US 4,047,299 AGranted

Apparatus for trimming vegetation

AssigneeGarden Pro, Inc.

InventorLester E. Bair

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

An apparatus for cutting, trimming, and edging vegetation along driveways, sidewalks, and the like; around trees, shrubs, and like landscaping; and adjacent fences, walls, posts, and the like by rotation of a non-metallic cutting line in a cutting plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation. The apparatus includes a drive motor positioned in a trimmer housing at one end of an elongated handle and adapted to rotate a driven shaft and a spool member connected thereto. The spool member has a storage of non-metallic cutting line member coiled thereon with a non-coiled portion thereof extending from the spool member and through an aperture in a wall of the trimmer housing. The spool member may be moved longitudinally of the driven shaft against the resistance of a resilient member and turned relative to the driven shaft to thereby adjust the amount of the cutting line member extending through the aperture in the one wall of the trimmer housing.

Claims7

Dependent claims

An apparatus for trimming vegetation compising:

a. drive means connected to a drive shaft and capable of rotating same at a speed of up to ten thousand (10,000) RPM;
b. an open bottom housing member mounted at its central point on said driven shaft and rotatable thereby, said member having a peripheral wall portion spaced from said driven shaft with a radial passage therethrough;
c. a relatively stiff non-metallic cutting line with suitable flexibility and a portion in a coil substantially coaxial of said driven shaft and an uncoiled portion extending initially tangentially from said coiled portion and through said radial passage and continuing radially outwardly in a cutting plane;
d. spool means coaxially supported on said driven shaft and supporting said coil of cutting line, said spool means being movable longitudinally of said driven shaft and rotatable relative to said member for adjusting the length of cutting line extending outwardly of said radial passage;
e. resilient means engaging said housing member and spool means to urge the spool means outwardly relative to said open bottom of the housing member;
and
f. means on said driven shaft and said spool means engageable to limit said outward movement of said spool means and to key same to said shaft for rotation therewith, said means on the driven shaft and spool means being released in response to predetermined inward movement of said spool means relative to said housing means to permit relative rotation thereof.

4 more elements

An apparatus for trimming vegetation comprising:

a. a relatively stiff non-metallic cutting line having suitable flexibility;
b. means for storing said cutting line in a coil with an end portion xtending outwardly from the coil;
c. a line locating means having a portion spaced outwardly of said storage means and engaging said line extending therefrom, said line extending radially outwardly from said line locating means and forming a free traveling cutting end portion;
d. means normally engaging portions of said storage means and said line locating means for effecting rotation thereof together, said portions of said storage means and said line locating means being selectively disengageable for relative rotation between said line locating means and said storage means to pay out additonal cutting line;
e. electrically activated drive means for rotating said storage means and said line locating means with said free traveling cutting line being in a cutting plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation;
f. said line locating means including a trimmer housing having walls defining an internal compartment therein and surrounding the axis of rotation with one of said compartment defining walls having an aperture therein extending substantially radially from the axis of rotation and substantially in a plane with the line storage means;
g. said trimmer housing having a tubular portion extending into said compartment and having a shoulder on a free end thereof;
h. said drive means includes a driven shaft extending through said tubular portion of said trimmer housing and having an end portion thereof extending beyond said shoulder on the free end of said tubular portion;
i. said means for effecting rotation of said storage means and said line locating means together includes a retaining member having a tubular socket portion thereof secured on the end portion of said driven shaft and seated on the free end of said tubular portion of said trimmer housing, said storage means including a spool member positioned in said compartment, coaxially supported on said driven shaft and movably mounted on said tubular portions of the trimmer housing and retainer member;
j. said retaining member and said spool member having cooperating portions in engagement one with the other whereby rotation of said driven shaft and said retaining member effects rotation of said spool member;
and
k. resilient means extending between the other of said compartment defining walls of said trimmer housing and said spool member whereby said spool member may be moved toward the other of said compartment defining walls of said trimmer housing and turned relative to said retaining member to adjust the amount of said cutting line extending through said aperture in said one trimmer housing wall.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.