GB1580007A - Garden tools - Google Patents

Description

(54) AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR RELATING TO GARDEN TOOLS (71) We, W. TYZACK SONS & BR< TURNER LIMITED, a British Company, of Little London Works, Sheffield 8, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The invention relates to garden tools and has for its object to provide an improvement therein. In particular, it relates to a garden tool a ground working element of which can very quickly be changed, selectively, for any one of a plurality of other ground working elements.

According to the invention, there is provided a garden tool including a ground working element formed with a socket part; a shaft part with a tapered end for fitment in said socket part; and manually operable means for retaining said socket part on the tapered end of the shaft until it is desired to detach the ground working element from the shaft part, said means being constituted by a lever pivotally connected to the shaft, one end of the lever being provided with a projec- tion arranged to enter an aperture formed in the wall of the socket part and pressure producing means being provided for urging the projection into engagement with said aperture.The lever may be pivotally connected intermediate its ends to a lug projecting from the shaft and the pressure producing means may be constituted by a screw engaging a screwthread in the lever at its end remote from the projection arranged to engage the aperture formed in the wall of the socket part, an end of the screw abutting against the shaft part. The projection may be formed integrally with the lever and have the form of a flat plate or key element of tapering form in side view for entering an aperture in the form of a narrow notch, in the wall of the socket part. On the other hand, the projection may be constituted by the frusto-conical head of a stud which is connected to the one end of the lever, the aperture in the wall of the socket part in this case being a circular aperture.

A garden tool as described above may be provided in combination with a plurality of other ground working elements each formed with an apertured socket part, the arrangement being such that any one of the ground working elements can be fitted to the shaft part of the tool selectively.

In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig. 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a garden tool embodying the invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 and illustrating a possible modification, and Fig. 4 is a scrap view which will presently be referred to.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the garden tool there illustrated includes a ground working element 10 (in this case a fork element) formed with a frusto-conical socket part 12 and a shaft part 14 with a tapered end 16 shown fitted in said socket part.

Manually operable means, generally indicated 18, are provided for retaining the socket part of the ground working element on the tapered end of the shaft until it is desired to detach it for the fitment of a different ground working element. The means 18 are constituted by a lever 20 which is pivotally connected intermediate its ends, by a pivot pin 22, to a welded-on lug 24 projecting from the shaft. One end of the lever is provided with an integral projection 26. having the form of a flat plate or key element of tapering form in side view.The projection 26 is arranged to enter an aperture 28 in the form of a narrow notch in the wall of the socket part of the ground working element.Pressure producing means which are provided for urg ing the projection into engagement with the aperture 28 are in this case constituted by a screw 30 which engages a screwthread in the lever at its end remote from the projection 26, the end of the screw abutting against the shaft part. A relatively large knurled head 32 of the screw can be used to manually tighten the screw sufficiently to retain the ground working element on the shaft.

It will be understood that a plurality of other ground working elements will be provided, each formed with an apertured socket part so that any one of them can be fitted to the shaft part of the rool selectively. A set of such elements, in addition to the garden fork illustrated in Fig. 1, could comprise a garden spade and a hoe and could include other elements also.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in Figs 3 and 4 there is illustrated a modification in which, instead of the projection 26 having the form of a flat plate or key element it is constituted by the frusto-conical head of a stud 34 a shank portion of which has been press fitted in a hole drilled through the lever 20. In this case the aperture formed in the wall of the socket part is a plain drilled hole 36 but the head of the stud does not coincide exactly with the centre of the hole but is very slightly offset as shown in Fig. 4 so that the head of the stud always acts against one side of the hole.In this way it is ensured that despite the very slight dimensional variations which inevitably exist between the aperture socket parts of the various ground working elements which are to be used selectively on the same shaft, any one of the elements can be held firmly without play on the tapered end of the shaft. Furthermore, it will be understood that the pressure producing means are capable of considerable variation. For example, the screw 30 could be replaced by a coil compression spring or a block of rubber acting between the lever and the shaft.

The shaft part 14 which has been illustrated in the drawings has been made of metal tube swaged down at one end to form the tapered end 16. However, it will be understood that the entire shaft part need not necessarily be made of metal tube. The metal end part to which the lug 24 is welded could be provided with a plastics or wooden haft. Indeed, it would not be outside the scope of the invention for the shaft part to be made entirely of wood or plastics, but of course in this case the lug 24 would need to be provided with a woodscrew part for attachment to such a wooden handle or be otherwise secured (for examply by an adhesive) or be moulded integrally with such a plastics handle.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A garden tool including a ground working element formed with a socket part; a shaft part with a tapered end for fitment in said socket part; and manually operable means for retaining said socket part on the tapered end of the shaft until it is desired to detach the ground working element from the shaft part, said means being constituted by a lever pivotally connected to the shaft, one end of the lever being provided with a projection arranged to enter an aperture formed in the wall of the socket part and pressure producing means being provided for urging the projection into engagement with said aperture.

2. A garden tool according to claim 1, in which the lever is pivotally connected intermediate its ends to a lug projecting from the shaft.

3. A garden tool according to claim 2, in which the pressure producing means are constituted by a screw engaging a screw-thread in the lever at its end remote from the projection arranged to engage the aperture formed in the wall of the socket part, an end of the screw abutting against the shaft part.

4. A garden tool according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the projection is formed integrally with the lever and has the form of a flat plate or key element of tapering form in side view for entering an aperture in the form of a narrow notch in the wall of the socket part.

5. A garden tool according to any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the projection is constituted by the frusto-conical head of a stud which is connected to the one end of the lever, the aperture in the wall of the socket part being a circular aperture.

6. A garden tool according to any one of the preceding claims, in combination with a plurality of other ground working elements each formed with an apertured socket part, the arrangement being such that any one of the ground working elements can be fitted to the shaft part of the tool selectively.

7. A garden tool constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (7)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. ing the projection into engagement with the aperture 28 are in this case constituted by a screw 30 which engages a screwthread in the lever at its end remote from the projection 26, the end of the screw abutting against the shaft part. A relatively large knurled head 32 of the screw can be used to manually tighten the screw sufficiently to retain the ground working element on the shaft. It will be understood that a plurality of other ground working elements will be provided, each formed with an apertured socket part so that any one of them can be fitted to the shaft part of the rool selectively. A set of such elements, in addition to the garden fork illustrated in Fig. 1, could comprise a garden spade and a hoe and could include other elements also. Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in Figs 3 and 4 there is illustrated a modification in which, instead of the projection 26 having the form of a flat plate or key element it is constituted by the frusto-conical head of a stud 34 a shank portion of which has been press fitted in a hole drilled through the lever 20. In this case the aperture formed in the wall of the socket part is a plain drilled hole 36 but the head of the stud does not coincide exactly with the centre of the hole but is very slightly offset as shown in Fig. 4 so that the head of the stud always acts against one side of the hole.In this way it is ensured that despite the very slight dimensional variations which inevitably exist between the aperture socket parts of the various ground working elements which are to be used selectively on the same shaft, any one of the elements can be held firmly without play on the tapered end of the shaft. Furthermore, it will be understood that the pressure producing means are capable of considerable variation. For example, the screw 30 could be replaced by a coil compression spring or a block of rubber acting between the lever and the shaft. The shaft part 14 which has been illustrated in the drawings has been made of metal tube swaged down at one end to form the tapered end 16. However, it will be understood that the entire shaft part need not necessarily be made of metal tube. The metal end part to which the lug 24 is welded could be provided with a plastics or wooden haft. Indeed, it would not be outside the scope of the invention for the shaft part to be made entirely of wood or plastics, but of course in this case the lug 24 would need to be provided with a woodscrew part for attachment to such a wooden handle or be otherwise secured (for examply by an adhesive) or be moulded integrally with such a plastics handle. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A garden tool including a ground working element formed with a socket part; a shaft part with a tapered end for fitment in said socket part; and manually operable means for retaining said socket part on the tapered end of the shaft until it is desired to detach the ground working element from the shaft part, said means being constituted by a lever pivotally connected to the shaft, one end of the lever being provided with a projection arranged to enter an aperture formed in the wall of the socket part and pressure producing means being provided for urging the projection into engagement with said aperture.

2. A garden tool according to claim 1, in which the lever is pivotally connected intermediate its ends to a lug projecting from the shaft.

3. A garden tool according to claim 2, in which the pressure producing means are constituted by a screw engaging a screw-thread in the lever at its end remote from the projection arranged to engage the aperture formed in the wall of the socket part, an end of the screw abutting against the shaft part.

4. A garden tool according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the projection is formed integrally with the lever and has the form of a flat plate or key element of tapering form in side view for entering an aperture in the form of a narrow notch in the wall of the socket part.

5. A garden tool according to any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the projection is constituted by the frusto-conical head of a stud which is connected to the one end of the lever, the aperture in the wall of the socket part being a circular aperture.

6. A garden tool according to any one of the preceding claims, in combination with a plurality of other ground working elements each formed with an apertured socket part, the arrangement being such that any one of the ground working elements can be fitted to the shaft part of the tool selectively.

7. A garden tool constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.