Apparatus for cutting vegetation with incremental feeding of cutting filament
First Claim
1. A vegetation cutting apparatus of the filament type comprising a cutter head including a spindle adapted to be rotatably driven, a keyway in said spindle extending axially of said spindle, a key member carried by said spindle and slidably movable in said keyway, a clutch means coaxially mounted on said spindle, a spool mounted on said spindle for storing the filament, at least one filament stored on said spool, said spool being carried by and lying radially outwardly of said clutch means whereby said clutch means and said spool rotatably move as a unit, means normally biasing said key member into driving engagement with said clutch means whereby normally said spindle rotatably drives said clutch means through said key member to thereby rotatably drive said spool, means for imparting axial movement to said key member along said keyway against said biasing means whereby to move said key member out of driving relation with respect to said clutch means, and thus whereby to transitorily interrupt the rotatable drive connection from said spindle to said spool through said clutch means, whereby to permit relative rotation between said spool and said spindle, and thus whereby to permit an increment of said filament to be fed by centrifugal force from said spool.
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Abstract
A vegetation cutting apparatus of the filament type comprising a cutter head including a spindle adapted to be rotatably driven, a keyway in the spindle extending axially of the spindle, and a key member carried by the spindle and slidably movable in the keyway. A clutch means is coaxially mounted on the spindle, and a filament storage spool is mounted on the spindle, the spool being carried by and lying radially outwardly of the clutch means, whereby the clutch means and the spool rotatably move as a unit. A spring means normally biases the key member into driving relation with the clutch means whereby normally the spindle rotatably drives the clutch means through the key member to rotatably drive the spool. A means such as a ground contact plunger operatively related to the key member, or, alternatively, an operating rod operatively related to the key member and actuated by a cable or the like, imparts axial movement to the key member along the keyway against the spring means to move the key member out of driving relation to the clutch means to permit relative rotation between the spool and the spindle and thus to permit an increment of the filament to be fed by centrifugal force from the spool.
52 Citations
32 Claims
- 1. A vegetation cutting apparatus of the filament type comprising a cutter head including a spindle adapted to be rotatably driven, a keyway in said spindle extending axially of said spindle, a key member carried by said spindle and slidably movable in said keyway, a clutch means coaxially mounted on said spindle, a spool mounted on said spindle for storing the filament, at least one filament stored on said spool, said spool being carried by and lying radially outwardly of said clutch means whereby said clutch means and said spool rotatably move as a unit, means normally biasing said key member into driving engagement with said clutch means whereby normally said spindle rotatably drives said clutch means through said key member to thereby rotatably drive said spool, means for imparting axial movement to said key member along said keyway against said biasing means whereby to move said key member out of driving relation with respect to said clutch means, and thus whereby to transitorily interrupt the rotatable drive connection from said spindle to said spool through said clutch means, whereby to permit relative rotation between said spool and said spindle, and thus whereby to permit an increment of said filament to be fed by centrifugal force from said spool.
- 17. A vegetation cutting apparatus of the filament type comprising a cutter head including a spindle adapted to be rotatably driven, a keyway in said spindle extending axially of said spindle, a key member carried by said spindle and slidably movable in said keyway, a clutch means coaxially mounted on said spindle, a spool mounted on said spindle for storing the filament, at least one filament stored on said spool, said spool being carried by and lying radially outwardly of said clutch means whereby said clutch means and said spool rotatably move as a unit, said key member being movable into driving engagement with said clutch means whereby normally said spindle rotatably drives said clutch means through said key member to thereby rotatably drive said spool, a ground contact plunger carried by said spindle and engageable with the ground, said ground contact plunger being mounted for limited axial movement relative to said spindle, means interrelating said key member and said ground contact plunger whereby axial movement of said ground contact plunger is imparted to said key member, spring means biasing said ground contact plunger in a normally downward axial direction relative to said spindle to thereby also normally bias said key member in a downward direction into driving engagement with said clutch member, whereby "bumping" movement of said ground contact plunger against the ground is effective to move said key member upwardly against the biasing force of said spring means out of driving engagement with said clutch means, and thus whereby to permit an increment of said filament to be fed by centrifugal force from said spool.
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28. A vegetation cutting apparatus of the filament type comprising a cutter head including a spindle adapted to be rotatably driven, a keyway in said spindle extending axially of said spindle, a key member carried by said spindle and slidably movable in said keyway, a clutch means coaxially mounted on said spindle, a spool mounted on said spindle for storing the filament, said spool being keyed to and lying radially outwardly of said clutch means, means normally biasing said key member into driving engagement with said clutch means whereby normally said spindle rotatably drives said clutch means through said key member to thereby rotatably drive said spool, means for imparting axial movement to said key member along said keyway against said biasing means whereby to move said key member out of driving relation with respect to said clutch means, and thus whereby to transitorily interrupt the rotatable drive connection from said spindle to said spool through said clutch means whereby to permit an increment of said filament to be fed by centrifugal force from said spool, and a circular cover plate mounted on said spindle beneath said spool, said cover plate being provided with saw-like teeth on its outer periphery for cutting heavy growth of vegetation.
Specification