GB2186774A - Garden tool - Google Patents

Abstract

A garden tool comprises a cutting head 3 having two oppositely directed cutting edges 2, the head 3 including a pivot point 4 located between said edges to which pivot point 4 means for mounting a tool handle 6 is connected. The tool can be used as a hoe when either pushed or pulled over the soil surface and the pivot allows efficient working irrespective of the user's height. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Garden tool This invention relates to a garden tool. It relates particularly to a tool of the hoe type which is intended for use in loosening soil and scraping up weeds etc.

The conventional design of garden hoe such as the Dutch hoe can be used only with a pushing action on the cutting blade to loosen soil in the upper soil layer. Similarly, the Draw hoe can be used only for the action of pulling soil towards the user. In both of these tools, the location of the relevant cutting edge is fixed relative to the line of the handle of the hoe. This provision has the effect that whatever may be the magnitude of the optimum cutting angle that is built into the tool design, the angle achieved in practical use of the tool will vary depending on the height at which the user holds the tool handle. This height will thus vary from one user to another according to the user's height. The optimum cutting angle is therefore likely to be achieved only by a user of one particular height.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a garden hoe in which the cutting angle at which the tool blade is applied to the soil layer can be a constant value irrespective of the height of the tool user.

According to the invention, there is provided a garden tool comprising a cutting head having two oppositely directed cutting edges, the head including a pivot point located between said edges to which pivot point means for mounting a tool handle is connected.

Preferably, the two cutting adges are located on a web portion such that one of said edges will provide a hoeing action when the said tool is pushed and the other of the edges will act when the tool is pulled. The hoeing action is thus able to be effected by both pushing and pulling actions to the tool handle.

The cutting edge which is in operation at one particular moment will thus be supported relative to the soil surface by another part of the web portion. In this way on a level soil surface, the cutting angle may be maintained at an optimum angle during continuous use of the tool.

Conveniently, the pivot point for the tool handle is located at a point above the soil surface. This helps to prevent the soil obstructing operation of the pivot and possibly causing excessive wear.

The web portion may be of an inverted vee shape between the cutting edges. A suitable base angle for the vee shape is 40".

By way of example, some particular embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the garden tool, Figure 2 is a plan view of the tool head, Figure 3 is an end elevation of the view of Fig. 2, Figure 4 is a side elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 3 partly in cross-section, Figures 5 and 6 are end and side elevations of a different embodiment.

As depicted in Fig. 1, the garden tool comprises a cutting head 1 having two cutting edges 2 which are joined together by a web portion 3. The web portion 3 is provided with a pivot point 4 where a tool handle 6 is attached to the cutting head 1.

The means by which the handle 6 is attached to the cutting head 1 can be seen more clearly in Figs. 2 and 3. The handle 6 is provided with a thin spindle 7 which passes through an elongated hole 8 in the head 1 and is secured in a cylindrical retainer 9. As shown in Fig. 3, the retainer 9 is located within an upper apex part of the web portion 3 and the hole 8 then allows the handle to be moved over a limited angle in the plane of the paper (Fig. 3) but the handle cannot be tilted significantly out of this plane. In Fig. 3, the angle A is about 40".

Fig. 4 which is partly a cross sectional view shows that the cylindrical retainer 9 is formed from a thin-walled metal tube which has been deformed in a centrai portion and then flattened to provide a plane surface. The resulting surface is then pierced to enable an end of the spindle 7 to be passed through and the spindle 7 end is then welded to the retainer 9. The resulting joint between the handle 6 and the cutting head 1 has thus rather a loose clearance but this has been found to be most suitable in preventing any tendency for soil particles to be retained since the handle movement encourages the particles to fall away from the joint. The spaces 11 on each side of the spindle 7 also assist the self-cleaning action.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a different embodiment where the spindle 7 is formed of solid material. This allows a very robust construction but the manufacturing cost is likely to be higher. In Fig. 5, the angle at which the cutting edges 2 are directed into the soil surface, as indicated by the angle B, is about 10 . The sharpening angle of the cutting adges 2, as indicated by the angle C, is about 15 .

The cutting head 1 is seen to include two internal walis 12 which define window openings and which are located in a position above the cutting edges 2. The purpose of these window openings is to allow soil which has been lifted by the cutting edges 2 to fall free of the tool head so that any soil lumps will tend to break up and provide a finely divided surface texture. This will thus assist the formation of a fine tilth for seeding a flower bed, for example.

The material used for construction of the hoe is preferably a stainless steel, although a mild steel has also been used.

In operation of the hoe of the invention, it has been found to have a slight tendency to drive itself into the soil when it is pushed towards a plant or pulled up from behind a plant. It can also be used to entrap stones and garden debris and to pull this material towards the user for removal from the soil surface. The hoe locates itself positively on the soil surface so that it can permit accurate loosening of the surface around plant stems in a flower bed. Since the angle of the cutting head is self-adjusting relative to the handle, the tool can be used with equal ease to hoe in a position at the feet of the user, to hoe on a raised flower bed or on an inclined bank.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has been given by way of example only and a number of modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, it is not essential that the cutting head should include a single window opening on each side. In a different embodiment, there could be two or more window openings on each side.

Claims (6)

1. A garden tool comprising a cutting head having two oppositely directed cutting edges, the head including a pivot point located between said edges to wich pivot point means for mounting a tool handle is connected.

2. A tool as claimed in Claim 1, in which the two cutting edges are located on a web portion such that one of said edges will provide a hoeing action when the said tool is pushed and the other of the edges will act similarly when the tool is pulled.

3. A tool as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, in which the pivot point for the handle is located above the soil surface in the normal working attitude of the tool.

4. A tool as claimed in Claim 2 or 3, in which the said web portion is formed as an inverted vee shape between the said cutting edges.

5. A tool as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, in which the said pivot point cooperates with a cylindrical retainer which is attached by a spindle to tool handle mounting means.

6. A garden tool substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings.