WO2005004580A1

WO2005004580A1 - Safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn

Info

Publication number: WO2005004580A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/001766
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sang-Jun Lee
Original assignee: Sang-Jun Lee
Priority date: 2003-07-15
Filing date: 2004-07-15
Publication date: 2005-01-20
Also published as: KR100543672B1; KR20030064720A

Abstract

The blade guard for a lawn mower of the present invention can be easily engaged with a supporting bar in a body and stably installed on the surface of the land so as to cut grass evenly and safely. More particularly, the foldaway plant protection means formed on the upper portion of the cover facilitates protecting adjacent plants during the operation.

Description

SAFETY COVER OF LAWM MOWER CUTTER FOR MOWING THE LAWN

[Technical Field] The present invention relates to a safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn. More particularly, the invention relates to such a safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn, which can be simply attached to the supporting shaft of a conventional trimmer, and be placed stably on the ground to cut the grass with a constant height, as well as cut the grass or weeds without hurting the trees or flower plants, by means of a foldable tree protector fixed in the upper portion of the safety cover. [Background Art] Conventionally, tools such as a sickle and scythe have been used to trim the grass and weeds. However, in order to improve the performance and reduce the work time, recently an electricaly-powered trimmer has been developed and used. Although the electrically-powered trimmer is so powerful as to cut a great deal of grass and weeds in a short time, it has also brought out a safety problem in that the exposed cutting blade rotating with a high-speed can hit an obstacle like a stone, and this leads to injury of the operator by sputtering broken pieces, or results in a break-down of the machine. Moreover, since the conventional trimmer does not have separate means for spacing apart the cutting blade from the ground, this has brought an operating problem in that the operator needs to always lift the trimmer at a predetermined height. This tends to end up with uneven cut of the grass. depending on his or her workmanship, and thus spoils the beauty of the lawn. In addition, the conventional trimmer, as described above, cannot cut the grass evenly. Therefore, the user would have to continue seeking another improved machine, which leads to a financial burden.

[Disclosure of Invention] Accordingly, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems in the prior art, and it is an object of the invention to provide a safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn, in which the cutting blade is maintained spaced apart from the ground by a constant distance, thereby being able to cut the grass evenly in any direction. A further object of the invention is to provide a safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn, in which a foldable tree protector is fixed to the upper portion of the safety cover, thereby not hurting the trees or flower plants, together with its agreeable appearance. In order to accomplish the above objects, according to the invention, there is provided a safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn. The safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn, includes a) a spoke-like cover for supporting a cutting blade, the spoke-like cover being formed in a radial shape by bending and welding a plurality of fixing bars and a holding bar having a certain diameter, the fixing bars being spaced apart from one another; b) a fixing member for vertically contacting the fixing bar closely on the ground; and c) a tree protector formed in the holding bar in the upper portion of the spoke-like cover, the tree protector being operated in a foldable fashion. Preferably, an operating member formed in both sides of the holding bar is integrally fixed to the tree protector, and the tree protector is rotatably operated by the pulling force of a wire coupled to an actuating mechanism and the elastic working of a spring. The cutting blade accommodated inside the spoke-like cover is preferred to have a length less than the extended width of the tree protector when it is spread out. The safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn may further include a sliding plate. As described above, the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn can firmly support the cutting blade, which is rotated with a high speed, when in use. In addition, the operating height of the cutting blade is adjustable, which enables the operator to cut grass with any desired height from the ground, while moving it back-and-forth or left-and-right without much physical and mental efforts. Furthermore, when it is required to protect garden trees from the high-speed cutting blade, the operator can simply spread out the tree protector outward and cut the grass only, without hurting the valuable flower plants or garden trees.

[Brief Description of Drax-jings] Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a front plan view of the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a side plan view of the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a side plan view showing the operation of the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn in FIG. 1; FIGS. 6 (a) and 6(b) are perspective views showing the operating of the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn in FIG. 1; FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention, where a sliding plate is attached to the main part of the lawn mower.

[Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention] The preferred embodiments of the invention will be hereafter described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing according to one embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a front plan view of the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a side plan view of the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a side plan view showing the operation of the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn in FIG. 1, FIGS. 6 (a) and

6 (b) are perspective views showing the operating of the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn in FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention, where a sliding plate is attached to the main part of the lawn mower. First, referring to FIG. 1, a ground support extension 17, which forms a spoke-like cover 13, is shaped by bending and Argon welding a round rod with a certain diameter. Here, the grounding support extension 17 is formed in a radial shape relative to a fixing member 11 that is integrally formed with a supporting shaft 12. On the other hand, a ground support extension 17 made of a round stainless pipe has a resiliency by means of its bending angle, and thus is securely fixed to the end portion of the fixing member 11 by the argon welding. Furthermore, the plural ground support extensions 17 are spaced apart from one another and fixed to the fixing member 11 such that the spoke-like cover 13 can be formed. The fixing member 11 is integrally formed with the supporting shaft 12. Also, the fixing member 11 is detachably attached to the supporting shaft 12, and is constructed such that the distance from a cutting blade 18, which is formed at the end of the supporting shaft 12, can be adjusted. With the above-described construction, the ground support extension 17 is vertically in close contact with the ground such that the whole structure of the spoke-like cover 13 can come in close contact with the ground and its shape can be maintained. Thus, it can firmly support the cutting blade 18, which is rotated with a high speed when in use. On the other hand, it is preferred that the spoke-like cover 13 is formed in such a manner that its width is progressively increased toward the rear side thereof, thereby providing a more stable placement on the ground. At this time, the rotating radius of the cutting blade 18 must be considered. As shown in FIG. 2, a holding bar 14 is fixedly positioned above the ground support extension 17 forming the spoke-like cover 13. The holding bar 14 firmly supports the spoke-like cover 13, and also is connected to an operating member 16, which is formed at the both side of the holding bar 14. The operating member 16 formed at the both sides of the holding bar 14 is integrally fixed to a tree protector 15, and also is rotated by the elastic working of a spring. As shown in FIG.l, the upper part of holding bar 14 has a guide rod 22 with a wire 19 inserted therein, and the wire 19 is integrally fixed to the one side of the tree protector 15. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6(a), the wire 19 is connected to an actuating mechanism 23 mounted at the supporting shaft 12. As shown in FIG. 6(b), if the actuating mechanism 23 is moved to one side, the wire 19 is pulled up and then the tree protector 15 is pivoted upwards. Also, when the actuating mechanism 23 is returned to its original position, the wire 19 is released by means of the elastic working of a spring formed at the one side of the operation member and then the tree protector 15 is gently restored back to the original state, as shown in FIG. 6(a) . Therefore, when the tree protector 15 is spread out, as shown in FIG. 6(a), it enables the cutting blade 18, rotating with a high speed, to remain spaced apart from the trees adjacent thereto. That is, when the lawn mower 10 cuts the grass and weeds in a random fashion, the tree protector 15 is lifted up inside of the spoke-like cover 13, as shown in FIG. 6(b). When the lawn mower 10 needs to cut the grass without hurting flower plants and garden trees, the tree protector is to be spread out 1)

outwards, as shown in FIG. 6(a). At this time, it is preferable to set the length of the high-speed cutting blade 18 to be approximately 10mm shorter from the tree protector 15 when it is spread out. Therefore, the outwardly spread tree protector 15 hits the trees first when operating the lawn mower, so that the highspeed cutting blade can cut the grass evenly, without hurting the trees, the flower plants, or the like. The operation and effects of the invention having the above-described construction will be hereafter described in detail. First, as shown in FIG. 6(a), an operator connects the cutting blade 18, which is integrally formed with the supporting shaft 12, to the spoke-like cover 13. Then, the rotating power of a driving motor (not shown) is transmitted to the cutting blade 18 and rotates it with a high speed, so that the lawn mower 10 can cut the grass evenly. When the lawn mower 10 is operated, the cutting blade 18 accommodated within the spoke-like cover 13 remains spaced apart from the ground by a predetermined distance. Therefore, the cutting blade 18 can cut the grass and weeds trapped inside of the spoke-like cover 13 with a constant height from the ground. The operator can move the lawn mower 10 over a place to be cut by holding the supporting shaft 12 and moving it back and forth or left and right. In addition, the fixing member 11 formed at the one side of the spoke-like cover 13 can be released in order to adjust the height of the cutting blade 18 fixed to the end of supporting shaft 12. On the other hand, the spoke-like cover 13 has a radial shape extended from the fixing member 11 since the ground support extensions 17 are spaced apart from each other and attached to the fixing member 11. Furthermore, the ground of support extension 17 is vertically in contact with the ground such that the whole structure of the spoke-like cover 13 can come in close contact with the ground and its shape can be maintained. Thus, it can firmly support the cutting blade 18, which is rotated with a high speed when in use. In addition, the tree protector 15 formed at both sides of the holding bar 14, which constitutes the spoke-like cover 13, can be lifted up by using the actuating mechanism 23 connected thereto by the wire 19. As shown in FIG. 6(b), when it is lifted up, the lawn mower can cut the grass without any obstruct. As shown in FIG. 6(a), when the tree protector 15 is released by the elasctic working of a spring and spread out outward, the extended width of the tree protector 15 is larger than that of the cutting blade 18. Therefore, the tree protector 15 hits the trees first when the lawn mower approaches it, so that the high-speed cutting blade 18 can cut only the grass evenly,- without hurting the tree, the flower plants or the like. FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention, where a sliding plate is attached to the main part of the lawn mower. As shown in the FIG. 7, the additional attachment of the sliding plate 24 to the lawn mower 10 facilitates the sliding operation of the lawn mower in back-and-forth or left-and-right directions and this enables the operator to cut the grass more evenly. [Industrial Applicability] As a result, the lawn mower (10) according to the present invention can cut the grass trapped between the ground support extensions (17) by the rotation of the cutting blade 18, so that the operator can be free of any physical and mental efforts, which may be required in order to maintain a constant cutting height with a conventional trimmer. Furthermore, the safety cover according to the present invention can be simply assembled to any conventional trimmers, thereby reducing the cost and increasing the efficiency of grass-cutting . While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:

1. A safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn where the safety cover is provided at the one side of the rotating cutter, the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn comprising: a) a spoke-like cover for supporting a cutting blade, the spoke-like cover being formed in a radial shape by bending and welding a plurality of fixing bars and holding bar having a certain diameter, the fixing bars being spaced apart from one another; b) a fixing member for vertically contacting the fixing bar closely on the ground, the fixing member being spaced apart and formed in a spoke-like form; and c) a tree protector formed in the holding bar in the upper portion of the spoke-like cover, the tree protector being operated in a foldable fashion.

2. A safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn according to claim 1, wherein an operating member formed in both sides of the holding bar is integrally fixed to the tree protector, and the tree protector is rotatably operated by the pulling force of a wire coupled to an actuating mechanism and the elastic working of a spring.

3. A safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn according to claim 1, wherein the cutting blade accommodated inside the spoke-like cover has a length less than the extended width of the tree protector when it is spread out.

4. A safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn according to claims 1 to 3, wherein the safety cover of lawn mower cutter for mowing the lawn further comprises a sliding plate.