GB592692A - Apparatus for cutting grass, hedges, hay or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

592,692. Reapers; lawn-mowers; hedge-cutters. SMYTH, H. W. S. May 28, 1945, No. 13262. [Classes 6 (ii) and 6 (iii)] Apparatus for cutting grass and the like is characterised by one or more rigidly-mounted bars or similar unsharpened members arranged to be moved in a direction transversely of the longitudinal axis thereof so as to engage the stems at such speed, of the lower order of about 100 ft. per second, that such stems are parted by failure in mechanical shear. In the lawnmower shown, a cage comprising a pair of spaced-apart discs 5, a number of cutting bars 6 each extending between a pair of arms 8 slidable radially in guides on the discs 5 and clamped in position, and a shaft 4, is mounted on the frame 1. The cage is driven by a belt pulley 12 from an electric motor 11 at a high speed and on impact of said bars 6 on the stems to be cut the latter are parted by mechanical shear. In a modification, Fig. 3, the cage unit is applied to a hedge cutter, the cage 4, 5, 6 being driven by a flexible shaft 16 and being mounted in a casing fitted with a pair of handles 15. In a further modification, Figs. 5 and 6, not shown, a number of discs are arranged to rotate about a vertical axis in line across the front edge of the machine, each disc carrying two bars situated diametrically opposite each other, and displaced at right angles with respect to those of the adjacent disc. Drive taken from the power take-off shaft of a tractor pulling the machine. The Provisional Specification also describes constructions incorporating modified cutting elements and supports therefor, and states that the drive may be taken from the ground wheels.