GB2115666A

GB2115666A - Lawn mower accessory

Info

Publication number: GB2115666A
Application number: GB08206394A
Authority: GB
Inventors: George Edward Valler
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-03-04
Filing date: 1982-03-04
Publication date: 1983-09-14
Also published as: GB2115666B

Abstract

A spiking accessory for a lawn mower comprises a shaft (16) mounting a plurality of rotatable tines (14) and a pair of rollers (12) for limiting penetration of the tines into the ground. The assembly may be mounted, as a unit, on a lawn mower, in place of the conventional support rollers of the mower and may be mounted in advance or rearwardly of the cutting device of the mower. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Lawn mower accessory This invention relates to an accessory for use in conjunction with a lawn mower for the purpose of conditioning lawns. In particular, the invention is concerned with a ground spiking or perforating accessory.

In order to maintain a lawn in good condition, periodic spiking is considered essential. This can be done by means of a garden fork but tends to be laborious and time consuming. Varidus forms of spiking devices have therefore been proposed in the past to simplify the task but such devices tend to be expensive and occupy a relatively large amount of storage space, especially considering their infrequent use.

The object of the present invention is to provide a lawn mower equipped with an accessory which eliminates the need for a separate self-contained spiking device and allows spiking to be performed quickly and effortlessly at a low capital outlay.

Moreover the device need only occupy minimum storage space.

According to the present invention there is provided a spiking accessory for a lawn mower, said accessory being either dismountable from the mower and/or adapted to be mounted on the mower so as to be movable between operative and inoperative positions.

Thus, for example, the spiking accessory may be mounted removably as a unit on the mower so that, when in place on the mower, it performs its spiking action as the mower is moved over the lawn and, when removed, the mower can be used for its normal function.

Preferably the spiking accessory comprises a series of spiking members mounted for rotation about a common axis and means is provided for limiting the extent to which said members can penetrate the ground. In the preferred embodiment, the spiking accessory conveniently includes one or more small rollers adjacent spiking members so as to limit the depth of penetration of the latter.

The spiking accessory may be mounted either in advance or rearwardly of the cutting device of the mower. In the preferred embodiment, the spiking accessory is adapted to be mounted in place of the conventional support rollers provided at the front of a conventional cylinder-type mower so that the mower can be used either with the conventional support rollers when normal mowing is required or with the spiking accessory when lawn spiking is required.

In the latter event, the mower may be adjusted to raise its cutting device so that the movement of the mower for the purpose of spiking the lawn is not unduly impeded by the cutting device; however, it is conceivable for spiking and grass cutting to be done at the same time.

Where the spiking accessory is mounted in advance of the cutting cylinder in a cylinder-type mower, the heavy roller of the mower will pass over the spiked areas as the mower advances.

Although at face value this may appear to be detrimental to the spiking action, it is in fact considered advisable to roll after spiking and, indeed, professional gardeners normally spike the lawn and then roll it. Thus, the preferred embodiment affords the advantage of spiking and rolling in one operation.

By arranging for the spiking accessory of the present invention to be interchangeable with the conventional support rollers, actual mounting and dismounting of the spiking accessory is a relatively simple task. In an alternative embodiment, the spiking accessory may be mounted rearwardly of the cutting device (and main roller) e.g. by way of a mounting assembly connectible to the handle assembly of the mower. If desired, irrespective of whether the accessory is located in advance or rearwardly of the cutting device, the accessory may be mounted permanently on the mower in which case it will be movable selectively between an operative ground-engaging position and an inoperative position in which it does not impede normal mowing.

Each spiking member conveniently comprises a number of tines spaced equally around the axis of rotation and each tine may be configured so as to have a slicing action as it penetrates through the ground. For this purpose, the spiking members are conveniently formed from metal sheet, plate or strip and their tines conveniently have obliquelyextending leading edges such that the tines each penetrate and subsequently resurface from the ground in a progressive manner during rotation of the spiking member.

To promote further understanding of the invention, one embodiment will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 -is a view of the spiking assembly in accordance with the invention mounted on the support arms of a lawn mower; and Figure 2 is a side view showing one of the spiking members.

Referring now to the drawings, the arms 10 constitute the conventional arms of a cylindertype lawn mower which are used for adjustably mounting the front support rollers through the agency of a shaft which journals the rollers. In accordance with the invention, the conventional front support roller assembly of the mower is replaced by a spiking assembly comprising two support rollers 1 2 (which may be conventional plastic rollers) and a series of spiking members 14 all journalled on a shaft 16 which is connected to the arms 10 at a desired height.

Each spiking member 14 comprises a central plate 1 8 formed with a number of equally spaced tines 20 and provided with sleeves 22 through which the shaft 1 6 extends. The spiking member 14 may comprise a single blank 1 8 or alternatively two blanks of parallelogrammic configuration secured together at right angles. The leading edges of the tines are indicated by reference numeral 24 and the direction of rotation (when the mower is pushed forwardly) is depicted by the arrow A. It will be observed that the leading edges 24 of the tines are more obliquely inclined than the trailing edges 26 so that the tines slice through the ground without tending to dig up the ground as the traiiing edges resurface. The tines project radially beyond the rollers 1 2 and the latter serve to limit penetration of the tines, which would otherwise tend to bury into the ground.

It will be appreciated that after spiking has been completed using the mower to traverse the spiking assembly across the lawn, the spiking assembly can be readily dismounted and replaced by the conventional support roller assembly of the mower.

Claims

1. A spiking accessory for a lawn mower, said accessory being either dismountable from the mower and/or adapted to be mounted on the mower so as to be movable between operative and inoperative positions.

2. An accessory as claimed in Claim 1 comprising a series of spiking members mounted for rotation about a common axis and means for limiting the extent to which said members can penetrate the ground.

3. An accessory as claimed in Claim 2 wherein said penetration limiting means comprises one or more rollers adjacent spiking members.

4. An accessory as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 in which the accessory is adapted to be mounted in place of the conventional support rollers provided at the front of a conventional cylinder-type mower.

5. An accessory as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 adapted to be mounted rearwardly of the cutting device of the lawn mower.

6. An accessory as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5 mounted on the mower for movement selectively between an operative ground-engaging position and an inoperative position in which it does not impede normal mowing.

7. An accessory as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 6 comprising a number of tines constituting spiking members, said tines being spaced equally around the axis of rotation.

8. An accessory as claimed in Claim 7 in which each tine is configured so as to have a slicing action as it penetrates through the ground.

9. An accessory as claimed in Claim 7 or 8 in which the tines have obliquely extending leading edges with respect to the axis of rotation so that the tines each penetrate and subsequently resurface from the ground in a progressive manner during rotation of the spiking member.

10. An accessory as claimed in Claim 1 comprising a mounting shaft adapted to be mounted on a lawn mower, a series of tines mounted rotatably on the shaft in axially spaced apart relation and a pair of rollers disposed adjacent the end of the shaft so as to limit penetration of the tines into the ground.

11. An accessory as claimed in Claim 10 in which each tine comprises a star-shaped metal plate.

12. An accessory as claimed in Claim 11 in which each tine includes an integral sleeve portion through which the shaft extends.

13. A lawn mower provided with an accessory as claimed in any one of Claims 1-11.

14. A lawn mower spiking accessory substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

New claims or amendments to claims filed on 20/4/83.

Superseded claims: All claims New or amended claims:

1. A spiking accessory for a lawn mower, comprising a series of spiking members mounted for rotation about a common axis and support roller means for limiting the extent to which said members can penetrate the ground, said support roller means being rotatable about said common axis.

2. An accessory as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said roller means comprises at least two support rollers.

3. An accessory as claimed in Claim 1 comprising a mounting shaft adapted to be mounted on a lawn mower, a series of tines mounted rotatably on the shaft in axially spaced apart relation and a pair of support rollers disposed one adjacent each end of the shaft so as to limit penetration of the tines into the ground.

4. An accessory as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 2 or 3 comprising a number of tines constituting spiking members, said tines being spaced equally around the axis of rotation.

5. An accessory as claimed in Claim 4 in which each tine is configured so as to have a slicing action as it penetrates through the ground.

6. An accessory as claimed in Claim 4 or 5 in which the tines have obliquely extending leading edges with respect to the axis of rotation so that the tines each penetrate and subsequently resurface from the ground in a progressive manner during rotation of the spiking member.

7. An accessory as claimed in any one of Claims 1-6 in which each spiking member comprises a star-shaped metal plate.

8. An accessory as claimed in Claim 7 when appendant to Clairn 6 in which each metal plate is secured to an integral sleeve portion through which the shaft extends.

9. In combination, a lawn mower and an accessory as claimed in any one of Claims 1-8.

10. The combination claimed in Claim 9 in which the lawn mower is of the cylinder-type with front support rollers and the accessory is adapted to be mounted in place of the front support rollers of the mower.

11. The combination claimed in Claim 9 in which the accessory is adapted to be mounted rearwardly of the cutting device of the lawn mower.

12. The combination claimed in any one of Claims 9-11 in which the accessory is adapted to be mounted on the mower for movement selectively between an operative ground-engaging position and an inoperative position in which it does not impede normal mowing.

13. A method of adapting a lawn mower for use in effecting spiking of a lawn, wherein the lawn mower includes a pair of arms for mounting support rollers, said method comprising dismounting said support rollers from said arms and mounting in place thereof a spiking accessory as claimed in any one of Claims 1-8.