Mowed grass container for mowing machine

Abstract: A mowed grass container (12) for a mowing machine having a mower (8) attached to a machine body (2) through a hanging link mechanism (6,7) for recovering mowed grass mowed by said mower (8) to the mowed grass container (12) attached to the machine body (2) through conveying means comprising a shielding plate (16) coupled to the machine body (2), upper covers (27) aligned in parallel above and below the side face of said shielding plate (16), and a lower mowed grass containing unit (29), said lower mowed grass containing unit (29) being opened at the upper face thereof and the face of the shielding plate (16) side, further detachably attached to said shielding plate (16) through a pivot (23) provided at position separated from said shielding plate (16) and so attached as to rotate at the pivot (23) as a rotating center at the open face of said machine body (2) side being directed downwardly. Thus, when the mowed grass mowed by the mower (8) is recovered by the mowed grass container (12), the upper face of the mowed grass containing unit (29) is opened, and the open portion of the shielding plate (16) side is press-bonded to the shielding plate (16). Accordingly, the mowed grass can be recovered to the mowed grass containing unit (29).

Description: This invention relates to a mowed grass container for a mowing machine such as a garden tractor, a lawn tractor, a ride mower, etc. and, more particularly, to a mowed grass container for a riding type mowing machine in which the mowed grass container can be opened and closed in a carried state and a mowed grass containing unit is detachably attached to a shielding plate through a pivot, according to the pre-characterizing part of claim 1. Such a mowed grass container is known from AU-B-10154/88. Heretofore, in a mowed grass container for a mowing machine, a columnar piece is vertically fixed to the rear portion of a lawn tractor body, the center of a lateral piece of a plainly U-shaped frame is fixed to the upper end of the columnar piece, and the rear portion is opened to form a mowed grass containing bag supporting frame. On the other hand, the mowed grass containing bag is so constructed as to fix the upper edge of a cloth bag body to a rectangular frame, and to place the rectangular frame in the U-shaped piece. Grips are pivotally secured to the centers of the right and left sides of the rectangular frame, the grips are tilted forwardly when the rectangular frame of the mowed grass containing bag is placed on the upper face of the U-shaped piece, further tilted down to the front face of the columnar piece to be engaged, and a rotatable cover is coated on the upper face of the columnar piece. Since such a conventional mowed grass container is constructed merely to place the upper frame of the mowed grass containing bag on the supporting frame, to be secured by the grip and the rotatable cover is coated, when the mowed grass contained in the mowed grass containing bag is disposed, its cover is rotted, the upper face of the mowed grass containing bag is opened, hands are inserted from above into the bag to discharge the mowed grass by hands or the fixture of the containing bag is released by the grip, the containing bag is separated from the supporting frame while holding the grip, and the bag must be overturned by hands to dispose the mowed grass. In this case and particularly in the case of a riding type mowing machine, a driver must ride off the machine body when the mowed grass is to be disposed, causing a time loss and the mowed grass disposal operation becomes complicated. Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a mowed grass container for a mowing machine such that the mowed grass disposal operation can be easily, rapidly and securely conducted while the driver is riding on the riding type mowing machine body, wherein furthermore functions of attaching and detaching the mowed grass containing bag are provided. Solution of this object is achieved by what is claimed in claim 1. The dependent claims contain advantageous modifications. Accordingly, in the mowed grass container for a mowing machine according to the present invention an upper cover may be fixed to a bow-shaped frame pivotally secured and rotatably about an axis defined by the extremes of the bow-shape. According to a further aspect of the present invention, said upper cover is composed of a bellows. According to still another aspect of the present invention, a connector is provided at the upper frame of said mowed grass containing unit, and a holding member pivotally secured to an upper cover fame is engageable with said connector. According to still another aspect of the invention, said holding member is a handle for discharging mowed grass in said mowed grass containing unit and is disposed at a distance to be contacted with a drivers hand. With the mowed grass container for a mowing machine according to the present invention, when the mowed grass mowed by the mower is recovered by the mowed grass container, the upper face of the mowed grass containing unit is opened, and the open portion of the shielding plate side is press-bonded to the shielding plate. Accordingly, the mowed grass can be recovered to the mowed grass containing unit. More specifically, since the top of the mowed grass containing unit is detachably attached to the pivot provided at a position separated from the shielding plate, the open portion of the mowed grass containing unit to the shielding plate side is naturally press-bonded to the shielding plate by the own weight of the mowed grass containing unit at the positional relationship of the containing unit to the shielding plate, and the press-bonded state is not accidentally opened even by the vibration of the machine body. Further, since the mowed grass containing unit is detachably attached to the shielding plate through the pivot, when only the mowed grass containing unit is removed and the mowed grass in the mowed grass containing unit is disposed, the handle is provided at the pivot, the handle is held to direct the open face of the containing unit upward, thereby carrying the containing unit to an arbitrary position to dispose the mowed grass without accidentally leaking the mowed grass. In addition, since the mowed grass containing unit is so constructed as to rotate at the pivot as a rotating center to direct the open portion of the containing unit at the shielding plate side downwardly, when the holding piece is provided at the containing unit to hold the holding piece to rotate the piece, the containing unit is released in the shielding state by the shielding plate to direct the open portion of the shielding plate side downwardly. Thus, the mowed grass can be disposed, and when the holding piece is rotated reversibly, the open portion of the containing unit at the shielding plate side is again shielded by the shielding plate so that the upper face becomes open, thereby continuously recovering the mowed grass. Further, the upper cover is opened at the face of the shielding plate side and the lower face, but when the mowed grass is recovered by the mowed grass containing unit, the open face of the shielding plate side is brought into pressure contact with the shielding plate, and is hence fed to the container unit aligned under the open portion of the lower face. Further, since the upper cover is according to the invention constructed to be longitudinally foldable i.e. along a direction substantially in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the tractor, it can be folded arbitrarily in both forward and reverse directions to open the upper face of the containing unit, thereby easily attaching or detaching the lower mowed grass containing unit. Since the upper cover is fixed to the bow-shaped frame rotatable about an axis defined by its extremities, the upper cover can be easily opened or closed by the longitudinal rotating operation of the bow-shaped frame. In this case, since the bow-shaped frame can pivotally secure the handle, the upper cover can be opened or closed through the handle operation. Since the upper cover is formed of the bellows, the upper cover can be easily opened or closed, and since the upper cover is not of hard box, the upper cover is not opened to the vicinity of the driver's seat of the machine body over the shielding plate at the time of opening or closing the upper cover, but the upper cover can be always opened or closed outside the shielding plate. Since the connector is provided at the upper frame of the mowed grass containing unit and the holding member pivotally secured to the upper cover frame is connected to the connector, the member is connected to the connector to thereby rotate the containing unit to direct the open portion of the containing unit at the shielding plate side by rotating the member. In this case, the mowed grass recovered in the containing unit can be easily disposed, and when the member is reversibly rotated, the vacant containing unit can be returned to the original position to advance the next mowed grass recovering work. Finally, since the holding member is of the handle for discharging the mowed grass in the containing unit and disposed at a distance in contact with the driver's hand, the mowed grass in the containing unit can be discharged by holding the handle while the driver is sitting on the driver's seat and can return the containing unit after the mowed grass is completely discharged, thereby improving the operability. These and further features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the attached drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of a whole lawn tractor coupled with an embodiment of a mowed grass container for a mowing machine according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the state that an upper cover is attached to a shielding plate; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side view of Fig. 2; Figs. 4 to 7 are longitudinal side sectional views showing the operating state of the whole mowed grass container of the embodiment; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the mowed grass containing unit; Fig. 9 is a perspective view for explaining from the back side of the mowed grass container; Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a mowed grass container for a mowing machine according to the present invention; Fig. 11 is a side view showing the state that the mowed grass containing unit of Fig. 10 is carried; Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing the discharged state of mowed grass; Fig. 13 is a side view showing the state that the mowed grass containing unit is attached to or removed from the shielding plate; Fig. 14 is a plan view showing the state that a mowed grass discharging cylinder is inserted into the mowed grass container; and Fig. 15 is a longitudinal side view of Fig. 14. In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a lawn tractor. A coupling hitch 3 is provided at the rear side of a frame 2 of the lawn tractor 1. A mower 8 is vertically movably coupled to the frame between front wheels 4, 4 and rear wheels 5, 5 through hanging links 6, 6 and 7, 7 and is driven by a belt transmission mechanism 9. A mowed grass discharging tube 11 is coupled to the right side discharge port (not shown) of a mower deck 10 of the mower 8, and its rear end is so attached as to recover the grass mowed by a rotary mowing cutter in the mower deck 10 into a mowed grass container 12 coupled to the coupling hitch 3. The mowed grass container 12 is detachably coupled to the coupling hitch 3 through a mount 13, which is in turn fixed to the vicinity of the lower end of a shielding plate 16 provided in front of the mowed grass container 12 substantially at the center thereof. The shielding plate 16 is composed by fixing a rectangular frame 15 bent from a pipe material to the peripheral surface of a rectangular iron plate 14. A dust discharger 18 in which a longitudinal eyed iron plate being arranged in a lateral direction or a metal gauze 17 is fixed at the top of the iron plate 14, the front side and the right and left sides of the dust discharger 18 are covered with a dust discharge cover 19 protruding obliquely from the upper side to the lower side thereof to discharge dust toward a downward direction. The mowed grass discharge tube 11 which is coupled to the discharge port (not shown) of the mower deck 10 at its right side extends rearwardly along the outside of the right side rear wheel 5 and terminates at its rear portion at a cylinder mount 21 provided on the iron plate 14 and thus opens into the mowed grass container 12. Supporting arms 22, 22 protrude at the right and left sides of the longitudinal frame 15 adjacent from the lower sides of the dust discharger 18 and the cylinder mount 21 toward a rearward direction, as seen in Fig. 2. Further, the supporting arms 22, 22 protrude in a length x (Fig. 4) rearward of the rectangular frame 15 and pivotal pins 23, 23 protrude inward at the vicinity of the ends of the arms 22, 22 to pivotally secure the ends of an upper bow-shaped frame 24, an intermediate bow-shaped frame 25 and a lower bow-shaped frame 26, which are bent from pipe materials. The frames 24, 25 and 26 each are arranged such that they are approximately in form of an inverted "U". The bow-shaped frames 24, 25, 26 are respectively fixed to an upper end, intermediate portion and lower end of a cover 27 composed by spreading a cloth, vinyl sheet or bellows. The upper bow-shaped frame 24 is fixed to the shielding plate side (front edge) of the cover 27 to be contactable with the shielding plate 16. The lower bow-shaped frame 26 is fixed to the backside edge of the cover 27 to accurately hold same. The intermediate bow-shaped frame 25 is provided substantially at an intermediate portion between the upper bow-shaped frame 24 and the lower bow-shaped frame 26, and is so fixed to the cover 27 as to hold the cover 27 substantially in a square shape as seen from its side. The bow-shaped frames 24, 25, 26 are rotatable at approximately 90° rearward of the shielding plate 16 with the pivotal pins 23, 23 as rotating centers to open and close the cover 27 longitudinally. "Longitudinally" means that the cover 27 is openable and closeable along directions being substantially in alignment with the longitudinal axis of tractor 1. As shown in Fig. 3, springs 28, 28 are interposed between the side face of the upper frame 24 and the side face of the lower frame 26 and the side face of the rectangular frame 15 of the shielding plate 16, respectively, and the springs 28, 28 bias to pivotally rotate the upper and lower frames 24 and 26 at the pivotal pins 23 as fulcra to the shielding plate 16 side and the rear horizontal position side, respectively. The springs 28, 28 are so provided at opposite sides as not to collide with each other. Fig. 8 shows a mowed grass containing unit 29 which upper and front faces opened in a square shape as seen from its side. Three faces except a bottom plate are composed of meshes but are not limited to the particular example. A frame 30 formed by bending a pipe material is fixed to the open edge. When the open side of the front face is brought into contact with the back face of the shielding plate 16, hooks 31, 31, which oppositely protrude from frame 30 are movably in engagement with the pivotal pins 23, 23, wherein cutouts 31a, 31a are so cut out from the front positions of the hooks 31, 31 as to be insertable with or removable from the pivotal pins 23, 23 from an obliquely lower side. As shown in Fig. 10, a holder piece 33b may be formed between the hooks 31 and 31. In this case, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12, the mowed grass containing unit can be carried with the open side upward by means of its center of gravity when holding the holder piece 33b. Thus, the mowed grass in the mowed grass containing unit 29 can be carried to an arbitrary place without accidentally leaking the grass and then be disposed as shown in Fig. 12. Since the cutouts 31a, 31a formed at the hooks 31, 31 are cut out from an obliquely lower side in the front faces of the hooks 31, 31 upwardly, even if the mowed grass containing unit 29 is rotated at the pivotal pins 23, 23 as rotating centers when the pivotal pins 23, 23 are engaged, the pivotal fulcra are not deviated by means of the weight of the mowed grass containing unit 29. In Fig. 9, two mowed grass containing units 29 are respectively aligned at right and left sides, and covered at the tops with top covers. In this case, pivotal pins 23, 23 protrude from both side faces of a supporting arm 22 protruding at the center of the back face of the shielding plate 16 to pivotally secure the mowed grass containing units 29 and 29 at the right and left sides. A U-shaped connector 32 protrudes at the rear center of the frame 30 of the mowed grass containing unit 29 to engage bent portions 33a, 33a of both side lower ends of a handle 33 pivotally secured to the lower bow-shaped frame 26 of the cover 27. The handle 33 is always so rearwardly biased at its lower end by a spring 34 as to maintain a connecting state. The handle 33 is disposed at a position to be easily gripped by a drivers hand in the state that the driver sits on a driver's seat 35 and is formed so as to be simultaneously in engagement with the connectors 32, 32 of the mowed grass containing units 29, 29 aligned at the right and left sides of the back face of the shielding plate 16. Accordingly, the driver can grasp the handle 33 while sitting on the drivers seat and when he then pulls the handle, the mowed grass containing units 29, 29 can be rotated with the open portion of the front faces of the containing units 29, 29 directed downward as shown in Fig. 7. Therefore, the mowed grass in the mowed grass containing units 29, 29 is easily, rapidly and securely discharged. When the mowed grass is once discharged completely, the handle 33 is rotated to the original position, the containing units 29, 92 are thus rotated back such that the open portions of the front faces thereof are brought into pressure contact with the back face of the shielding plate 16, thereby preparing next mowed grass recovery. Reference numeral 34' denotes a holder piece, which protrudes from the center of the upper bow-shaped frame 24 of the upper cover 27. The upper bow-shaped frame 24 is longitudinally rotated by holding the holder piece 34'. As described above, the upper cover 27 is opened by the rotation of the upper and lower bow-shaped frames 24, 26 longitudinally away from shielding plate 16 or the upper bow-shaped frame 24 is rotated towards the shielding plate 16 and the lower bow-shaped frame 26 is rotated to a horizontal position to be fixed by the springs 28, 28 to thereby close the upper faces of the mowed grass containing units 29, 29. Of course, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, when the upper cover 27 is opened in both directions, the upper and lower bow-shaped frames 24, 26 are fixed to the shielding plate 16 side or horizontally in a superimposed state with the intermediate bow-shaped frame 25 by the springs 28, 28 to maintain the open state. This can be utilized to inspect the recovering state of the mowed grass in the mowed grass containing units 29, 29 or when cleaning the mowed grass containing units. As shown in Fig. 6, the bent portions 33a, 33a of the lower end of the handle 33 can be disengaged from the connectors 32, 32, the handle 33 is then held by hand, and pulled. Then, the upper cover is moved to the shielding plate 16 side to open the upper faces of the containing units 29, 29. As shown in Figs. 14 and 15, when the mowed grass discharge tube 11 is set at an inserting angle α₁, α₂ with respect to the mowed grass container, the mowed grass is dropped while bringing in contact with the ceiling face in the upper cover 27. Thus, the mowed grass is sequentially accumulated from the remote side from the mowed grass discharge tube 11, and since the end of the discharge tube 11 is not bent as in the conventional one, the mowed grass to be recovered is not stalled and not clogged in the discharge tube 11. According to the present invention as described above, the grass mowed by the mowing machine is fed to the mowed grass containing unit of the mowed grass container through feeding means. When the contained mowed grass is filled fully in the containing unit and is to be discharged, the holding member being in engagement with the connector formed at the containing unit is rotated. Then, the open portion of the mowed grass containing unit at the shielding plate side is rotated downwardly to discharge the mowed grass contained therein. If only the upper cover is opened and closed, the mowed grass containing state of the mowed grass containing unit can be inspected. The upper cover can also be opened to the shielding plate side to disconnect the mowed grass containing unit from the pivotal pin and to carry it to an arbitrary disposal place by holding it by hands thereby to dispose the mowed grass. More specifically, the shielding plate side of the cover is brought into pressure contact with the shielding plate to be fixed there at the time of recovering the mowed grass. Accordingly, the mowed grass can be always fed under pressure into the lower mowed grass containing unit. Further, the lower mowed grass containing unit can be opened at its upper face and shielding plate side, and the open portion of the shielding plate side is blocked by the shielding plate at the time of recovering the mowed grass. Therefore, the mowed grass recovering operation can be easily performed without fail, and the mowed grass discharging operation can be smoothly conducted as described above. In addition, the upper cover can be used together with the mowing machine body or the rotation of the bow-shaped frames or further by the holding member to further improve the mowed grass discharging operation to shorten the time and improve the operability. It is clear that the present invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement thereof, as the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred or exemplary embodiment.

Claims: A mowed grass container for a mowing machine, said mowing machine (1) having a mower (8) attached to a machine body through a hanging link mechanism (6, 7) for recovering mowed grass mowed by said mower (8) into the mowed grass container (12), said mowed grass container (12) being attached to the machine body and comprising a shielding plate (16) coupled to the machine body, an upper cover (27) arranged to extend with part of its rim in parallel engagement along the side face of said shielding plate (16), and a lower mowed grass containing unit (29), said lower mowed grass containing unit (29) being open at its side facing upwardly and the side facing the shielding plate (16) and being further attached to said shielding plate (16) through pivots (23) provided at a position separated from said shielding plate (16) so as to rotate around the pivots (23) to open the side facing the shielding plate (16) for a downward disposal of collected mowed grass, characterized in that said upper cover (27) is foldable about a single axis such that it may be opened both at the side facing said shielding plate (16) and the side facing downward towards said upwardly facing side of said lower mowed grass containing unit (29), wherein said upper cover (27) is kept in its closed unfolded state by means of springs (28). The mowed grass container according to claim 1, wherein said mowed grass container (12) is detachably attached to said shielding plate (16). The mowed grass container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said upper cover (27) is fixed to bow-shaped frame parts (24, 25, 26) pivotally secured for a rotation about said single axis either towards the side facing said shielding plate (16) or towards the side facing downward towards said upwardly facing side of said lower mowed grass containing unit (29). The mowed grass container according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said upper cover (27) is composed of a bellows. The mowed grass container according to anyone of claims 1 to 4, wherein actuating means (32) are provided at an upper frame (30) of said mowed grass containing unit (29) and a holding member (33) which is pivotally secured to one (26) of the frame parts (24, 25, 26) of said upper cover (27) is engageable with said actuating means (32) such that said mowed grass containing unit (29) can be rotated around said pivots (23) to open the side facing said shielding plate (16) for a downward disposal of collected mowed grass. The mowed grass container according to claim 5, wherein said holding member (33) is a handle being disposed so as to be suitable for being gripped by a drivers hand.

Inventors: ISHIMARU TAKESHI, MATSUKI SATOSHI, ISHIMARU, TAKESHI, MATSUKI, SATOSHI
Applicants: ISEKI AGRICULT MACH, ISEKI & CO., LTD.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: A01D34
IPC codes: A01D34, A01D43