Yard-care machine
First Claim
1. In a yard-care machine having a shroud and a cutting blade rotating in the shroud about an axis of rotation for removing the top portions of blades of grass, the improvement wherein:
- the shroud includes an upper chamber and a lower chamber;
the lower chamber has a first dimension measured generally normally to the axis and the cutting blade rotates in the lower chamber;
the machine has a restricting area between the chambers and generally in registry with the axis of rotation;
the restricting area has a second dimension measured generally normally to the axis and the second dimension is less than the first dimension;
at least one rotating mulching blade is at the restricting area and comminutes the top portions into finely divided grass particles,whereby the top portions are converted to lawn-enriching mulch.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The new yard-care machine includes features of a mower, a mulching mower and a branch chipper. Such machine has a cutting blade in an enlarged lower blade chamber and a fan and a chipper plate in an enlarged upper fan chamber. A restriction separates the chambers and a leaf and grass-comminuting mulching blade is interposed in the restriction between the blade and the plate. The machine shroud has an exhaust port equipped with an optional diffuser for spreading finely-divided mulch on a lawn. The shroud also has an opening through which branches can be introduced to the chipper plate. The resulting branch chips are exhausted into a collection bag. Manual and self-propelled ("walk behind" or riding) versions and various embodiments are disclosed.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. In a yard-care machine having a shroud and a cutting blade rotating in the shroud about an axis of rotation for removing the top portions of blades of grass, the improvement wherein:
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the shroud includes an upper chamber and a lower chamber; the lower chamber has a first dimension measured generally normally to the axis and the cutting blade rotates in the lower chamber; the machine has a restricting area between the chambers and generally in registry with the axis of rotation; the restricting area has a second dimension measured generally normally to the axis and the second dimension is less than the first dimension; at least one rotating mulching blade is at the restricting area and comminutes the top portions into finely divided grass particles, whereby the top portions are converted to lawn-enriching mulch. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. In a yard-care machine having a cutting blade for removing the top portions of blades of grass, the improvement comprising:
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a machine shroud having a shroud opening and an exhaust port; a fan spaced above the cutting blade for urging air through the port; and a chipping plate for comminuting branches introduced through the opening, thereby forming branch chips, whereby branches may be reduced to chips and exhausted through the port. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. In a yard-care machine having a rotating cutting blade for removing the top portions of blades of grass, the improvement comprising:
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at least one rotating mulching blade spaced from the cutting blade and comminuting-the top portions into finely divided grass particles, and wherein; the cutting blade rotates in a first chamber having a first dimension; the mulching blade rotates in a second chamber having a second dimension less than the first dimension; a shroud is spaced above the mulching blade and has an exhaust port therein; and a diffuser is positioned at the exhaust port, whereby top portions are converted to lawn-enriching mulch and diffused across the surface of a lawn. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. In a yard-care machine having a rotating cutting blade for removing the top portions of blades of grass, the improvement comprising:
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at least one rotating mulching blade spaced from the blade and comminuting the top portions into finely divided grass particles, and wherein; a shroud is spaced above the mulching blade; a chipping plate is interposed between the shroud and the mulching blade; and the shroud includes an opening for introducing branches into contact with the chipping plate. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. In a yard-care machine having a shroud and a cutting blade rotating in the shroud about an axis of rotation for removing the top portions of blades of grass, the improvement wherein:
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the shroud includes an upper chamber and a lower chamber; the machine has a restricting area between the chambers and generally in registry with the axis of rotation; at least one rotating mulching blade comminutes the top portions into finely divided grass particles; a portion of the shroud is spaced above the mulching blade and a chipping plate is interposed between the portion and the mulching blade; and the shroud portion has an opening therethrough for introducing branches into contact with the chipping plate. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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Specification