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US 12,022,771 B2Granted
Walk reel mower with pivotal shield
AssigneeThe Toro Company
InventorsGerald E. Goman, Robert D. Patton, Larry W. Schmidt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A walk reel mower has a pivotal rear traction drum that can be selectively disposed in two different mowing positions that allow a single mower to cut grass on golf course greens as well as tee boxes with no degradation in cutting or power performance. The reel cutting unit has a pivotal rear shield to allow the rear shield to be pivotally adjusted to maintain its radial spacing relative to the orbit of the reel at a desired amount as the reel diameter decreases due to wear.
Claims20
A reel mower, which comprises:
- (a) a frame supported for rolling over the ground, the frame having a pair of laterally spaced side plates;
- (b) a reel cutting unit carried by the frame, wherein the reel cutting unit comprises:
- a laterally extending cutting reel rotatably journalled between the side plates of the frame for rotation about a substantially horizontal rotational axis, the cutting reel having a plurality of blades;
- and
- (ii) a laterally extending bedknife extending between the side plates of the frame, the bedknife having a cutting edge that severs standing uncut grass in a shearing action as the blades of the cutting reel push the standing uncut grass against the cutting edge of the bedknife in a lower portion of a circular orbit of rotation of the cutting reel, the shearing action between the bedknife and the cutting reel creating grass clippings that are thrown generally rearwardly relative to the frame immediately after the grass clippings are generated by the shearing action;
- and
- (c) a laterally extending grass shield extending between the side plates of the frame, the grass shield having an arcuate portion extending approximately around at least an upper rear quadrant of the orbit of the cutting reel to redirect and discharge the grass clippings generally forwardly relative to the frame, the arcuate portion of the grass shield having a radial spacing of a desired predetermined amount relative to the upper rear quadrant of the orbit of the cutting reel;
- and
- wherein the entire grass shield is pivotally adjustable relative to the frame and relative to the reel cutting unit about a common, substantially horizontal pivot axis to achieve different operational positions to permit the arcuate portion of the shield to be pivoted in a direction that restores the radial spacing to the desired predetermined amount after the radial spacing has increased due to a reduction in a diameter of the cutting reel caused by wear of the cutting reel;
- wherein all operational positions of the grass shield provide a substantially continuous arcuate path for redirecting the path of clippings to eject forwardly relative to the frame.
7 more elements
A reel mower, which comprises:
- (a) a frame supported for rolling over the ground, the frame having a pair of laterally spaced side plates;
- (b) a reel cutting unit carried by the frame, wherein the reel cutting unit comprises:
- (i) a laterally extending cutting reel having a plurality of blades;
- and
- (ii) a laterally extending bedknife located at a lower portion of a circular orbit of rotation of the cutting reel;
- (c) a laterally extending grass shield pivotally supported by the frame, the grass shield having an arcuate portion extending approximately around at least an upper rear quadrant of the orbit of the cutting reel to redirect and discharge the grass clippings generally forwardly relative to the frame, wherein the entire grass shield is pivotally adjustable relative to the frame and relative to the reel cutting unit about a common, substantially horizontal pivot axis to achieve different operational positions, wherein all operational positions of the grass shield provide a substantially continuous arcuate path for redirecting the path of clippings to eject forwardly relative to the frame;
- and
- (d) a releasable lock mechanism securing the rotational position of the grass shield relative to the cutting reel, the releasable lock mechanism providing for adjustment of a spacing between the arcuate portion of the grass shield and the upper rear quadrant of the orbit of the cutting reel.
5 more elements
A reel mower, which comprises:
- (a) a frame supported for rolling over the ground, the frame having a pair of laterally spaced side plates;
- (b) a reel cutting unit carried by the frame, wherein the reel cutting unit comprises:
- (i) a laterally extending cutting reel rotatably journalled between the side plates of the frame for rotation about a substantially horizontal rotational axis, the cutting reel having a plurality of blades;
- and
- (ii) a laterally extending bedknife extending between the side plates of the frame, the bedknife having a cutting edge that severs standing uncut grass in a shearing action as the blades of the cutting reel push the standing uncut grass against the cutting edge of the bedknife in a lower portion of a circular orbit of rotation of the cutting reel, the shearing action between the bedknife and the cutting reel creating grass clippings that are thrown generally rearwardly relative to the frame immediately after the grass clippings are generated by the shearing action;
- and
- (c) a laterally extending grass shield extending between the side plates of the frame, the grass shield having an arcuate portion extending approximately around at least an upper rear quadrant of the orbit of the cutting reel to redirect and discharge the grass clippings generally forwardly relative to the frame, the arcuate portion of the grass shield having a radial spacing of a desired predetermined amount relative to the upper rear quadrant of the orbit of the cutting reel, and wherein the grass shield is pivotally adjustable, about a pivot rod, relative to the frame and relative to the reel cutting unit about a substantially horizontal pivot axis, defined by the pivot rod, to permit the arcuate portion of the shield to be pivoted in a direction that restores the radial spacing to the desired predetermined amount after the radial spacing has increased due to a reduction in a diameter of the cutting reel caused by wear of the cutting reel;
- and
- (d) a releasable lock mechanism for holding the grass shield in a desired pivotally adjusted position.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.