Patent ID: 9516807
Filing Date: 2016-12-13
CPC Classification: A01D,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A method of dispensing trimmer line from a bidirectionally operable trimmer head comprising: providing a bidirectionally operable trimmer head with a spool rotatably mounted within a trimmer head housing; said spool having at least one chamber for winding trimmer line threaded through said spool and around the spool in a first winding direction; mounting the bidirectionally operable trimmer head to a trimmer machine having a drive direction in the same direction as the first winding direction: providing said trimmer head with a pair of eyelets for receiving the ends of the trimmer line therethrough from said spool to an area outside of the housing; routing trimmer line through one of said eyelets through said trimmer head and out a second one of the pair of eyelets; providing an activation knob slidably connected to said trimmer head housing for moving said spool from a first axial position relative to said housing to a second axial position relative to said housing to a second axial position relative to said housing; providing said trimmer head with a ratchet mechanism selectively switchable between a first winding mode when said trimmer head is in a first axial position for only allowing manually rotating said activation knob to wind the trimmer line from outside the housing onto said spool in the first winding direction while preventing rotation in a rotational direction opposite of the first winding, and providing said trimmer head with a second bidirectional line dispensing mode when said trimmer head is a second axial position for dispensing a length of the trimmer line out through the pair of eyelets; winding the activation knob to wind the trimmer line onto to the at least one chamber of the spool in the first winding direction; operating the trimmer machine to cause the trimmer head housing to rotate in the first winding direction; activating the activation knob at least once to switch the ratchet mechanism into the second bidirectional line dispensing mode to cause the trimmer head housing to slow relative to the spool to dispense line wound on the spool out of the pair of eyelets during each activation of the activation knob.