Lawn mower wheel mechanism

Abstract

A lawn mower comprises a cutting deck 2 mounted on at least one castor wheel assembly 4 and a wheel alignment mechanism 30, 38 for orientating the direction of travel of the castor wheel assembly 4. The wheel alignment mechanism 30, 38 comprises a cam mechanism which orients and holds the castor wheel assembly 4 in a predetermined position when operated. The wheel alignment mechanism 30, 38 further comprises a first part mounted on the deck 2 and a second part mounted on the castor wheel assembly 4. A cam 30 is mounted on one part which is rotatable relative to an abutment surface 56 mounted on the other part. The direction of travel of the castor wheel assembly 4 is dependent on the relative orientation of the cam 30 and abutment surface 56. The abutment surface 56 is movable relative to the cam 30 between the a first position where cam 30 is able to freely rotate relative to the abutment surface 56, and a second position where the cam 30 is held in a predetermined angular orientation relative to the abutment surface 56 by the abutment surface 56. The abutment surface 56 engages and angularly orients the cam 30 relative to the abutment surface 56 into the predetermined angular position during its movement from the first position to the second position.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.