AU610977B2

AU610977B2 - Lawn comber attachment

Info

Publication number: AU610977B2
Application number: AU28985/89A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Walter Oechsle
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-02-01
Filing date: 1989-08-03
Publication date: 1991-05-30
Anticipated expiration: 2009-02-01
Also published as: AU2898589A

Description

-17 610977 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR OFFICE USE Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Priority: Class Int. Class Lodged: Accepted: Published: Related Art:

I

TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT

Q

Name of Applicant: Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Walter OECHSLE 2 Halcyon Drive, Glen Waverley, Victoria 3150, Australia Walter OECHSLE SMITH SHELSTON BEADLE 207 Riversdale Road Box 410) Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia Complete Specification for the invention entitled: LAWN COMBER ATTACHMENT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: Page 1 Our Ref: TNB:WB:lOoechs.pl ,i -1 ,I NO ATTESTATION OR SEAL Signature(s) of declarant(s).

To: The Commissioner of Patents, Australia 2 Field of the Invention: This invention relates to lawn combers, thatchers, power rakes and other implements for removing materials from a lawn or from the ground.

Background of the Invention: Lawn combers or so-called thatchers are available in a number of different forms. For Example, Blue Bird International BOO 0 oo of Colorado United States of America manufacture a range of lawn a 0 a 4 O 0 oo combers or power rakes in which a multiplicity of flails are 1V' rotated by a motor to remove to thatch embedded in heavy turf.

0 0 Bo Such lawn combers are quite complex in constructions and their S0 Scost is prohibitive to most gardeners. Similarly, a large size thatcher is available under the brand name Dixon but is once Sagain expensive and requires an additional prime mover.

Summary of the Invention and Object: SIt is an object of the present invention to provide a 00000a low speed lawn comber, thatcher or power rake of simple yet effective construction. This is achieved by the adoption of 0 springy tines, rather than rigid flails, which are secured to a rotatable supporting member in a simple and inexpensive manner.

The invention provides an implement for removing material lying on the ground comprising a support carrying a multiplicity of outwardly extending tines, each tine comprising a length of spring wire formed to be resiliently flexible adjacent one end of the tine, said support having a multiplicity of bores, each of which receives one end of a tine in an undeformed state, and a clamping means for engaging said one end of said tines in said bores in a manner which deforms said one u end into a recess to positively retain said tines in said bores.

tbspe.053/oechsle 91 1 23 -3- The invention also provides an attachment for an existing driven implement comprising a support having a multiplicity of rows of substantially radially extending tines extending therefrom, each tine comprising a length of spring wire formed to be resiliently flexible adjacent one end of the tine, said support having a multiplicity of bores, each of which So receives one end of a tine in an undeformed state, and a clamping 000 0 o0 means for engaging aaid one end of said tines in said bores in o 0 0 0 0 0 oo a manner which deforms said one end into a recess to positively 1' retain said tines in said bores.

0 00 00 0 0 o The support may comprise a drum to the surface of which 00 0 u 0 the tines may be attached in rows extending in a generally angular or helical path along the drum, each row being so spaced 0 from its adjacent row that at least one of said tines is 6 0 substantially always in contact with the ground in use whereby 00 0 the tines act as a driving mechanism for the implement.

000000 0 In one presently preferred form of the invention, two drums are adapted for securement to a cultivating machine, such 00 00 0 0 as a Masport "Home Gardener", in a manner described in greater 00 0 O" detail below. Alternatively, the drums may be modified for attachment to any other form of driven implement capable of supporting such an attachment.

If desired, a guard can be fitted to the implement to protect the user and the drive mechanism against the removed thatch material and other debris which is flicked by the spring tines.

It will be appreciated from the above that the preferred tbspe.053/oechsle 91 1 23 4 attachment described is not only simple and inexpensive in construction but also operates to transport the implement to which it is attached over the lawn or other surface being treated. Since the tines are resiliently flexible intermediate their ends, the likelihood of the tines damaging the lawn is reduced and their flexibility ensures that the tines are not damaged by engaging foreign matter in the lawn, and the implement o"r" driving the attachment proceeds more smoothly over the surface C0 0 So being treated. Furthermore, the "flicking" action of the tines o 00 :3Qo ensures that the thatch is removed from the tines, so the tines 0 0 t 0 are effectively self-cleaning, and the tines are securely o0 1 0 attached to the support by the simple and inexpensive clamping means described.

Since the attachments maybe secured to an existing io implement, the cost to the user is significantly reduced thereby 0 0 a 0 0 enabling any home gardener to perform lawn combing or thatching, even if a tilling machine has to be purchased. The advantage of such an arrangement is that the driven implement is also usable for its primary purpose and accordingly an expensive single purpose machine does not need to be purchased.

Brief Description of the Drawings: One presently preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a lawn comber attachment embodying the invention fitted to a power driven implement thereto, c A Figure 2 is an end elevation of the attachment; L S u Figure 3 is a sectional front view of the attachment, tbspe.053/oechsle 91 1 2 5 and Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation of one tine of the attachment.

Description of Preferred Embodiment: As shown in the drawings, the lawn combing/power rake attachment embodying the invention comprises a pair of supports in the form of drums 1 to each of which four supporting bars 2, 3, 4 and 5, each supporting a multiplicity of radially extending tines 6, are secured, such as by welding, each bar 2, 3, 4 and 1~Q9 5 extending along the length of each drum 1 in a generally helical path. The supporting bars 2 to 5, and thus the rows of tines supported thereby, are spaced from each other so that the o end of each row at one end of the drum is at least tangential to the end of the adjacent row at the opposite end of the drum. As o will be noted from Figure 4 of the drawings, each tine 6 is o formed with a coiled spring portion 7 adjacent one end which is received in bores 8 formed in the supporting bars 2 to 5 and is 0 secured in position by means of a clamping grub screw 8a. Since the screw 8a slightly bends the end of each tine 6 into a recess or counterbore 8b opposite each screw 8a as shown in Fig. 4, the tines 6 are securely attached to their drums notwithstanding the forces applied thereto by the tines engaging the ground. The tines 6 are formed from galvanised or stainless steel spring wire to provide the necessary resilience in each wire via the spring portions 7.

Each drum 1 has a pair of spaced centre-alignment brackets 9 and 1O secured inside the drum 1, each bracket having .a centre-alignment opening and being positioned to tbspe.053/oechsle 91 1 2 1 2 3 4 6 7 0 0, 00 o 0 o 0 8 o0 0 9 a o o S0. 10 0* 0 12 0 0o 3 13 0 0 o 14 o OP 15 oo a 16 17 0 0 18 19 21 22 23 24 26 27 28 29 6 engage a coupling C forming part of the driven implement I, which, in the present embodiment, is a Masport "Home Gardener". As shown most clearly in Figure 3 of the drawings, a pair of drums 1 is attached to the implement I by means of a bracing shaft S which passes through the centre-alignment brackets 9 and 10 and is secured by means of a hand wheel nut N which is supplied with the implement I. Thus, when the drums 1 are secured to the implement, the pins P formed on the coupling C engage the innermost centrealignment brackets 9 of each drum 1 and the implement therefore rotates the drums about a generally horizontal axis.

To protect the user against flying debris removed by the spring tines 6, a shaped guard G is attached to the main drive shaft housing of the implement I by means of a generally rectangular U-shaped bracket B.

In use, the tines 6 engage the lawn or other surface to be treated and rotation of the drums by the implement I causes the implement to move across the surface being treated. The intensity of combing is controlled by the relative speed of implement and the operator who restrains movement of the implement to ensure that the required 'combing' action is achieved. Since the rows of tines 6 are arranged in the manner described above, at least one tine 6 is always in engagement with the ground so that the implement I is moved across the surface to be treated. The provision of spring portions 7 in each tine 6 also ensures that damage to the the tines 6 by foreign matter in the lawn is kept to a minimum and that the tines operate to remove 890201,1tbspe.032,oechsle.spe, 7 1 2 3 4 6 7 0 08 o n o 1 0 0 0 8 o0 0 o 0 o 11 0 0 12 13 P e 00 0 o o0 14 0 0f0 Do o 0o 16 17 o 00o000 18 0 0 19 the dead grass or thatch from the lawn in an efficient manner. The tines operate with a "flicking" action which not only removes the dead grass or thatch from the ground but also from the tines, so the tines are effectively selfcleaning.

It will be appreciated from the above that the drum attachments embodying the invention are relatively inexpensive and since they may be fitted to an existing implement, the total cost of the resulting comber/power rake would be within the reach of the average home gardener.

Although the invention has been described in relation to one particular type of implement, it should be appreciated that the attachments embodying the invention may be modified to suit other driven implements. Alternatively, a lawn comber/power rake may be constructed as a single purpose implement of any required dimensions and still be less expensive than the single purpose implements discussed above.

The claims form part of the disclosure of this specification.

890201,'tbspe.032,oechsle.spe,

Claims

8- THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. An implement for removing material lying on the ground comprising a support carrying a multiplicity of outwardly extending tines, each tine comprising a length of spring wire formed to be resiliently flexible adjacent one end of the tine, said support having a multiplicity of bores, each, of which receives one end of a tine in an undeformed state, and a clamping 0 0 00 O o0 means for engaging said one end of said tines in said bores in 0 oo o00 a manner which deforms said one end into a recess to positively 0 0 0 0 0 1~ retain said tines in said bores. o 0 o0 0 o' 2. The implement of claim 1, wherein said support is 0 q o adapted for rotation in a generally horizontal orientation, said tines being arranged in rows, each row extending in a generally ooo angular or helical path along the support, each row being so o000 5loo spaced from its adjacent row that at least one of said tines is 00 0 o substantially always in contact with the ground in use whereby 0 o 0 the tines act as a driving mechanism for the implement. o 3. An attachment for an existing driven implement 00 0 0 So comprising a support having a multiplicity of rows of 00 0 o 0 0 o substantially radially extending tines extending therefrom, each tine comprising a length of spring wire formed to be resiliently flexible adjacent one end of the tine, said support having a multiplicity of bores, each of which receives one end of a tine in an undeformed state, and a clamping means for engaging said one end of said tines in said bores in a manner which deforms said one end into a recess to positively retain said tines in said bores. 4. The attachment of claim 3, wherein said tines are arranged in rows, each row extending in a generally angular or tbspe.053/oechsle 91 1 23 -9- helical path along the support, each row being so spaced from its adjacent row such that in use one of said tines is substantially always in contact with the ground in use whereby the tines act as a driving mechanism for the implement, each tine being formed such that it is resiliently flexible intermediate its ends. The implement according to claim 1 or 2, or the g oo0 attachment according to claim 3 or 4, wherein said support is a oo0 0 000 0 o o drum and each row of tines comprises a supporting bar member 0 00 0oo. attached to the surface of the drum and formed with a 0 0 0 0 0 0 multiplicity of radially extending holes dimensioned to receive 0 0 0 o0 the innermost ends of said tines. 00 0 S 0 0 6. The implement of the attachment of any preceding claim, wherein said clamping means comprises a clamping screw engaging o a threaded hole which is formed in said support and intersects 0 0 15°01g one of said bores, said recess being opposite each clamping screw 00 0 0 to allow said one end of each tine to be laterally deformed by 000000 0 a said clamping screw to ensure positive securement of said tines o to said support. 09 00 0 00 0 °o 7. The implement or the attachment of any preceding claim, 00 0 0 0 0 wherein said clamping means is substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings. 8. The implement or the attachment according to claim wherein said support includes at least one centre alignment bracket formed to receive a supporting shaft for securing said support to a driving mechanism.
9. The implement or the attachment according to claim 8 wherein said driving mechanism comprises a driven implement A having a central power output means to which pairs of coupling tbspe.053/oechsle 91 1 23 I- 10 means are attached, and a said support attached to each of said coupling means and held in position by a central shaft held in place by a removable attachment fitting engaging a further alignment bracket attached inside each support adjacent their outermost ends. The implement or the attachment according to any R 4 preceding claim, wherein each tine is formed with a helical spring portion at a position adjacent the innermost end of each tine.
11. An implement according to any preceding claim, further comprising a guard attached to said implement to protect the user S and implement against flying debris.
12. The implement or attachment according to any preceding oo claim, wherein each support is constructed and adapted to operate o O substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the o00 accompanying drawings.
13. A lawn combing/thatching attachment for a driven S implement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference S to the accompanying drawings. DATED this January 23, 1991 SMITH SHELSTON BEADLE Fellows Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: WALTER OECHSLE QiO tbspe.053/oechsle 91 1 23 1