a bottom end, has a forked portion for penetrating soil to an optimal depth and for engaging opposite sides of one of more roots of a weed, and a means for using leverage to remove the weed when a 5 user grips the handle and is in a standing position, and which is characterised by having a downwardly and outwardly projecting foot plate extending rearwardly from a bottom of the shaft and against which a user presses a foot to facilitate soil penetration by the forked portion, the foot plate being continuously curved through an angle of between about 80 degrees and about 100 degrees forwardly towards an extended axis of the 10 shaft, and by having a foot member behind which the foot plate is secured and projects outwardly, the foot member extending beyond a bottom edge of the foot plate to define the forked portion, wherein, in use, the forked portion and a leading portion of the foot plate penetrates the soil and the continuous curvature of the foot plate acts as a fulcrum against the surface of the soil when leverage is used to remove the weed. 15 Preferably, the foot plate has a first side edge which is defined by a plurality of tines adapted for raking over and leveling soil that has been disrupted after removal of a weed. Alternatively, the tines of the first side edge are used for lifting uprooted weeds from the soil surface. 20 It is preferred that the foot plate has a second side edge opposite the first side edge which acts as a blade to cut through one or more roots of a weed when the second side edge is used to penetrate the soil and is drawn through the soil. 25 In a preferred form, the width of the outwardly projecting foot plate is between about 30 mm and about 50 mm, but more preferably about 40 mm. The forked portion preferably comprises a pair of tines between which there is a gap of about 7 mm at their outermost ends and about 2 mm at their innermost ends. 30 The foot plate is preferably continuously curved through an angle of about 90 degrees. 92/1 n/1 4 3 There has been thus outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and put into practical effect, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. 5 There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which the disclosure is based, may be readily utilized as the basis for designing other processes and systems for carrying out the objects of the present invention. It is important, 10 therefore, that the broad outline of the invention described above be regarded as including such equivalent constructions in so far as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 15 The invention 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 accompanying drawing, in which: 20 Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bottom portion of a garden and lawn weeding tool according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bottom portion being adapted to connect to a bottom end of a shaft of the tool, Figure 2 is a front view of the bottom portion of the tool shown in Figure 1, 25 Figure 3 is a right side view of the bottom portion of the tool shown in Figure 2, Figure 4 is another perspective view of the bottom portion shown in Figures 1 to 3, 30 Figure 5 is a side sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 2, 92/1 n/1 4 4 Figure 6 is a top sectional view taken along line D-D of Figure 3, Figure 7 is an isolated perspective view of the foot member, 5 Figure 8 is an isolated perspective view of the foot plate, Figure 9 is a sketch of a first step in the use of the tool of Figures 1 to 8, Figure 10 is a close up sketch of a bottom portion of the tool shown in the first step of 10 use in Figure 9, and which shows the forked portion and a leading portion of the foot plate at the bottom end of the tool penetrating the soil, Figure 11 is a sketch of a second step in the use of the tool of Figures 1 to 8, and 15 Figure 12 is a close up sketch of the bottom portion of the tool in the second step of use in Figure 11, and which shows the continuous curvature of the foot plate acting as a fulcrum against the surface of the soil when leverage is used to remove the weed, MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 20 With reference now to the above summarized drawings of Figures 1 to 8, the garden and lawn weeding tool includes a long shaft 12 (as shown in Figures 9 and 11) which has a handle 14 at a top end. At a bottom end of the tool is a forked portion 16 for penetrating soil to an optimal depth and for engaging opposite sides of one of more 25 roots of a weed. The forked portion 16 comprises a pair of tines 17, 18 between which there is a gap of about 7 mm at their outermost ends and about 2 mm at their innermost ends. The gap between the outermost ends of the tines 17, 18, which may be as wide as 15 mm, and the depth of the gap, which in this embodiment is 25 mm but may be as deep as 30 mm, are such as to cause the weed to wedge into the forked portion16, and 30 not fall out. The user can then lift the tool and drop the weed into a bin or at another desired location. 92/1 n/1 4 5 The tool is of the kind which has means for using leverage to remove the weed when a user grips the handle and is in a standing position. Importantly, the tool is characterised by having a downwardly and outwardly projecting 5 foot plate 19 which extends rearwardly from a sleeve 20 secured around the bottom of the shaft 12. In this embodiment, the angle between the sleeve 20 and the foot plate 19 is 155 degrees, although the angle may be selected or varied to anywhere between about 140 degrees and about 170 degrees. This angle is important because, as best shown in Figure 10, it allows the forked portion 16 and a leading portion of the foot plate 19 to 10 penetrate the soil and secure the roots of the weed between the tines 17, 18 while the shaft 12 is in a largely upright direction of between about 60 degrees and 90 degrees to the horizontal. By being so upright, the tool can be held by the user who is in an upright standing position throughout the weed removal process. The user does not need to bend their back or their knees during that time. A user can press a foot against the foot plate 15 19 to facilitate soil penetration by the forked portion 16. The foot plate 19 is continuously curved through an angle of, in this embodiment, about 90 degrees forwardly towards an extended axis of the shaft, although the angle of continuous curvature of the foot plate 19 may be varied to anywhere between about 80 degrees and about 100 degrees. In this embodiment, the radius of the continuous curvature of the 20 foot plate 19 is about 51 mm. The tool can also be used to cultivate the soil, by turning it around so that the user can pull the forked portion 16, with the tines 17, 18 leading the way, through the soil to a depth of about 100 mm. The aforementioned angle between the sleeve 20 and the foot 25 plate 19 again allows the user to so cultivate the soil whilst in an upright standing position. The tool is also characterised by having a foot member 22 behind which the foot plate 19 is secured and projects outwardly. The foot member 22 extends beyond a bottom 30 edge of the foot plate 19 to define the forked portion 16. In this embodiment, the forked portion 16 is about 60 mm in length. 92/1 n/1 4 6 In use, the forked portion 16 and a leading portion of the foot plate19, in a first step (see Figures 9 and 10) penetrate the soil and, in a second step (see Figures 11 and 12) the continuous curvature of the foot plate 19 acts as a fulcrum against the surface of the soil when leverage is used to remove the weed. 5 The width of the outwardly projecting foot plate 19 is, in this embodiment, about 40 mm, although the width may be varied to anywhere between about 30mm and about 50mm. This large width of the foot plate 19 stabilizes the soil before, during and after the removal of the weed, and provides a wider target for pressing by the foot of the 10 user. Furthermore, this large width of the foot plate 19 and the large radius and angle of continuous curvature of the foot plate 19 allow the user to smoothly and with little effort lift the weed, roots and all, from the soil. In this embodiment, the foot plate 19 has a first side edge 24 which is defined by a 15 plurality of tines 26 adapted for raking over and leveling any soil that has been disrupted after removal of a weed. Alternatively, the tines 26 of the first side edge 24 are used for lifting uprooted weeds from the soil surface. Also, the foot plate 19 has a second side edge 28 opposite the first side edge which acts 20 as a blade to cut through one or more roots of a weed when the second side edge is used to penetrate the soil and is drawn through the soil. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that the garden and lawn weeding tool described above may be made of many suitable materials. 25 Also, the tool may be made in various sizes. A small sized tool suitable for small weeds may have a foot plate 19 that is about 30 mm wide, and a large sized tool suitable for large weeds may have a foot plate 19 that is about 50 mm wide. Depending on the tool size, the gap between the outermost ends of the tines 17, 18, and the depth of the gap, 30 may also vary proportionately. 92/1 n/1 4 7 It will also be readily apparent from the above that there are various advantages of the present invention. For example, the tool will suit and assist users who have injuries to their back and/or knees, or who are elderly or frail. 5 It will also be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in details of design and construction of the embodiments of the weed removing tool, and in the steps of using the tool described above, without departing from the scope or ambit of the present invention. 10 The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or admission or any form of suggestion that that prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates before the filing 15 date of this patent application. 92/10/14

Claims (5)

1. A garden and lawn weeding tool comprising a shaft which has a handle at a top end and, at a bottom end, has a forked portion for penetrating soil to an optimal depth and for engaging opposite sides of one or more roots of a weed, and a means for using leverage to remove the weed when a user grips the handle and is in a standing position, and which is characterised by having a downwardly and outwardly projecting foot plate extending rearwardly from a bottom of the shaft and against which a user presses a foot to facilitate soil penetration by the forked portion, the foot plate being continuously curved through an angle of between about 80 degrees and about 100 degrees forwardly towards an extended axis of the shaft, and by having a foot member behind which the foot plate is secured and projects outwardly, the foot member extending beyond a bottom edge of the foot plate to define the forked portion, wherein, in use, the forked portion and a leading portion of the foot plate penetrates the soil and the continuous curvature of the foot plate acts as a fulcrum against the surface of the soil when leverage is used to remove the weed.

2. The tool of claim 1 wherein the foot plate has a first side edge which is defined by a plurality of tines adapted for raking over and leveling soil that has been disrupted after removal of a weed.

3. The tool of claim 2 wherein the foot plate has a second side edge opposite the first side edge which acts as a blade to cut through one or more roots of a weed when the second side edge is used to penetrate the soil and is drawn through the soil.

4. The tool of any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the width of the outwardly projecting foot plate is between about 30 mm and about 50 mm.

5. The tool of any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the forked portion comprises a pair of tines between which there is a gap of about 7 mm at their outermost ends and about 2 mm at their innermost ends. 92/1 n/1 4