Cutter housing assembly for a lawnmower, lawnmower having same, and convertible lawnmower

A cutter housing assembly for a lawnmower comprising:

• a cutter housing that includes a cutting chamber, with a discharge opening, a blade spindle for supporting a cutting blade, a top wall, and a slot that extends through the top wall;
• a driving mechanism that is mounted on the cutter housing, and the driving mechanism includes a motor;
• a radius arm mounted on the top wall of the cutter housing and configured to rotate about a blade spindle axis;
• and
• a shutter gate that is curved in shape, and the shutter gate is mounted on the radius arm so as to rotate with the radius arm about the blade spindle axis, and the shutter gate includes a continuous wall that passes through the slot,
• the shutter gate rotatable between (a) a discharge position in which the continuous wall of the shutter gate is positioned relative to the discharge opening to provide a first gap associated with the first discharge opening, and (b) a mulch position in which the continuous wall of the shutter gate is located relative to the discharge opening to provide a decreased gap, relative to the first gap, associated with the first discharge opening, wherein
• the shutter gate includes a driven element, which is disposed above the top wall;
• and
• the driving mechanism is operatively engaged with the driven element to cause the shutter gate to rotate when the driving mechanism is actuated.

A lawnmower comprising:

• a prime mover that provides power to the lawnmower;
• and
• at least one cutter housing assembly, and each cutter housing assembly including:
• a cutter housing that includes a cutting chamber, with a discharge opening, a blade spindle for supporting a cutting blade, a top wall that extends across the cutting chamber, and a slot that extends through the top wall;
• a driving mechanism that is mounted on the cutter housing;
• a radius arm mounted on the cutter housing and configured to rotate about a blade spindle axis;
• and
• a shutter gate that is arcuate in shape and is mounted on the radius arm so as to rotate with the radius arm between
• (a) a discharge position in which the shutter gate is located relative to the discharge opening to provide a first gap associated with the first discharge opening, and
• (b) a mulch position in which the shutter gate is located relative to the discharge opening to provide a decreased gap, relative to the first gap, associated with the first discharge opening, wherein
• the shutter gate includes a driven element provided at an upper portion of the shutter gate, and the driving mechanism is engaged with the driven element to cause the shutter gate to rotate when the driving mechanism is actuated, and
• the shutter gate passes through the slot such that the shutter gate is positioned inside the cutting chamber and above the top wall in each of the discharge position and the mulch position.