Lawn mower trimmer attachment

Abstract

A power lawn mower is provided with a trimmer attachment pivotally attached to the mower deck and positioned adjacent a side edge of the deck to trim those areas not accessible to the mower blade. When a fixed obstacle such as a fencepost or tree is encountered, the attachment is rotated on a pivotal support arm against the force of a spring to a position adjacent the rear edge of the mower deck. When the obstacle has been passed, the force of the spring returns the trimmer to the side edge of the mower deck. The trimmer attachment is operated by a drive belt driven from the lawn mower engine and the trimmer attachment support arm includes a pair of overlapping telescoping members and a spring contained in one of the telescoping members to apply an outward force on the other telescoping member resulting in a positive tension being applied to the drive belt. The trimmer attachment may be retracted to the rear edge of the mower deck by operation of a lever mechanism and a link attached to the support arm. A stop member on the mower deck defines a limit of travel for the support arm and continued application of force to the lever causes the telescoping support arm to be shortened and the drive belt to be disengaged from the trimmer head.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.