Patent ID: 9241437
Filing Date: 2016-01-26
CPC Classification: A01B,B60K

Claim Text:
1. A walk aerator for soil aeration of the ground, which comprises: (a) a housing supported for rolling over the ground by a plurality of ground engaging wheels, the housing having an upwardly extending handle assembly which is capable of being gripped by a user who walks on the ground during operation of the aerator; (b) a prime mover carried on the housing for providing power; (c) a plurality of aerating tools movably carried on the housing adjacent one end of the housing and operatively connected to the prime mover, the aerating tools engaging the ground and creating soil aeration openings in the ground as the housing rolls over the ground; (d) wherein at least one of the ground engaging wheels is rotatably journalled on an arm with the arm being pivotally mounted on the housing for pivotal up and down movement of the housing relative to the at least one ground engaging wheel between an operational housing position in which the housing is lowered relative to the ground such that the aerating tools are able to engage the ground and perform soil aeration during movement of the housing over the ground and a transport housing position in which the housing is raised relative to the ground such that the aerating tools are held up out of contact with the ground and are unable to perform soil aeration during movement of the housing over the ground; and (e) at least one laterally extending foot guard positioned between the aerating tools and the user's feet when the user is walking on the ground and gripping the handle assembly to help prevent the user's feet from inadvertently contacting the aerating tools, wherein the at least one foot guard is operatively connected to the pivotal arm and thereby to the at least one ground engaging wheel to maintain an approximately constant disposition relative to the ground whether the housing is lowered relative to the ground in the operational housing position or is raised relative to the ground in the transport housing position.