Bottom side conveyor

A lawn mower comprising:

• a mow deck, the mow deck having
• a mow deck right side and a mow deck left side opposite from the mow deck right side and offset in a width direction by a mow deck width,
• a mow deck front and a mow deck back opposite from the mow deck front and offset in a depth direction by a mow deck depth,
• a mow deck top and a mow deck bottom opposite from the mow deck top and offset in a height direction by a mow deck height,
• a blade operable to generate cuttings during a mowing operation
• a side discharge aperture at either the mow deck left side or the mow deck right side, and adapted to permit outflow of a flow of the cuttings from the mow deck therethrough;
• a bottom side conveyor engaged with the lawn mower, the bottom side
• conveyor having,
• a housing, the housing having
• a front enclosure adapted for operational engagement with the side discharge aperture, the operational engagement adapted to facilitate the flow of cuttings generated by a mowing operation into the front enclosure, and
• a rear enclosure adapted to receive the flow of cuttings from the front enclosure, and
• a conveyor, the conveyor having,
• a first shaft, the first shaft being elongated in the width direction and adapted to rotate about a first axis extending in the width direction,
• a second shaft, the second shaft being elongated in the width direction and adapted to rotate about a second axis extending in the width direction, and
• a first belt loop extending around the first shaft and the second shaft, the first belt loop presenting a first conveyor surface which faces in both the front direction and the top direction.

A method of using a lawn mower, comprising:

• providing a lawn mower having
• a mow deck, the mow deck having
• a mow deck right side and a mow deck left side opposite from the mow deck right side and offset in a width direction by a mow deck width,
• a mow deck front and a mow deck back opposite from the mow deck front and offset in a depth direction by a mow deck depth,
• a mow deck top and a mow deck bottom opposite from the mow deck top and offset in a height direction by a mow deck height,
• a blade operable to generate a flow cuttings during a mowing operation,
• a side discharge aperture at either the mow deck left side or the mow deck right side, and adapted to permit outflow of the flow of the cuttings from the mow deck therethrough;
• a bottom side conveyor engaged with the lawn mower, the bottom side
• conveyor having,
• a housing, the housing having
• a front enclosure adapted for operational engagement with the side discharge aperture, the operational engagement adapted to facilitate the flow of cuttings generated by a mowing operation into the front enclosure, and
• a rear enclosure adapted to receive the flow of cuttings from the front enclosure, and
• a conveyor, the conveyor having,
• a first shaft, the first shaft being elongated in the width direction and adapted to rotate about a first axis extending in the width direction,
• a second shaft, the second shaft being elongated in the width direction and adapted to rotate about a second axis extending in the width direction, and
• a first belt loop extending around the first shaft and the second shaft, the first belt loop presenting a first conveyor surface which faces in both the front direction and the top direction;
• using the mower to conduct a mowing operation;
• generating a flow of cuttings during the mowing operation;
• moving the flow of cuttings into the front enclosure;
• using the conveyor to move the flow of cuttings from the front enclosure to the rear enclosure.