Spool feed mechanism for line fed grass trimmer

In apparatus for cutting vegetation with the free end of a flexible, non-metallic line played out from a spool, including a rotatably driven cutting head for spinning the free end of the line, a spool feed mechanism mounted on said apparatus for incrementally feeding a predetermined length of line from said spool, said mechanism comprising:

• a spool about which said flexible cutting line is wound, said spool being mounted for rotation about the central axis thereof and including first and second ends with first and second ratchet wheels, respectively, each having a set of radially extending, circumferentially spaced teeth;
• actuating means including
• first and second pawls positioned for cooperative engagement with said first and second ratchet wheels, respectively, one of said ratchet wheels and pawls being mounted for movement relative to the other for alternative engagement of said first ratchet wheel and said first pawl and said second ratchet wheel and said second pawl, respectively, one of said first and second pawls and said first and second ratchet wheels being displaced with respect to the other of said first and second pawls and the other of said first and second ratchet wheels, respectively, to provide successive incremental rotation of said spool in response to the alternate engagement of said corresponding pawls and ratchet wheels whereby successive predetermined lengths of cutting line are fed from said spool,
• a resilient, generally U-shaped member, each of the legs of the U including one of said first and second pawls, respectively, said resilient member being mounted with the bight thereof in parallel alignment with the axis of rotation of said spool, said pawls being positioned for engagement with respective ones of said ratchet wheels, and further including manually operated trigger means engageable with the bight of said member for bending said member and simultaneously disengaging both said pawls from respective ones of said ratchet wheels, whereby said spool is permitted to rotate freely;
• and
• means for biasing one of said ratchet wheels and pawls to a first position whereby said first pawl and first ratchet wheel are normally engaged.

Apparatus for cutting vegetation with the free end of a flexible, non-metallic line played out from the spool, including in combination:

• a cutting head including rotatably mounted means for spinning the free end of said line;
• a handle including means operably coupled to said cutting head for controlling the rotation of said rotatably mounted means;
• an elongated, hollow support shaft joining said cutting head and said handle, said shaft defining an aperture providing communication with the interior of said shaft;
• and
• a spool feed mechanism for feeding flexible cutting through said shaft to said cutting head, said spool feed mechanism comprising a housing mounted on said support shaft near said handle, said housing defining a compartment therein located adjacent said aperture in said hollow support shaft, a spool about which said cutting line is wound, mounted in said compartment for rotation about the central axis thereof to feed cutting line from said spool into said aperture, through said support shaft to said cutting head, said spool having first and second ends including first and second spool indexing means, respectively, actuating means including first and second engagement means, mounted in said housing for cooperative engagement with said first and second spool indexing means, said actuating means being mounted for movement relative to said spool between first and second positions for alternate engagement of said first spool indexing means and said first engagement means and said second spool indexing means and second engagement means, respectively, whereby successive, predetermined, incremental rotation of said spool is permitted, thereby to feed successive predetermined lengths of cutting line to said cutting head, resilient biasing means coupled to said actuating means for biasing said actuating means to said first postion and manually operated trigger means coupled to said actuating means for moving said actuating means from said first to said second position.