Rotary lawn mower with removable mulching attachment
First Claim
1. A rotary lawn mower comprising,a housing including a top wall and a downwardly depending sidewall, and having a discharge chute opening formed in its peripheral portion,wheel means supporting the housing for movement over a support surface,a rotary blade supported for rotation in a plane generally parallel to the supporting surface and spaced below the top wall of the housing, the rotary blade including an airfoil portion for creating a flow of air upwardly and around the inner peripheral portion of the housing from beneath the plane of the blade for lifting the grass to be cut and for conveying the clippings around the housing and outwardly through the discharge chute opening,drive means for driving said rotary blade,an annular mulching liner mounted within the housing, said mulching liner including an upwardly extending, substantially circular skirt portion extending in contiguous relation with the inner surface of said sidewall within said housing throughout at least a substantial portion of its circumference, and a top panel extending inwardly from the top of said skirt beneath said top wall and above the path of said rotary blade, said top panel having a central opening extending therethrough,said drive means including a generally vertical shaft extending downwardly through said housing and said central opening and supporting said rotary blade for rotation in said plane, andattaching means for releasably retaining said mulching liner within said housing with said liner extending over and effectively blocking said discharge chute opening to permit operating the mower as a mulching mower,said attaching means being releasable to permit removal of said mulching liner to enable lawn clippings to be discharged through said chute opening,and wherein said multing liner has guide means for directing clippings inwardly toward said central opening.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A rotary lawn mower apparatus including a mower housing and an annular muing liner attachment mounted within the mower housing and extending above the rotating cutter blade. The mulching liner includes integrally formed guide vanes for directing the clippings inwardly toward the center of the mower housing where they pass downwardly through the plane of the rotating cutter blade to be finely mulched and propelled below the cutting plane onto the ground for maximum mulching efficiency.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A rotary lawn mower comprising,
a housing including a top wall and a downwardly depending sidewall, and having a discharge chute opening formed in its peripheral portion, wheel means supporting the housing for movement over a support surface, a rotary blade supported for rotation in a plane generally parallel to the supporting surface and spaced below the top wall of the housing, the rotary blade including an airfoil portion for creating a flow of air upwardly and around the inner peripheral portion of the housing from beneath the plane of the blade for lifting the grass to be cut and for conveying the clippings around the housing and outwardly through the discharge chute opening, drive means for driving said rotary blade, an annular mulching liner mounted within the housing, said mulching liner including an upwardly extending, substantially circular skirt portion extending in contiguous relation with the inner surface of said sidewall within said housing throughout at least a substantial portion of its circumference, and a top panel extending inwardly from the top of said skirt beneath said top wall and above the path of said rotary blade, said top panel having a central opening extending therethrough, said drive means including a generally vertical shaft extending downwardly through said housing and said central opening and supporting said rotary blade for rotation in said plane, and attaching means for releasably retaining said mulching liner within said housing with said liner extending over and effectively blocking said discharge chute opening to permit operating the mower as a mulching mower, said attaching means being releasable to permit removal of said mulching liner to enable lawn clippings to be discharged through said chute opening, and wherein said multing liner has guide means for directing clippings inwardly toward said central opening.
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11. A rotary lawn mower comprising,
a housing including a top wall and a downwardly depending sidewall, wheel means supporting the housing for movement over a supporting surface, a rotary blade supported for rotation in a plane generally parallel to the supporting surface and spaced below the top wall of the housing, the rotary blade including an airfoil portion for creating a flow of air upwardly and around the inner peripheral portion of the housing from beneath the plane of the blade for lifting the grass to be cut and for conveying the clippings around the housing, drive means for driving said rotary blade, an annular mulching liner mounted within the housing, said mulching liner including, an upwardly extending substantially circular skirt portion extending in contiguous relation with the inner surface of said sidewall within said housing throughout at least a substantial portion of the circumference of said liner, a top panel extending inwardly from the top of said skirt beneath said top wall and above the path of said cutter blade, said top panel having a central opening extending therethrough, and a plurality of guide vanes each having a generally vertical guide surface spiralling inwardly from said skirt in the direction of rotation of said blade, said vanes being rigidly joined with said skirt and said top panel, and said drive means including a generally vertical shaft extending downwardly through said housing and said central opening and supporting said cutter blade.
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16. A mulching attachment for use with a rotary lawn mower of the type having a cutter blade supported on a substantially vertical shaft for rotation in a generally horizontal path beneath a housing including a top wall, a downwardly depending substantially circular sidewall, and a discharge chute opening formed in its peripheral portion, and wherein lawn clippings cut by the rotating blade are normally propelled through the chute opening by air currents created by the rotating blade, said mulching attachment comprising,
a ring-shaped housing liner including an annular top panel having a central opening therein and a downwardly depending substantially circular skirt dimensioned to fit within and extend in closely spaced relation to the sidewall of the mower housing throughout at least a substantial portion of its circumference, said top panel including a generally flat, annular body portion extending radially inward from the top of said skirt, and a downwardly inclined portion extending inwardly from the inner periphery of said body portion, said body portion being adapted to underlie the outer peripheral portion of the top wall of the mower housing, said top panel being adapted to engage the top wall of the mower housing inwardly from said body portion, attaching means for releasably securing said liner in position within the mower housing, said liner extending over and blocking the discharge chute when installed in the housing, and wherein said housing liner further includes guide means for directing lawn clippings inwardly towards said central opening.
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23. A mulching attachment for use in a blade housing of a lawn mower of the type having a rotary cutting blade moveable in a generally horizontal plane beneath a top wall of the housing;
- the attachment including a top panel adapted to be attached in the blade housing to underlie the top wall of the housing and overlie the blade, and means for guiding grass clippings inwardly of the attachment including a plurality of guide vanes located at angularly spaced locations about the top panel and depending from the top panel and extending inwardly from an outer portion of the top panel.
- View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
Specification