GB2308048A - Lawn mower cover - Google Patents

Description

LAWN MOWERS This invention relates to lawn mowers and particularly to safety devices for mounting on existing lawn mowers or building into original equipment.

Conventional lawn mowers typically include a chassis supporting a rotatably mounted blade unit and a handle that extends upwardly from the rear of the chassis for an operator to hold to guide the lawn mower when in use.

Depending on the design, sometimes a grass-collecting unit is also removably mounted on the chassis to collect the grass cut from a lawn by the blade unit when mowing.

Many known mowers are now motorised, in which case the chassis also supports an engine or the like which drives the rotation of the blade unit.

Lawn trimming is generally found to be a laborious and time-consuming task, particularly in circumstances where the grass to be cut is growing on uneven ground and/or where loose material such as sticks or stones are scattered over its surface.

When trimming grass on such terrain, any loose material in the path of the lawn mower is generally taken up by the rotating blade unit and then propelled into the grass-collecting unit, if present, or otherwise propelled out of the mower with the grass-cuttings.

Impact of the cutting blades with loose material such as sticks and stones can damage the blade unit, blunt the blades thereof and cause damage to the grass-collecting unit, if present, and accordingly decrease the efficiency of the mower and increase maintenance costs, if operation of the lawn mower is to be maintained at an efficient and reliable level.

Furthermore, in the case of a lawn mower which does not include a grass-collecting unit the propulsion of solid objects such as stones etc. from the blade unit can be hazardous and/or cause discomfort or even injury if propelled toward the operator.

In order to minimise the risk of the lawn mower blades impacting loose sticks, stones etc., the area to be trimmed may be initially raked substantially to clear such loose material from the path of the lawn mower.

However, such a preliminary raking step clearly increases the time and labour required to trim a lawn or the like.

The present invention seeks to provide a mower, or an attachment for an existing mower, which addresses those problems encountered when mowing grass grown on ground having loose material scattered over its surface.

According to a first feature of the present invention there is provided, in a lawn mower comprising a body, a blade unit for trimming grass located on the underside of the body and means for driving the blade unit in rotation to effect grass-cutting, a cover mounted on the body, the cover comprising a substantially hollow housing having at its lower edge in use a flange extending therefrom, the cover being mounted on the body such that the housing overlays at least a portion of the body and the flange extends beyond at least the edge of the body which leads in use, the housing being sized to locate the flange adjacent the ground on which the mower rests, and the flange being adapted substantially to clear loose material from the ground as the lawn mower is moved forward in use.

Most preferably at least the leading part of the flange of the cover is pivotally secured to the housing enabling it at least to be raised or lowered relative to the remainder of the housing. Conventional hinges are suitable for this purpose. Such a hinged flange allows efficient clearing of loose material and freedom of movement of the lawn mower no matter how the relief of the ground varies when mowing a lawn. Further flexibility may be provided by mounting the housing on the body such that the flange (and the remainder of the skirt of the housing, whether flanged or not) engages the ground to provide an all-round or substantially all round barrier against the ejection of e.g. small twigs or stones which are not swept out of the way by the flange as the mower moves forwards.

The cover may be particularly adapted as to size and shape so that the position and method of discharge of cut grass from the blade unit can be accommodated and in particular to allow cut grass out from under the cover.

If the mower is of such a type as to generate exhaust gasses, such as a mower including a petrol motor, the cover may be adapted to enable exhaustion of the exhaust grasses from under the cover.

The cover may be of any suitable size and shape adapted for any particular type of lawn mower body. Preferably the mounting is loose to allow the cover to skim the terrain as the mower moves forward.

Preferably the shape of the flange at the leading edge of the housing is such that in use at least the forward peripheral edge of the flange substantially skims the ground and the flange then rises slightly rearwardly to merge with the main housing along a substantially concave curve. It has been found that such a flange efficiently clears loose material from the ground by an action akin to a snow-plough, depositing it to one side of the path of the cutting blade.

An additional advantage of the present invention is that the flange and housing not only clear loose material scattered on the surface of the lawn in front of the lawnmower, but also serves to deflect any plants, trees or other items over hanging the lawn to be cut. This has an additional advantage that the plants or trees would not be damaged by the mowing operation.

It is preferable that the housing is of a shape and size which substantially covers the body of the lawn mower.

Clearly if the body is one which supports an engine or the like, such a cover will greatly reduce the engine noise when using the lawn mower. Furthermore, when the lawn mower is not in use, a cover whose housing substantially covers the body will provide protection against the weather and general wear and tear.

To allow access to the body parts of the lawn mower, such as the blade unit and engine etc., for cleaning and maintenance, it is preferable that the cover is removably mounted on the body of lawn mower. Any temporary securing means are suitable for this purpose such as springs, pins, elastic straps with clips, chains, the securing means being preferably able to let the cover move somewhat relatively to the body.

The cover is preferably composed of a light-weight resilient plastics material.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a mower safety cover which, assembled on to a mower, forms a mower as set out above.

The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic representation of the side view of a lawn mower bearing a cover according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows a front view of the lawn mower of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a plan view of the lawn mower of Figure 1 bearing an alternative embodiment of cover, and Figure 4 shows a plan view of the lawn mower of Figure 1 bearing a further alternative embodiment of cover.

With reference to Figure 1 a conventional lawn mower 2 consists of a chassis 4 supporting an engine 6. The shaft 8 of a handle (not shown) is secured to and extends upwardly from the rear end 10 of the chassis 4. The chassis 4 is carried on four wheels 12. A blade unit (not shown) is rotatably mounted beneath the chassis 4, driven in rotation by engine 6. The rotational movement of the blades trims the grass in use in the conventional manner.

A cover 14 mounted on the chassis 4 is temporarily secured in position using conventional spring-mounted clips (not shown). The cover is secured loosely such that it does not rest against the chassis. The cover 14 consists of a hollow housing 16 and flange 18. As can be clearly seen from both Figures 1 and 2 the hollow housing is configured as a dome which is of a size to accommodate most of chassis 4, the engine unit 6 and wheels 12. This domed cover 14 greatly reduces the engine noise when the mower is used and when stored provides protection for the chassis 4 and engine 6 against the weather and general wear and tear.

As can be seen most clearly from Figure 1 the flange 18 extends beyond the front end 20 of the chassis 4. The upper surface 24 of the flange is concave and its peripheral lower edge 26 is at ground level.

When the lawn mower is in use the operator walks behind the lawn mower holding onto the handle (not shown) and pushes the lawn mower along the ground in the direction shown by arrow 22.

Since cover 14 is secured to the chassis 4, the cover moves with the lawn mower and the peripheral edge 26 of the cover skims along the ground. The flange acts in a manner akin to a snow-plough scooping up and pushing forward any loose material encountered, so clearing the path ahead of the following blade unit (not shown) supported by the body. The occurrence of impact of loose material by the blade unit is accordingly substantially reduced.

To facilitate freedom of movement of the lawn mower bearing such a cover and to ensure that loose stones are reliably cleared however the relief of the ground varies, the flange 18 is hinged along line 28 to the housing 16.

As can be seen most clearly from Figure 1, the hinges (not shown) allow the flange 18 to rise or fall as generally indicated by arrow 30 as the relief of the ground necessitates. In addition to this rise or fall of the leading edge of flange 18, the entire cover 14 may rise or fall slightly if loosely mounted on the chassis 4, for example by being engaged over a plurality of parallel vertical extending posts mounted on the chassis and passing through loose-fitting holes in the cover.

In an alternative embodiment, the flange 18 may be mounted onto housing 16 by way of a pair of pivots, not shown, located at either end of flange 18 and attached to housing 16. The pivots being substantially co-axial and having a substantially horizontal axis of rotation. In this particular embodiment flange 18 is so configured that when flange 18 pivots about the pivots toward housing 16 a portion of flange 18 overlies a portion of housing 16.

With reference to Figure 3, a modified cover 14 consists of a flange 18 and housing 16 which does not overly the engine unit 6. Such a cover may be necessary for some types of lawn mower, where ventilation of the engine is particularly important for instance.

With reference to Figure 4, a further embodiment of cover 14 consists essentially of just over half of the cover shown in Figure 3. This version is suitable for those types of lawn mower having an exhaust protruding from the left side of the chassis as shown in Figure. Of course for those lawn mowers having an exhaust on the right side of the chassis an appropriately opposite handed cover may be used.

It will be appreciated therefore that a cover according to the present invention provides an effective means for clearing loose material from the path of a lawn mower whilst trimming the lawn simultaneously with that lawn mower.

Claims (6)

1. In a lawn mower comprising a body, a blade unit for trimming grass located on the underside of the body and means for driving the blade unit in rotation to effect grass-cutting, a cover mounted on the body, the cover comprising a substantially hollow housing having at its lower edge in use a flange extending therefrom, the cover being mounted on the body such that the housing overlays at least a portion of the body and the flange extends beyond at least the edge of the body which leads in use, the housing being sized to locate the flange adjacent the ground on which the mower rests, and the flange being adapted substantially to clear loose material from the ground as the lawn mower is moved forward in use.

2. A lawn mower according to Claim 1 wherein at least the leading part of the flange is pivotally secured to the remainder of the housing permitting vertical movement of the peripheral edge of the flange relative to the housing.

3. A lawn mower according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein at least the forward peripheral edge of the flange substantially contacts the ground and the flange then rises slightly rearwardly to merge with the main housing along a substantially concave curve.

4. A lawn mower according to any preceding claim wherein the housing is configured substantially to cover the body of the lawn mower.

5. A lawn mower according to any preceding claim wherein the cover is removably mounted on the body.

6. A cover for a lawn mower comprising a substantially hollow housing having a flange extending therefrom for mounting on a body of a lawn mower to provide a lawn mower according to any preceding claim.