Apparatus for drilling a plurality of bores in a lawn

An apparatus of the type designed to drill a plurality of equidistantly spaced bores of differing diameters in a lawn. The bores of smaller diameters are intended to aerate the lawn to provide holes into which seeds, water, and fertilizer can be deposited. Bores of larger diameters are intended to receive plugs of grass. The apparatus has the general appearance of a conventional lawnmower, having a planar in configuration base member and an insulated handle pivotally attached thereto. A linkage is provided to raise and lower the base member responsive to repositioning of the handle member. The drill bits are provided with welded ridges or heat treated flanges and are connected in driven relation to a motor mounted upwardly of the base member by a pulley and belt arrangement that differs depending upon the number of drill bits provided for a specific embodiment of the invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates, generally, to lawnmower-type devices, and more 
specifically relates to such a device adapted to drill a plurality of 
equidistantly spaced bore members in a lawn or other ground surface. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
When a developer is building new homes, it is a common practice to operate 
a bulldozer over the construction site to remove weeds, rocks, and other 
clutter often associated with undeveloped home building sites. Thus, when 
the home construction is completed, it becomes necessary to install a lawn 
to provide an attractive home site. In such situations, it is a common 
practice to install a plurality of square-in-configuration sod members to 
construct the desired lawn. Many times, however, the developer will 
install a cheap, relatively undesirable type of grass. As a consequence, 
many home owners desire to upgrade their lawns by substituting a better 
variety of grass for the lawn that was purchased with the home. In such 
cases, it is possible to simply use a bulldozer to strip away the 
undesired lawn, and to re-sod the lawn with the improved variety of grass, 
or to plug grass stock of improved varieties. Of course, this is a rather 
expensive proposition. Therefore, it has become a common practice to 
convert a lawn of one type to a lawn of an improved type by planting 
relatively small plugs of the new, more desirable grass, at preselected 
intervals throughout the undesirable lawn. In this manner, the expansion 
of the new, desirable grass will gradually eliminate the old, undesirable 
grass. 
The conventional method of installing the plugs involves digging individual 
holes in the lawn to be replaced, and individually filling each hole with 
a plug of the new grass. Since the new plugs are usually spaced about 12 
to 18 inches apart from one another (although spacings may range from 6 
inch centers to 18 inch centers, depending upon the size of plug 
employed), a very high number of holes must be dug in the old lawn when 
this plugging procedure is followed. Several tools have been devised to 
drill the holes that are needed. However, all of the known tools are 
simply variations of the well-known type of tool that is commonly used for 
digging holes into which fence posts are to be inserted. As such, these 
tools can dig but one hole at a time. Accordingly, a consumer desiring to 
convert a lawn from one type of grass to another must pay a rather high 
fee to the commercial companies that provide the plugs for the new lawn, 
due to the number of workers that must be hired to dig the needed holes. 
Moreover, since each hole is individually dug, measurements must be made 
to assure that all of the holes are drilled at 18 inch centers. 
There is clearly a need for a device that would lower the cost to consumers 
of converting from one lawn type to another. The needed device would 
enable a home owner or custom worker contracted with the device to drill 
more than one hole simultaneously, would drill such plurality of holes at 
the desired spacing, and would allow the drilling of 2500-4000 holes per 
hour. Ideally, the apparatus could be operated by one individual, would be 
lightweight, and thus easily transportable from one location to another, 
could be rented from hardware stores, garden shops, and the like, and 
would be of easy-to-maintain construction, but the needed device does not 
appear in the prior art. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The longstanding but heretofore unfulfilled need for an apparatus capable 
of drilling a plurality of equidistantly spaced bores of uniform dimension 
in a ground surface is now provided in the form of a machine that carries 
a plurality of rotatably mounted, equidistantly spaced, drill bits in a 
base member that is raised or lowered out of or into, respectively, 
drilling relation to the ground responsive to manipulation of a pivotally 
mounted handle member. The drill bits may be arrayed in a number of 
operative positions, depending upon the number of drill bits provided in a 
given embodiment of the machine, such that each drill bit is contiguous to 
at least one other drill bit. The mounting means for each drill bit 
essentially comprises an apertured base member wherein each aperture 
receives the spindle portion of a drill bit whereby the operative portion 
of each drill bit is disposed below the plane of the base member and such 
spindle portion is disposed above such plane. A motor means is also 
disposed above the plane of the base member, and has a rotatable output 
shaft upon which pulley members are mounted for conjoint rotation 
therewith. The output shaft pulley members are interconnected with pulley 
members mounted on the individual spindle portions of each drill bit by 
suitable belt means, so that rotation of the output shaft pulleys effects 
a simultaneous, corresponding and conjoint rotation of the pulley members 
secured to the individual drill bit spindle portions. In this manner, 
operation of the motor effects rotation of each drill bit. The base member 
itself is linked to the handle means so that when the handle means is 
positioned in a substantially vertical plane, the base member is lowered 
relative to the ground surface so that the drill bits disposed thereunder 
enter into drilling relation to such ground. A linkage is specifically 
constructed so that returning the handle means to a plane disposed 
generally 45 degrees from the horizontal will effect a raising of such 
base means and hence disengagement of the drill bits and the ground 
surface so that the apparatus can be transported to another location for 
further drilling. 
It is therefore seen to be the primary object of this invention to provide 
an apparatus that can simultaneously drill a plurality of equidistantly 
spaced, uniform dimension bore members in a lawn or other ground surface. 
A closely related object of the invention is to provide such a device in 
the form of an apparatus that can be handled by one individual both during 
the actual drilling procedure and in the subsequent repositioning of the 
apparatus. 
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, 
combination of elements and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified 
in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention 
will be indicated in the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will there be seen that the inventive 
apparatus is designated by the reference numeral 10 as a whole. The 
inventive apparatus includes a flat, planar in configuration, generally 
rectangular base member 12 that is supported at its respective corners by 
a plurality of rotatably mounted wheel members that are collectively 
designated 14. An insulated handle member 16 is pivotally attached to the 
base member 12 in a manner that will be more specifically shown and 
described hereinafter, said handle member being disposed generally as 
shown in FIG. 1 when the inventive apparatus 10 is being transported from 
one location to another, and being generally vertical disposed as shown in 
FIG. 2 when the machine 10 is performing its intended function. 
As shown in FIG. 3, the handle member 16 is provided with hinges 
substantially midlength thereof to permit folding of such handle member 
when the machine is to be stored in a small space. 
In FIGS. 1-3, the drill bit members are diagrammatically shown and are 
collectively designated 18. The motor means that effects rotation of the 
drill bits 18 when the inventive apparatus is operating is 
diagrammatically shown and referred to as 20. 
Referring now to FIG. 4, it will there be seen that the motor means 20 is 
preferably disposed substantially centrally of the base member 12, and is 
mounted upwardly thereof as is shown in FIGS. 5, 9, and 10. (The mounting 
means of FIGS. 9 and 10 is omitted from FIG. 5 to simplify the latter 
FIG.) It should be understood from the outset that, in view of the 
teachings of this invention, virtually any number of drill bits in 
virtually any configuration can be rotatably mounted for conjoint rotation 
with a motor means. However, to avoid unduly lengthening this description, 
the embodiment shown and described will employ six (6) drill members as 
shown in FIG. 4. As is shown in FIG. 5, each drill bit 18 has its 
operative portion disposed below the plane of the base member 12, and has 
its spindle portion disposed above such plane. A pulley member 22 (FIG. 4) 
is fixedly secured to the spindle portion of each drill bit 18, and is 
therefore conjointly rotatable therewith. Motor means 20 has a downwardly 
extending output shaft that is not shown to simplify the drawings, and a 
pair of pulley members, collectively designated 22a, are fixedly secured 
thereto for conjoint rotation therewith, as perhaps best understood from 
an inspection of FIGS. 4 and 5. Pulleys 22a are interconnected with the 
remaining pulleys 22 by conventional belt members 24 having the specific 
path of travel shown in FIG. 4. Again, it must be emphasized that 
different paths of travel may be provided, depending upon the number of 
drill bits to be utilized in a particular embodiment. In some 
configurations, for example, the output shaft of the motor 20 could carry 
only one pulley 22a, or more than two of such pulleys 22a. 
The motor 20 is preferably mounted as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 so that it 
can be removed from its mounts if desired. Accordingly, the preferred 
mounting means includes a telescoping arrangement referred to generally by 
the reference numeral 26, which arrangement 26 includes a pair of 
longitudinally spaced, upstanding cylindrical mounting members that 
slidingly receive complementally formed mounting members, all of which 
should be clear from an inspection of FIGS. 9 and 10. 
The inventive linkage that accomplishes the raising and lowering of the 
base member 12 and hence of the drill bits 18 is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. 
The linkage is designated generally as 28R in FIG. 7 and generally as 28L 
in FIG. 8. The individual link elements that collectively comprise the 
inventive linkage 28 are designated by the reference numerals 30R, 30L and 
32R, 32L. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, link elements 30 have a first, linear 
in configuration, elongate portion and a truncate portion disposed in 
offset relation to such elongate portion at the distal end thereof. The 
proximal end of each elongate portion 30 provides a rotatable mount for 
the wheels 14, as perhaps best shown in FIG. 12, whereas each offset 
portion thereof is pivotally connected to the link elements 32R, 32L. To 
complete the linkage, each element 32 is pivotally connected as at 34 to 
the handle member 16, and a bias means 36 interconnects such link element 
32 with the base means 12. 
As mentioned above, the link elements 30 are seen in greater detail in FIG. 
12. The aforementioned elongate portions are designated 31L, 31R and the 
aforementioned truncate, offset portions are designated 33R, 33L. Each 
link element 30 is provided with an axle 38 to accomplish the rotatable 
mounting of the individual wheel members 14. FIG. 12 also shows the 
apertures 40 that are formed in the base member 12 to receive the spindle 
portion of the drill bits 18. Moreover, FIG. 12 shows a hub member 42 that 
interconnects the individual drill bits 18 and their respective pulley 
members 22. 
FIG. 13 shows elements already described, and also shows, diagrammatically, 
the engine output shaft 44 that drives the operable elements of the 
inventive apparatus. 
An adapter member 46 is shown in FIG. 14, and is provided so that a bladed 
drill bit 18 as shown in FIG. 15 or an unbladed aerating drill bit 18a as 
shown in FIG. 16 can be operably connected to the motor means on an 
interchangeable basis. More specifically, the proximal end 19 of the 
bladed drill 18 can be inserted into the enlarged portion 17 of the 
adapter member, or the proximal end 19a of the unbladed drill bit 18a can 
be inserted into such enlarged portion 17. It is of course not necessary 
to provide such adapter member 46, because each bladed drill bit or 
unbladed drill bit can be provided as shown in FIGS. 17-20, i.e., such 
bits may be constructed so that switching from a bladed to an unbladed bit 
requires removal of such bit from its mount. The differing configurations 
that the bits may take are clearly shown in such FIGS., but it is believed 
that no specific description of the same need be given. A single bit can 
be driven by a 3/8 inch electric drill to reach places where the machine 
cannot reach and a single bit can also be used where machine bit has 
encountered an obstruction such as a rock, roots, or the like. 
FIG. 21 shows how base member 12 can be provided with radially elongated 
apertures 12a that permit radial adjustment of the respective drill bits 
18, thereby increasing the versatility of the machine 10 by allowing its 
operator to easily change the spacing between holes to be drilled. 
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made 
apparent by the preceding description, are efficiently attained and since 
certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing 
from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters contained 
in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall 
be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 
It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover 
all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein 
described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a 
matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.