Brush cutting head with internally housed drive and bearing assembly

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to brush cutters and to brush cutting heads therefor, and more specifically, to brush cutting heads having internally housed drive and bearing assemblies. The brush cutting head includes a hollow support body having a first end, an opposed second end, an outer surface and an inner surface. The inner surface of the support body defines a hollow which extends between the first and second ends of the support body. Also provided is a drive and bearing assembly housed at least partially within the hollow of the support body. The drive and bearing assembly includes a drive block mounted to extend within the hollow of the support body at the first end thereof. The drive block includes a motor provided with a torque transmitting driveshaft. A first coupling assembly is connected to the driveshaft of the motor and the support body. The first coupling assembly is operable to transmit the torque produced by the motor to the support body to thereby urge rotation of the brush cutting head. The drive and bearing assembly further includes a second coupling assembly mounted to extend within the hollow of the support body at the second end thereof. The second coupling assembly has a first end and a second end. The second end of the coupling assembly is fixedly attached to the support body. The second coupling assembly includes a bearing support member, a bearing assembly housed within the bearing support member and a coupling member. The bearing assembly is mounted in surrounding relation with a portion of the coupling member to thereby allow free rotation of the coupling member relative to the bearing support member.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.