AU5831599A – Improvements to grass catchers
– Google Patents
AU5831599A – Improvements to grass catchers
– Google Patents
Improvements to grass catchers
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Publication number
AU5831599A
AU5831599A
AU58315/99A
AU5831599A
AU5831599A
AU 5831599 A
AU5831599 A
AU 5831599A
AU 58315/99 A
AU58315/99 A
AU 58315/99A
AU 5831599 A
AU5831599 A
AU 5831599A
AU 5831599 A
AU5831599 A
AU 5831599A
Authority
AU
Australia
Prior art keywords
grass
catcher
grass catcher
housing
mower
Prior art date
1989-11-13
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
AU58315/99A
Other versions
AU751405B2
(en
Inventor
Theodore William Reinhold
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Bartlem Pty Ltd
Original Assignee
Bartlem Pty Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
1989-11-13
Filing date
1999-11-05
Publication date
2000-01-06
1999-11-05
Application filed by Bartlem Pty Ltd
filed
Critical
Bartlem Pty Ltd
1999-11-05
Priority to AU58315/99A
priority
Critical
patent/AU751405B2/en
2000-01-06
Publication of AU5831599A
publication
Critical
patent/AU5831599A/en
2002-08-15
Application granted
granted
Critical
2002-08-15
Publication of AU751405B2
publication
Critical
patent/AU751405B2/en
2010-11-13
Anticipated expiration
legal-status
Critical
Status
Ceased
legal-status
Critical
Current
Links
Espacenet
Global Dossier
Discuss
Description
1 IMPROVEMENTS TO GRASS CATCHERS This invention relates to improved grass catcher assemblies for mowers, including push mowers and ride-on mowers.
Ride-on mowers and push mowers may be fitted with side or rear mounted grass catchers. To date the available grass catchers for ride-on mowers have been relatively expensive, inefficient and/or difficult to use. These disadvantages are S partly due to the need to provide a large capacity grass catcher in order to avoid overly frequently stops to empty the grass catcher as most grass catchers are difficult S 10 to remove and empty. Additionally, the cut grass has to travel a relatively long distance from the side opening of the cutter housing towards the holding portion of the grass catcher. This often results in a build up of cut grass at the inlet to the grass catcher which prevents efficient filling of the grass catcher.
This invention aims to alleviate the abovementioned disadvantages and to provide grass catcher assemblies which will be reliable and efficient in use. Other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter become apparent. Of course while this invention is particularly described with reference to ride-on mowers it also applies to conventional motorized domestic mowers.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention in one aspect resides broadly in a grass catcher assembly for mowers, including a catcher housing adapted to be supported at one side of a mower and having an inlet at its leading end adapted for connection to the cutter housing of a mower, an expanding neck portion interconnecting the inlet with the grass storage portion of the catcher and an outlet from the grass storage portion disposed remote from the inlet 2 The catcher housing may be a rigid housing or it may be formed from flexible material such as a fabric and preferably, the catcher housing expands rearwardly from said neck portion. The forward end of the catcher housing is preferably supported by the mower’s cutter housing and the rear portion of the catcher is preferably supported by suspension means which may be removably attached to the mower. Preferably the suspension means on ride-on mowers is associated with a draw bar or like mounting adjacent the rear of the mower and is so arranged that it form a pivot mounting about which the grass catcher or the grass storage portion .:.00 may be pivoted to discharge grass therefrom. It is also preferred that the outlet be 10 closed by a door which is biassed to the closed position and that the door is hinged adjacent the mower whereby the door may be directly actuated by a person seated on the mower.
oo• Suitably the neck portion of the catcher has an inner side wall which extends upwardly beyond an opening therein which is adapted to overlie the cutter housing outlet and preferably the opening is associated with an apertured top flange or lug which locates on an upstanding pin on the cutter housing so as to maintain alignment of the side wall opening with the cutter housing outlet. Of course other forms of locating and support means may be utilized such as a pin on the catcher locating within a slot in the mowers cutter housing.
It is also preferred that the outer wall of the catcher curve from a substantially radial extension adjacent the front edge of cutter housing outlet to the rearwardly extending side wall which may be perforated or the like to provide air outlets from the catcher.
The bottom wall of the housing may be provided with stiffening means for maintaining it in its operative supporting attitude. Suitably it is supported on an a 3 transversely extending bar about which it may pivot to enable grass to be tipped therefrom and across which it may slide so as to accommodate variations in the longitudinal position of the catcher relative to the mower which varies with cutter head height variations. Of course the catcher could be hung by linkages or the like to accommodate its movements relative to the mower.
In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a typical embodiment of the present invention and wherein:- :FIG 1 is a typical perspective view showing the grass catcher connected to a 10 ride-on mower; 9.° oo. FIG 2 is a typical rear perspective illustrating the catcher disposed in its emptying attitude; FIGS 3 and 4 are perspective views of the grass catcher; FIG 5 is a side view of the catcher, and FIG 6 is a perspective view of the preferred form of mounting for supporting the grass catcher.
Referring to the drawings it will be seen that the grass catcher assembly 10 is in the form of a housing 11 which expands rearwardly from an entrance mounting assembly 12 adapted for connection to the of a mower’s cutter housing 14 adjacent the grass outlet 13. The trailing end 15 of the housing 11 is adapted to be supported by a cross bar 16 which is in this embodiment is detachably secured to the towing hitch 17 provided on the mower. The cross bar 16 extends through longitudinal slots 18 in brackets 19 formed on the bottom wall of the housing 11 whereby the latter may pivot to enable grass to be tipped therefrom, as illustrated in Fig. 2 and across which the housing 11 may slide so as to accommodate variations in the longitudinal position 4 of the grass catcher relative to the mower which varies with the height of the cutter housing 14.
In FIG 5, the dotted outline 9 represents the grass outlet 13 of the cutter housing 14 and it will be seen that the underside of the mounting flange 26 which constitutes the upper extremity of the grass inlet 23 of the grass catcher 10 is disposed below the top face 21 of the catcher housing 11 and the space between the top face 21 and the mounting flange 23 increases rearwardly from the leading edge of the grass outlet 13. This arrangement forms an air space 22 above the outlet 13 in which cut grass does not accumulate and which alleviates the build up of cut grass at 10 the neck portion 20 of the grass catcher 10. Thus grass flows efficiently rearwardly from the grass catcher inlet 23 into the main body of the catcher. To facilitate grass flow, the rear side wall 28 is formed of mesh as is the breathing panel 38 in the back •wall.
The inlet 23 is maintained in alignment with the outlet 13 by an upstanding pin 24 fixed to the cutter housing and engaging through the aperture 25 of a flange 26 extending along the upper edge of the inlet 23. The flange 26 rests upon the cutter housing 14 to support the leading end of the catcher 11 which is able to move up and down with cutter housing height adjustments. In this manner the leading end of the catcher may be readily secured in position by lowering it to engage the aperture 25 about the pin 24.
The supporting bar 16 extends transversely from a larger diameter tube which is bent through 90 degrees to form a forwardly spacing socket 31 engageable about the spigot 32 fixed to the mower adjacent the hitch 17. A stabilising bracket 33 extends transversely from the socket 31 and terminates in an upright mounting tube 34 which engages between the upper and lower tongues of the mower’s towing hitch 17. The bar 16 and tube 30 are readily detachable from the mower by releasing the hitch pin 36 from the tube 34 and sliding the socket from the spigot 32. The latter may be integral with the mower chassis or it mad be formed as a bolt-on adaptor 37 as illustrated.
The rear closure door 40 is mounted along its inside edge on hinges 42 and a spring 43 selectively holds the door 40 in the closed or open position. An .oo: upstanding strut 41 forms a door mounting for the spring and provides a handle *which is accessible to the driver of the mower whereby the door 40 can be readily moved to the open position by a seated operator as illustrated in Fig. 2.
S 10 In use, the catcher 10 is fitted to a mower by firstly connecting the cross bar o 16 thereto to provide the rear pivotal support for the housing 11 and subsequently supporting the front of the catcher on the cutter housing 14 with pin 24 passing through the aperture 25. The catcher 10 may be easily manually moved in a longitudinal direction to permit operative alignment of the pin 24 with the aperture When mowing and the catcher is full, the user simply pivots the door 40 to its overcentre open position at which it is held by the spring 43, grasps the handle 44 and tilts the catcher about the bar 16 to tip the contents thereof through the open rear end Mowing may continue upon replacing the catcher in its operative position and upon closing the door The grass catcher 10 is of simple construction, is easily adapted to connect to a mower and is easy to empty. A similar configuration may be utilized in domestic mowers with a suitable suspension being provided for supporting the rear of the catcher, such as a support associated with the push handle.
It will of course be realised that the above described embodiments have been given only by way of illustrative example of the present invention and that all such modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is defined in the appended claims.
o*o*ee .9 9 e 6 e e
Claims (7)
2. A grass catcher assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said neck portion o oexpands towards said grass storage portion.
3. A grass catcher assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said catcher housing expands rearwardly from said neck portion.
4. A grass catcher assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said leading end is supported by the mower’s cutter housing and the rear portion of the catcher is supported by suspension means which permits the catcher to move longitudinally relative to the mower and to pivot about a substantially transversely extending pivot axis. 8 A grass catcher assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein said suspension means is removably attachable to a draw bar or like mounting adjacent the rear of a ride-on mower.
6. A grass catcher assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said outlet is closed by a door which constitutes the rear wall of the catcher housing.
7. A grass catcher assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said housing includes an inner side wall in which said inlet is formed and wherein said side wall extends upwardly beyond the opening therein which forms said inlet.
8. A grass catcher assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said side wall includes a supporting flange disposed above the inlet opening and adapted to overlie the cutter housing.
9. A grass catcher assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said the outer wall of the grass catcher curves from a substantially radial extension adjacent the front edge of cutter housing outlet to a rearward extension. 9 A grass catcher assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS Fifth DAY OF November, 1999. BARTLEM PTY LTD BY S PIZZEYS PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS a
AU58315/99A
1989-11-13
1999-11-05
Improvements to grass catchers
Ceased
AU751405B2
(en)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number
Priority Date
Filing Date
Title
AU58315/99A
AU751405B2
(en)
1989-11-13
1999-11-05
Improvements to grass catchers
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number
Priority Date
Filing Date
Title
AUPJ7342
1989-11-13
AU58315/99A
AU751405B2
(en)
1989-11-13
1999-11-05
Improvements to grass catchers
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number
Title
Priority Date
Filing Date
AU26143/97A
Division
AU2614397A
(en)
1989-11-13
1997-06-18
Improvements to grass catchers
Publications (2)
Publication Number
Publication Date
AU5831599A
true
AU5831599A
(en)
2000-01-06
AU751405B2
AU751405B2
(en)
2002-08-15
Family
ID=3743614
Family Applications (1)
Application Number
Title
Priority Date
Filing Date
AU58315/99A
Ceased
AU751405B2
(en)
1989-11-13
1999-11-05
Improvements to grass catchers
Country Status (1)
Country
Link
AU
(1)
AU751405B2
(en)
Cited By (1)
* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number
Priority date
Publication date
Assignee
Title
AU2004201923B2
(en)
*
2003-11-18
2011-07-07
Bartlem Pty Ltd
Ride-on mowers and grass catchers for ride-on mowers
Family Cites Families (2)
* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number
Priority date
Publication date
Assignee
Title
AU3036784A
(en)
*
1984-07-06
1986-01-09
Siag S.P.A.
Grass catcher
AU610536B2
(en)
*
1986-11-28
1991-05-23
Theodore William Reinhold
An improved grass catcher
1999
1999-11-05
AU
AU58315/99A
patent/AU751405B2/en
not_active
Ceased
Cited By (1)
* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number
Priority date
Publication date
Assignee
Title
AU2004201923B2
(en)
*
2003-11-18
2011-07-07
Bartlem Pty Ltd
Ride-on mowers and grass catchers for ride-on mowers
Also Published As
Publication number
Publication date
AU751405B2
(en)
2002-08-15
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Legal Events
Date
Code
Title
Description
2003-06-26
FGA
Letters patent sealed or granted (standard patent)
