Abstract:
A handheld bulber for use in planting and gardening is disclosed. The bulber has a rigid steel inverted conical frustum body of at least two opposing and slightly overlapping sidewall members pivotably joined together and a handle attached opposite a serrated cutting edge of the body. A movable dirt release mechanism is positioned between the handle and the pivot point such that moving the mechanism toward the handle, i.e., a squeezing hand motion, forces the handle end of the side members inward, thereby pivoting the digging end of the sidewall members outward. The dirt release mechanism may be attached within the slotted openings by a slider, rollers, or any other suitable means.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   This application relates to gardening tools such as bulbers. In particular, this application relates to hand-held bulbers of the type used to dig holes in, for example, a flower or vegetable garden. The application relates most specifically to a hand-held bulber having a dirt release mechanism. 
   A bulber of the common form includes a handle, usually made of wood, steel, or hard plastic, either with or without a cushioned covering material, attached to a metal cylindrical body having a distal edge. The distal edge is typically crenellated or serrated to assist “cutting” into hard ground surfaces. With sufficient downward pressure and moderate back-and-forth rotational movement of the handle, the formed edge facilitates digging. Once a sufficient depth is reached, the digging motion is reversed to extract a core of dirt within the cylindrical body. Before a subsequent hole can be dug the dirt core must be removed from the bulber. 
   One option is to remove the dirt by hand, attempting to push the packed earth out either end of the cylindrical body. This is an undesirable solution because people working with or without gloves may not want to dirty the gloves or their hands. Also, the steel edges of the bulber may be sharp enough to cause injury if impacted by a bare hand. Another solution has been to provide an expandable cylindrical body at the distal end. While this has been accomplished in several ways, the common element seems to be to use a two-piece handle where one piece telescopes into the other and can be compressed together to thereby force out the distal end of the bulber. Initially, this compression may be done by the fingers of one hand. However, due to the structural rigidity required of the cylindrical body, repeatedly compressing the handle may require considerably more strength than is capable by a single hand of the user. 
   The present invention is unique in that it addresses each of these, as well as other problems found in the prior art. By providing a bulber which is suitably rigid along the metal body to support digging, but which also provides a suitable mechanism to repeatedly and reliably release dirt from the body, the present invention solves these problems. 
   SUMMARY 
   There is disclosed herein an improved handheld bulber which avoids the disadvantages of prior bulbers while affording additional structural and operating advantages. 
   In an embodiment there is provided a bulber comprising a substantially rigid inverted-conical frustum body having opposing side members, a handle attached at one end to each side member, and a release mechanism movably attached to each of the side members, wherein moving the release mechanism from a first position to a second position thereby pivots the side members outward at an opposite end. 
   In one aspect of the bulber the release mechanism is preferably attached to a recessed surface on each side member. The recessed surfaces are preferably sloped outward in a direction toward the handle. The release mechanism are preferably attached within slotted openings in each side member. However, an area of the side members proximate each slotted opening may be sloped outward in a direction toward the handle. 
   Another aspect of an embodiment of the bulber is the use of a biasing member for automatically returning the release mechanism to a first position after freeing the release mechanism with the discharge of a earth plug. The biasing member is preferably housed in the handle. 
   In another embodiment there is provided handheld gardening tool for creating holes in the earth comprising two side members meeting along side edges to form an inverted-conical frustum body having a first end and a second end, wherein the side members are pivotably connected to one another at two pivot points located at the side edges between the first and second ends, a handle attached to each side member at the first end of the conical body, and a movable release mechanism coupled to each side member between the handle and the pivot points within slotted openings located on each side and perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the handle, wherein the second end is configured to facilitate digging and movement of the release mechanism toward the handle pivots the side members apart at the second end of the conical body from the pivot points. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected, there are illustrated in the accompanying drawings embodiments thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, the subject matter sought to be protected, its construction and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated. 
       FIGS. 1A through 1D  illustrate one embodiment of the present bulber in common use; 
       FIG. 2  is a front side view of an embodiment of the present bulber with the dirt release mechanism in a closed position; 
       FIG. 3  is a front side view of the bulber of  FIG. 2  with the dirt release mechanism in an open position; 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the bulber illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a cross-section of the bulber illustrated in  FIG. 4  taken through line  5 — 5 ; 
       FIG. 6  is the same cross-section illustrated in  FIG. 5  showing the dirt release mechanism in an open position; 
       FIG. 7  is a partial side view of one embodiment of the release handle slide for the dirt release mechanism of the present bulber; 
       FIG. 8  is an enlarged cross-section taken through line  8 — 8  of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the release handle slide for the dirt release mechanism of the present bulber; 
       FIG. 10  is an exploded view of the handle slide of the dirt release mechanism shown in  FIG. 9 ; 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of another embodiment of the release handle slide for the dirt release mechanism of the present bulber; and 
       FIG. 12  is an exploded view of the handle slide of the dirt release mechanism shown in  FIG. 11 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiment illustrated. 
   Referring generally to  FIGS. 1–12 , there is illustrated a handheld bulber, designated consistently by the numeral  10 . The bulber  10  preferably comprises a substantially inverted-conical frustum body  12  (i.e., a slightly tapering cylindrical body) having first and second sidewall members  13 ,  14 , and a handle  15  attached to a first end  26  of each sidewall member  13 ,  14 . A dirt release mechanism, generally designated by the number  16 , is also attached to both sidewall members  13 ,  14 , proximate the first end  26 . Each of these specific components is discussed in greater detail below. 
   Referring specifically now to  FIGS. 2–6 , the sidewall members  13 ,  14  can be readily understood. The two substantially semi-conical members are preferably made from a rigid metal, such as stainless steel, and may be suitably coated to resist rust and other such degrading conditions. Each sidewall member  13 ,  14 , comprises a first end  26  having a handle support  17 , a serrated second end  27 , and a middle section  28 . The members  13 ,  14 , are connected to one another at a pivot point  18  to form the tapering body  12 . The pivot point  18 , is provided by a rivet, pin or similar article loosely connecting the two members  13 ,  14  at two points on a common axis. To achieve the taper, the body  12  has a slightly larger measured diameter across the first end  26  than across the upper opening  25  of the second end  27 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 3 , the two members  13 ,  14  meet and overlap along each of two vertical edges  19 A,  19 B, with an interlocking tab  20  on one edge to maintain the inverted-conical frustum shape of the body  12 . Numerous configurations are possible to achieve the function of the interlocking tab  20 , and would be well-understood to be included within this description by those skilled in the art. 
   As shown in the referenced figures, the second end  27  of each member  13 ,  14  is preferably comprised of a serrated or toothed edge to improve digging. Such toothed edge can be of any suitable shape, including crenellated, pointed, scalloped, or the like. Further, at least one of the members includes graduated markings, e.g., (in inches)  2 ,  3 ,  4 , etc., on an outer surface of the middle section  28  to indicate to the user the approximate hole depth. 
   Referring to  FIG. 4 , at the first end  26  of each sidewall member  13 ,  14 , is located a handle support  17 . The handle supports  17  are preferably integral to the sidewall members  13 ,  14 . As further shown in  FIG. 4 , the handle supports  17  extend in a taper which is reverse to the body taper, and connect to the handle  15 . 
   The connection of the handle supports  17  to the handle  15  is shown more clearly in  FIGS. 5 and 6  and is discussed in further detail below. Beneath the handle connection on each handle support  17  is a recess  21 . The recess  21  includes a vertical slot  22  within a base surface to allow travel of a slide member  23  upward, as shown in  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 5  shows the slide member  23  in each recess  21  of the two handle supports  17  connected by a release handle  24  which spans an upper opening  25  of the bulber  10 . 
   The two handle supports  17  are slidably connected together within the handle  15 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . A pin  34  attaches preferably through a hole (not shown) in the end of each support  17  to allow each end to slide along the pin  34 . A central core  35  of the handle  15  spans a fixed distance along the pin  34  between the two support ends. A void  30  is provided within the handle  15  on either side of the core  35  to allow each of the extended ends of the handle supports  17  to move horizontally within the handle  15 , as illustrated by  FIGS. 5 and 6 . A biasing member  31  is employed in each void  30  to maintain the handle supports  17  biased outward from the core  35 . The outward bias at the handle supports is transferred across the pivot point  18  to bias the second ends  27  inward. The biasing member  31 , while illustrated as a spring pushing outward, could also include separate biasing members pulling outward on the handle supports as well. 
   In a preferred embodiment, the handle  15 , and particularly the core  35 , is comprised of a relatively hard material, such as a rigid polymer, wood, or metal, with at least a portion of the outer surface of the handle over-molded with a soft material, such as SANTOPRENE™ or similar material. Similarly, as illustrated in  FIG. 8 , the release handle  24  may also be comprised of a relatively hard core material over-molded with SANTOPRENE™. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 9 and 11 , several embodiments of the slide member  23  of the dirt release mechanism  16  can be more readily understood.  FIG. 9  illustrates a pair of rollers  36  bolted to an end of the release handle  24 . The rollers  36  facilitate up and down movement of the release handle  24  within the slot  22 . Alternatively,  FIG. 11  illustrates a cap  37  likewise bolted to the end of the release handle  24 . To facilitate movement, the cap  37  should be made from a material having a low coefficient of friction, as known to those in the art. 
   The dirt release mechanism  16  of the present bulber  10  is a collection of components, including the release handle  24 , the handle biasing member  31 , the body pivot point  18 , the recesses  21  of the handle supports  17 , and slide members  23 , as shown in the many drawing figures. Operation of the mechanism  16  is uncomplicated. For example, the slide members  23 , located within each recess  21 , secure the release handle  24  to the sidewall members  13 ,  14 , as illustrated in  FIGS. 10 and 12 . Due to the pitch of the base surface within the recess  21  and the fixed length of the release handle  24 , upward vertical movement of the release handle  24  (i.e., toward the handle  15 ) draws in the ends of the handle supports, thereby opening the second end of the bulber  10 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . Subsequent release of the release handle  24 , allows the biasing member  31  in the handle  15  to return the second end  27  to a closed position by pushing outward on the ends of the handle supports. 
   With reference to  FIGS. 1A–1D , the present bulber is illustrated in use. The user grasps the bulber  10  handle  15  and directs the serrated edge of the second end  27  of the bulber  10  into the ground to a desired depth using the graduated markings of the sidewall members  13 ,  14 , as a guide. Back and forth rotation of the handle  15  to use the full effect of the serrated edge may be necessary, as known by those familiar to gardening, and particularly bulb planting. 
   Upon reaching the desired depth, the user retracts the bulber  10  from the ground, removing the dirt now entrapped in the bulber body  12  from the resulting hole. Once a plant bulb is placed into the hole, as shown in  FIG. 1C , the entrapped dirt is returned to fill the hole by the user pulling upward on the release handle  24 . This action pivots the second ends  27  of the sidewall members  13 ,  14 , to the open position and releases the dirt. 
   The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation. While particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the broader aspects of applicants&#39; contribution. The actual scope of the protection sought is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the prior art.