GB2414914A

GB2414914A - Grass collection receptacle

Info

Publication number: GB2414914A
Application number: GB0412761A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Zwolinski
Original assignee: Electrolux Outdoor Products Ltd
Current assignee: Husqvarna UK Ltd
Priority date: 2004-06-08
Filing date: 2004-06-08
Publication date: 2005-12-14
Anticipated expiration: 2024-06-08
Also published as: GB2414914B; GB0412761D0

Abstract

A grass collection receptacle 11 for a lawnmower is made, at least partially, from a flexible elastomeric material. The receptacle may be formed in two parts, a first part 11b formed from a flexible elastomeric material and a second part 11a formed from a rigid thermoplastics material. The two parts may be connected together via tags 12 and apertures 13 cooperating in an interference fit. The first flexible part 11b may be shaped and reinforced by a wire or rod frame. The first flexible part 11b may also have apertures 15 formed in its side and rear walls.

Description

Grass Collection Receptacle This invention relates to a grass collection

receptacle for a lawnmower.

A traditional design of lawnmower is shown in Figure 1, this lawnmower having a deck 1 supported by wheels 2. The deck 1 is downwardly-open to ground datum, and defines a cutting chamber (not shown) housing a cutting blade (not shown) which is rotatable about a vertical axis. A motor (not shown) is mounted above the deck 1, and is housed within a hood 3. The motor, which may be an electric motor or a petrol engine, drives the cutting blade for rotation in a substantially horizontal plane. Handles 4 are fixed to the deck I for controlling and steering the lawnmower. A grass-box S is fixed to the lawnmower at the rear of the deck 1, the deck being formed with an exit chute (not shown) leading to the grass-box, through which chute, grass cut by the cutting blade is thrown into the grass-box. The grass- box 5 is detachably mounted to the rear of the deck 1, to facilitate emptying of collected grass cuttings.

This type of grass-box is usually manufactured as a hollow box made of injection moulded plastics material. The grass-box has walls that are perforated with small holes, to permit the stream of air carrying the grass cuttings from the cutting chamber of the lawnmower to pass out of the grass-box, whilst the grass cuttings themselves remain trapped inside the grass-box. The choice of plastics material selected for the manufacture of the grass-box 5 is usually based on a suitable combination of rigidity, impact strength and cost. Typically, this type of grass-box is manufactured in two parts, which are then assembled together to form the complete box - closed on all sides except one, this being the side facing the rear of the lawnmower when the grass-box is attached to the lawnmower. This open end of the grass-box thus constitutes an entrance for grass cut by the cutting blade, as well an exit through which cut grass can be emptied after the grass-box has been removed from the lawnmower.

The advantages of this type of grass-box construction are its simplicity, strength, ease of carrying (a carrying handle being incorporated in the design), light weight and low cost. Additionally, users can easily clean the grass-box after use, since any grass cuttings remaining in the grassbox can simply be brushed off and tipped out.

Another known type of grass collection receptacle, preferred by some manufacturers, uses a woven fabric material rather than an injection moulded plastics material. This woven material is cut and stitched into a shape representing a bag. Such a bag, however, has little or no selfdefining shape, and tends to require additional material to create a suitably well-defined container shape. This additional material usually takes the form of a wire frame, a carrying handle, and a rigid base or floor tray.

The main advantage of this woven fabric grass collection receptacle is that, due to its inherent flexibility, it can be squashed down to a small size when not in use, thereby reducing the space required for its storage. A similar benefit is also realised during transportation of the product from the factory to the customer, so that a complete lawnmower/product can be packaged in a smaller container. Additionally, when in use, it is often easier to empty such a flexible grass collection receptacle, as the collected grass cuttings can be encouraged to leave the exit opening by pushing from the outside of the bag through its flexible walls.

The main disadvantage of a fabric grass collection receptacle of this type is that, due to the number of different components that go into the complete design, its cost is comparatively high, both from a consideration of the cost of the components, and in respect of the assembly time required to join the components together. An additional disadvantage that the user may experience is that, owing to the nature of the flexible material, grass cuttings tend to remain trapped in folds in the grass bag material after emptying. As a result, when the lawnmower and the grass bag are put away for storage, this remaining grass debris has a tendency to decompose into an unpleasant moulding matter. This mouldy grass is not only smelly and unsightly, but the mould also tends to spread onto, and live on, the fabric of the bag itself.

The aim of the invention is to provide a grass-box that combines the advantages of the two types of grass collection receptacle described above, whilst eliminating their disadvantages.

The present invention provides a grass collection receptacle for a lawnmower, the receptacle being made, at least partially, from a flexible elastomeric material.

In a preferred embodiment, the flexible elastomeric material is a thermoplastic elastomer that is formed using an injection moulding process, and the thermoplastic elastomer is formed with a plurality of apertures during the injection moulding process.

Preferably, the receptacle is of two-part construction, a first part being manufactured using a flexible elastomeric material, the second part being manufactured using a rigid thermoplastics material. Conveniently, the second part is an injection moulded part.

Advantageously, the two parts of the grass-box are joined together by inter-engageable connectors provided on the two parts. Preferably, the second part is formed with outwardly-extending tags along one edge thereof, and the first part is formed with complementary apertures along one edge thereof, the tags each being an interference fit within a corresponding aperture.

Alternatively, the first part may constitute an overmoulded part with respect to the second part.

In another preferred embodiment, the shape of the grass-box is defined by a container made of a flexible elastomeric material, the container being reinforced by a frame made from a rigid material. The frame may be made from a rigid wire or rod.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a known type of grass-box attached to a wheeled rotary lawnmower; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a grass-box constructed in accordance with the invention; Figure 3 is a side elevation of the grass-box of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a side elevation, similar to that of Figure 3, showing the grass-box in a S compressed, non-use configuration; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a debris container and an associated garden leaf collector, the debris container being constructed in accordance with the invention.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 2 shows a grass-box 11 of two-part construction, having a first, upper portion lla made of a rigid, injection moulded plastics material such as polypropylene or high density polyethylene, and a lower portion 1 lb made of a flexible thermoplastic elastomer such as styrene block copolymer or thermoplastic polyurethane. This family of materials is more commonly known as man-made rubber.

The lower edge portion of the upper part 1 lb is moulded with outwardlyprojecting tags 12, and the upper edge portion of the lower part Fib is formed with complementary apertures 13 which are a tight interference fit over the tags, so that the two parts can be fitted together to form the grass-box 11 as shown in Figure 2.

The upper grass-box part 1 la is formed with an integral handle 14 in its upper surface, and the lower part 1 lb is provided with a plurality of apertures 15 in each of its side walls, and also in its rear wall. As shown in Figure 2, the front end of the grass-box 11 defines an opening 16 which, in use, surrounds the exit chute of a lawnmower to which the grass-box is attached.

It will be apparent that modifications could be made to the grass-box 11 described above. Thus, instead of joining the two portions 1 la and 1 lb together using tags 12 and apertures 13, the lower portion could be overmoulded onto the upper portion.

Alternatively, substantially the entire grass-box could be made of a thermoplastic elastomer which is two shot moulded onto one or more rigid parts made of plastics material, thereby to create a soft grass bag with a rigid frame or a rigid base plate, for example. This alternative would be particularly suitable where the inherent flexibility of the thermoplastic elastomer material is unsuitable for a particular design of lawnmower.

It will also be apparent that the materials from which the two grass bag portions lla and 11 b are made could be varied. Thus, the material of the rigid portion 1 la could be any thermoplastic material whose flexural modulus (which is a measure stiffness) is in the range of 1000 - 2500 Mpa, the thermoplastic elastomer typically having a flexural modulus of less than 200 Mpa.

The principal of injection moulding a perforated collection bag made from a thermoplastic elastomer material may also be applied to other gardening or agricultural products, such as scarifiers, vacunrn leaf collectors, shredders, or crop harvesting and fruit picking apparatus. For example, as shown in Figure 5, a perforated collection bag 21 made from a thermoplastic elastomer material may be attached at the exit chute of a vacuum leaf collector 22 by means of inter-engageable connectors formed on the rim of the bag and the body of the collector surrounding the exit chute. Consequently, the term "grass collection receptacle" as used throughout this specification should be taken to mean a receptacle for collecting not only grass cuttings, but other garden debris such as leaves, scarified debris etc. It will be apparent that the principle of using a flexible thermoplastic elastomer for constructing at least the major part of a grass-box could be used to manufacture any type of grass-box, the invention not being restricted to the rear-mounted type of grass-box described above with reference to Figures 2 to 4. In particular, the invention is applicable to a grass-box of the type which is mounted within the body of a lawnmower above the cutting chamber. Such a lawnmower could be either a rotary wheeled lawnmower or a hover mower.

Claims

Claims 1. A grass collection receptacle for a lawnmower, the receptacle

being made, at least partially, from a flexible elastomeric material.
2. A receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexible elastomeric material is a thermoplastic elastomer that is formed using an injection moulding process.
3. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the thermoplastic elastomer is formed with a plurality of apertures during the injection moulding process.
4. A receptacle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the receptacle is of two-part construction, a first part being manufactured using a flexible elastomeric material, the second part being manufactured using a rigid thermoplastics material.
5. A receptacle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the second part is an injection moulded part.
6. A receptacle as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the two parts of the grass-box are joined together by inter-engageable connectors provided on the two parts.
7. A receptacle as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second part is formed with outwardly-extending tags along one edge thereof, and the first part is formed with complementary apertures along one edge thereof, the tags each being an interference fit within a corresponding aperture.
8. A receptacle as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the first part constitutes an overmoulded part with respect to the second part.
9. A collector as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the shape of the grass-box is defined by a container made of a flexible elastomeric material, the container being reinforced by a frame made from a rigid material.
10. A receptacle as claimed in claim 9, wherein the frame is made from a rigid wire or rod.
11. A lawnmower provided with a grass collection receptacle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10.
12. Leaf-collecting apparatus provided with a receptacle as claimed in claim 1, claim 2, claim 9 or claim 10.