Rear discharge rotary cutting deck for mower

A rotary cutting deck for a mower, which comprises:

• (a) at least one cutting chamber formed by a top wall and a peripheral wall, the cutting chamber having two front and two rear quadrants taken with respect to forward motion of the cutting chamber;
• (b) a rotary cutting blade carried in the cutting chamber for rotation in the cutting chamber, the cutting blade rotating about a substantially vertical axis in a substantially horizontal cutting plane when the cutting deck and rotary cutting blade are in operation;
• (c) a grass discharge outlet in the peripheral wall of the cutting chamber with the grass discharge outlet being located in at least one rear quadrant of the cutting chamber for allowing grass clippings to exit to the rear of the cutting chamber in a substantially horizontal path;
• (d) a ramp extending downwardly from the top wall of the cutting chamber and having a progressively increasing depth between a front end and a rear end thereof, wherein the front end of the ramp is located in a front quadrant of the cutting chamber and the rear end of the ramp is located in a rear quadrant of the cutting chamber, the ramp deflecting grass clippings downwardly in the cutting chamber towards the grass discharge outlet.

A rotary cutting deck for a mower, which comprises:

• (a) at least one cutting chamber formed by a top wall and a peripheral wall;
• (b) a rotary cutting blade carried in the cutting chamber for rotation in the cutting chamber, the cutting blade rotating about a substantially vertical axis in a substantially horizontal cutting plane when the cutting deck and rotary cutting blade are in operation;
• (c) a grass discharge outlet in the peripheral wall of the cutting chamber for allowing grass clippings to exit to the rear of the cutting chamber in a substantially horizontal path;
• and
• (d) a generally vertical divider vane extending downwardly within the cutting chamber and angled so as to be non-concentric to the peripheral wall, the divider vane beginning in advance of the grass discharge outlet and ending behind an entrance of the grass discharge outlet taken with respect to the direction of blade rotation.

A rotary cutting deck for a mower, which comprises:

• (a) at least one cutting chamber, the cutting chamber including an outer circular peripheral wall forming an outer boundary of the cutting chamber;
• (b) an inner concentric shroud located radially inside the peripheral wall to form an annular grass discharge channel between the inner concentric shroud and the peripheral wall;
• (c) a rotary cutting blade carried in the cutting chamber for rotation in the cutting chamber, the cutting blade rotating about a substantially vertical axis in a substantially horizontal cutting plane when the cutting deck and rotary cutting blade are in operation, the cutting blade having sharpened cutting edges for severing grass and airflow generating sails for causing grass clippings to circulate within the annular grass discharge channel, both the sharpened cutting edges and sails of the cutting blade overlying the grass discharge channel;
• (d) a rear grass discharge outlet formed by a cut-away portion of the lower edge of the peripheral wall of the cutting chamber, the rear grass discharge outlet being located in at least one rear quadrant of the cutting chamber, the rear grass discharge outlet opening into the annular grass discharge channel to permit grass clippings to exit from the grass discharge channel through the rear grass discharge outlet in a generally horizontal path;
• and
• (e) a grass deflecting ramp located within the annular grass discharge channel with a front end of the ramp located in advance of an entrance to the rear grass discharge outlet and a rear end of the ramp located in one of the rear quadrants of the cutting chamber to be adjacent some portion of the rear grass discharge outlet, the grass deflecting ramp progressively lowering between its front and rear ends to deflect grass clippings generally downwardly towards the rear discharge outlet, the ramp having a width that spans substantially all the way across the grass discharge channel between the inner concentric shroud and the peripheral wall.