US 12,520,753 B2Granted

Foldable handles for high-efficiency turf maintenance tool

AssigneeMTD Products Inc

InventorAdam Hiller

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Abstract

A turf maintenance apparatus having folding handles facilitating compact storage is presented herein. The folding handles can be compressed or extended to adjust overall length and can rotate between an extended operator position and a folded storage position. Depending on implementation, the folding handles can be locked in the folded storage position and can also lock in the extended operator position. One or more operator presence devices can disable operation of a motor or engine when deactivated. A first operator presence device can deactivate operation of the motor or engine when the folding handles are not locked in the extended operator position, and a second operator presence device can deactivate operation of the motor or engine absent an operator maintaining activation of the second operator presence device.

Claims25

Dependent claims

A walk-behind grass mowing apparatus, comprising:

a mow deck formed within or secured to a support structure;
at least one front wheel and at least one rear wheel secured to the support structure;
a plurality of blades rotatably secured within the mow deck;
a prime mover secured to the support structure and, when activated, providing mechanical force to the plurality of blades;
and
an operator handle secured to the support structure by a fastener at a rotation axis, wherein the fastener facilitates rotation of the operator handle between an extended position and a folded position and prevents translation of the operator handle away from the rotation axis, the operator handle further comprises a locking mechanism and an actuator, the locking mechanism including a lower locking mechanism and an operator handle locking mechanism, wherein:
the extended position orients the operator handle at a position above and behind the mow deck,
the extended position is configured to lengthen to a fully extended position and shorten to a compressed position,
in a fully compressed position of the extended position an upper handle portion of the operator handle is locked relative a lower handle portion by the operator handle locking mechanism and is unlocked from the fully compressed position in response to activation of the actuator,
in the compressed position the operator handle is configured to rotate between the folded position and the extended position, and
in the folded position the operator handle is locked in the folded position on a top surface of the frame via the lower locking mechanism positioned at least in part near the rotation axis of the operator handle, and is unlocked from the folded position in response to activation of the actuator.

8 more elements

An operator handle for a turf maintenance apparatus, comprising:

an upper handle portion comprising an operator grip;
a lower handle portion comprising a mount hole and a lower plunger having a lower plunger slide range, wherein:
the lower plunger comprises a slide range portion defining the lower plunger slide range that extends through an opening in a bottom end of the lower handle portion into an interior of the lower handle portion;
the mount hole and the lower plunger slide range at least in part overlap and house a fastener that secures the lower handle portion to the turf maintenance apparatus;
the lower plunger is configured to slide within the interior of the lower handle portion a distance related to a length of the lower plunger slide range;
the lower plunger further comprises a lower handle foot that extends out from the opening in the bottom end of the lower handle portion to an exterior thereof a variable distance defined in part by the lower plunger slide range;
the lower handle portion is configured to rotate about the fastener at a rotation point coincident with the mount hole;
and
a locking mechanism located near a top of the lower handle portion comprising an actuator and an actuator arm, wherein the actuator arm is configured to lock the upper handle portion in an extended position with respect to the lower handle portion and wherein the actuator is configured to release the actuator arm and unlock the upper handle portion to move relative the lower handle portion.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/849,136Filed 24 Jun 2022 · us provisional application
Priority: 24 Jun 2021
Published: US 2022/0408640 A129 Dec 2022
Granted: 13 Jan 2026
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

A01D 34/824
Other details: handle arrangements
A01D 34/68
Hand-guided by a walking operator: with motor driven cutters or wheels
A01D 34/6818
Driving mechanisms: motor starting mechanisms
A01D 34/78
Driving mechanisms for the cutters: electric