JPH0372242B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a grass container for an air cushion type grass mower.

Air cushion lawn mowers are already known.
It usually has a hood that supports an electric motor or combustion engine. The engine or motor rotates a vertical shaft that mounts the fan on the underside of the hood,
The fan creates an air cushion on the underside of the hood by drawing air from the atmosphere into the hood through a central hole. The lower end of the shaft is provided with a blade for cutting grass. It is also already known to provide lawn mowers of this type with a grass receptacle, as can be seen in UK Patent No. 997528 and UK Patent Application No. 2017475. The device described in the said patent application has been shown to work satisfactorily, in which a portion of the air is removed from the air cushion in order to transfer the grass clippings from the working area of the blades to the grass receptacle. This causes many problems. These problems were solved by configuring the lawn mower with a special shape.

A disadvantage of the above-mentioned type is that the weight of the grass in the container has an undesirable effect on the air cushion and makes handling of the mower difficult, especially if the container is filled with damp ivy clippings. .
This in turn means that the volume of container collection is considerably reduced.

In order to solve this problem, the present invention proposes that at least a part of the grass container is also supported by an air cushion.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawing, reference numeral 10 indicates an air cushion type mower, and reference numeral 11 indicates a grass collection container connected to the mower. The mower 10 has a hood 12 with a peripheral lip 13, a central inlet opening 14 for air and an outlet opening 1 for the grass clippings.
5. The outlet opening 15 is connected to the horizontal axis 1 when the mower is used without a grass receptacle.
It is covered by a lid 16 which can be rotated around 7. The mower 10 also comprises a motor 18 supported on a support 19 in the center of the air inlet opening 14 . The motor shaft supports a fan wheel 20 and a blade 21, which are attached to the shaft by bolts 23 via several spacers 22 and at a desired distance from the ground. The lower rear part of the hood 12 has an outlet opening 1 for air flow and cuttings.
A deflection plate 24 is provided pointing towards 5.

When the motor shaft rotates, a fan forms an air cushion on the underside of the hood 12 that lifts the hood off the ground. Simultaneously with the rotation of the blade 21, the grass is cut and transported by the air flow towards the outlet opening 15.

The fan vehicle 20 in this embodiment is a combination of a radial fan 20a and an axial fan 20b, which has a circular bottom plate fixed to the motor shaft by a central portion. The base plate includes a number of vertical radial fan vanes covered by an annular wall, the base plate, walls and vanes together forming a radial fan. The peripheral portion of the annular wall supports a number of axial fan vanes extending into the inlet opening 14. Cooling air is drawn past the motor 18 by the radial fan vanes, and this air is fed into the air cushion along with the air drawn into the air cushion by the axial fan vanes from the opening 14. .

The grass receptacle 11 in this embodiment consists of a bag 25 made of flexible material and having an inlet opening 26, which opening 26 is surrounded by a rigid connecting part and which is connected to the mower. is fixed to the outlet opening 15 of. The bag 25 is also separated by a horizontal plane 27 from a lower rigid part 28, which part 28 is provided with a lip 29 similar to the peripheral lip 13 of a lawn mower. Lip 29 extends along three of the four sides of bag 25. When the bag 25 is connected to the mower, the lower part 28 of the grass collection bag 25 is connected to the lower side of the horizontal surface 27 and the rear lip of the mower.
A chamber 30 is formed between the lip 29 and the lip 29 . The horizontal surface 27 is provided with a number of openings or holes 31 which allow air to pass from the weed bag 25 to the chamber 30.

A lawn mower usually includes a handle and a cover for the motor, which are not shown.

The device operates as follows.

When the motor shaft rotates, grass is thrown into the grass collection bag 25 by the blade 21, but this action is further promoted by the air sucked into the hood 12 by the fan wheel 20, and as a result, the blade 21 The cut grass is collected and passed through the outlet opening 15 to the grass collection bag 2.
Sent into 5. Inside the grass collection bag 25, air flows downward and passes through the holes 31 into the chamber 30, leaving the grass clippings on the horizontal surface 27. At the same time, the air flowing out of the hood 12 under the rear part of the lip 13 is fed into the air cushion of the weed bag 25. Therefore, an air cushion is formed in the chamber 30, which floats the weed bag 25 together with the mower. When the grass collection bag 25 is continuously filled with cut grass, the hole 31 in the horizontal surface 27 is closed, so that the air flowing from the air cushion together with the cut grass flows into the chamber 30.
will be prevented from reaching. Therefore, the air cushion on the lower side of the weed collection bag 25 is mainly formed by the outer lip 13.
It is formed by the flow of air flowing backwards along the ground from the rear of the ground.

It is of course possible to use other types of grass collection containers, for example made of rigid materials, and to employ other configurations in the lower part 28 of the container, such as, for example, hinge elements, flexible elements or articulated connecting elements. You can also do it. In addition, an opening is provided at the top of the grass container to allow air to escape to the atmosphere, even if such air leakage slightly affects the air cushion. It is also possible to provide improved transport.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the device according to the invention, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the device from below. 10: Air cushion mower, 11: Grass collection container, 13: Perimeter lip, 20: Fan car, 26:
Entrance opening, 27: Grid, 28: Surrounding wall, 29:
Rip.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. The grass collecting container 11 is provided with a peripheral wall 28 at its lower part, and when the grass collecting container 11 is attached to the mower 10, the lower part of the surrounding wall 28 forms the outer peripheral lip 13 of the mower.
Lip 2 located on the same horizontal plane as the part corresponding to
9. A grass container for an air cushion mower, characterized in that it is fully or partially supported by an air cushion forming an air cushion. 2. The grass collection container according to claim 1, wherein the surrounding wall 28 has rigidity. 3. Grass collection container according to claim 1 or 2, in which the upper part of the peripheral wall 28 is provided with a substantially horizontal perforated surface or grate 27, on which the grass clippings are collected. 4. The grass collection container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a portion of the grass collection container 11 located above the peripheral wall 28 is made of a flexible material. 5. Air is transferred from the mower 10 to the grass bin 11 through a substantially vertical opening 26 in the top of the bin, where the grass is separated and most of the air is transferred to the bottom of the bin. 5. A grass collection container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the air is guided downward through an opening 31 into the air cushion, through which the air escapes to the atmosphere. 6. The grass collection container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the grass mower 10 includes a fan wheel 20 for forming an air cushion combining a radial fan and an axial fan. 7. The arrangement according to claim 6, wherein the radial fan wheel portion draws cooling air for the motor into the air cushion, whereas the axial fan wheel portion draws air directly from the atmosphere into the air cushion. grass container.