Abstract:
A multifunctional riding lawn mower for cutting grass, collecting or discharging cut grass clippings, and mulching cut grass clippings into the cut grass. The mower includes a body and a power source connected to the body. Wheels are connected to the body and powered by the power source. The mower has a multidirectional shell connected to the body. The shell has a circulation section and a distribution section on opposite side of the center of the shell. The shell is capable of being turned. When the circulation section matches the front section of the body, the mower cuts grass and mulches the grass clippings. When the distribution section matches the front section of the body, the mower cuts grass and collects the grass clippings.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention lies in the field of mechanical engineering and more particularly improving landscape lawn mowers. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Present invention replaces separate lawn mowers for mulching, side discharge, and rear bag collection of grass clippings into one multifunctional lawn mower. Said multifunctional lawn mower consists of a multidirectional shell and a rotational blade and a reversible handle. Said multidirectional shell is used for in situ mulching and side discharge and bag collection of grass and weed clippings by incorporating variables of said rotational blade and its angle relative to ground surface and direction of said multidirectional shell. Said multidirectional shell has a circulation section and a distribution section and in between has a center preferably under which said rotational blade is connected to said multidirectional shell at an angle relative to ground surface facing circulation section. Said multidirectional shell is moved and controlled by using said reversible handle which is connected to said shell on the sides of the center. Said multidirectional shell functions as a mulching mower when moved in the direction of circulation section and functions as a side discharge and rear bag collection mower when moved in the direction of distribution section. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Present invention improves weed and grass mowers, hereafter lawn mowers, which has a power source such as an electric motor or a gasoline engine and has a rotational blade which is powered by said power source to cut grass and weeds. Said power source provides power to both the wheels of self propelled lawn mower and the rotational blade. Present invention replaces separate lawn mowers for mulching, side discharge, and rear bag collection into one multifunctional lawn mower. Said multifunctional lawn mower consists of a multidirectional shell and a rotational blade and a reversible handle. Said multidirectional shell is used for in situ mulching and side discharge and rear bag collection of grass and weed clippings by incorporating variables of rotational blade and its angle relative to ground surface and direction of said multidirectional shell. Said multidirectional shell has a circulation section and a distribution section and in between has center section preferably under which said rotational blade is connected to said multidirectional shell at an angle relative to ground surface facing circulation section. Said multidirectional shell is moved and controlled by using said reversible handle which is connected to said shell on the sides of the center section. Said multidirectional shell functions as a mulching mower when moved in the direction of circulation section and functions as a side discharge and rear bag collection mower when moved in the direction of distribution section. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of a multifunctional lawn mower showing multidirectional shell and reversible handle positioned at both mulching and discharge and collection positions. 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of a multifunctional lawn mower showing multidirectional shell and wheels and reversible handle positioned at both mulching and discharge and collection positions. 
     FIG. 3 is a side view of a multifunctional lawn mower showing rotational blade set with an angle facing circulation section and multidirectional shell positioned to move in the direction of circulation section and reversible handle positioned to move lawn mower in the direction of circulation section. 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of a multifunctional lawn mower showing rotational blade set with an angle facing circulation section and both reversible handle and multidirectional shell positioned to move in the direction of discharge section and a rear collection bag connected to multidirectional shell using discharge port. 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of a multifunctional lawn mower showing rotational blade set with no angle and multidirectional shell positioned to move in the direction of circulation section and reversible handle positioned to move lawn mower in the direction of circulation section. 
     FIG. 6 is a side view of a multifunctional lawn mower showing rotational blade set with an angle facing circulation section using wheel height adjustments and multidirectional shell positioned to move in the direction of circulation section using reversible handle. 
     FIG. 7 is a side view of a multifunctional lawn mower showing rotational blade and its angle and multidirectional shell positioned to move in the direction of discharge section and reversible handle positioned to move lawn mower in the direction discharge section and secondary side discharge shell connected to multidirectional shell. 
     FIG. 8 is a top view of a multifunctional lawn mower showing multidirectional shell positioned to move in the direction of discharge section and reversible handle positioned to move lawn mower in the direction of discharge section and secondary side discharge shell connected to multidirectional shell. 
     FIG. 9 is a side view of ride lawn mower having a body positioned and adjusted to function as a collection lawn mower including a power source and a multidirectional shell connected to said body and a collection bag and a positioning device. 
     FIG. 10 is a side view of ride lawn mower having a body positioned and adjusted to function as mulching lawn mower including a power source and a multidirectional shell connected to said body and a positioning device. 
     FIG. 11 is a side view of ride lawn mower positioned and adjusted to function as a side discharge lawn mower including a power source and a multidirectional shell and a secondary side discharge shell connected to said multidirectional shell. 
     FIG. 12 is a side view of ride lawn mower having a body positioned and adjusted to function as a side discharge lawn mower including a multidirectional shell and secondary body discharge shell connected to said body and a universal joint and a rotational blade. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 shows a side view of a multifunctional lawn mower  10  including multidirectional shell  11  and reversible handle  12  which is positioned at plane  12 A to operate as a mulching lawn mower and positioned at  12 B to operate as a discharge and collection lawn mower. Said handle is preferred to be adjustable in length. FIG. 1 also shows a center section  13  and a distribution section  14  with an elastic distribution cover  23  and a circulation section  15  with elastic circulation cover  24  of shell  11 . Multidirectional shell  11  consists of two primary defining cross sectional angles of distribution angle  16  shown as B and circulation section angle  17  shown as C both of which said angles  16  and  17  are opposite of each other from the center  13  as shown in FIG. 1. A collection port  11 A is covered by a collection port cover  11 C using collection port connector  11 B which connects said cover  11 C to said shell  11  as shown in FIG. 1. A power source  18  is connected to multidirectional shell  11  and a rotary blade  19  is set at an angle of  20  shown as A relative to ground beneath said shell  11  as shown in FIG.  1 . Said blade  19  is powered by said power source  18  using main power transmitter  21  which connects said rotary blade  19  and power source  18  as shown in FIG. 1. A self locking device  22  connects reversible handle  12  and multidirectional shell  11  and secures said handle at desired positions such as  12 A and  12 B. 
     FIG.  2 . shows a top view of a multifunctional lawn mower showing a pair of wheels  25 A and  25 B connected multidirectional shell  11 , and defining horizontal functional curve of  26  shown as D which shapes top of multidirectional shell  11  between angles  16  and  17 . 
     FIG. 3 shows a multifunctional lawn mower apparatus  10  to cut grass and to mulch cut grass clippings into the cut grass. Said multifunctional lawn mower  10  comprises of a multidirectional shell  11  having a circulation section  15  and a distribution section  14  in opposite sides from the center  13 . Said shell  11  is moved forward in the direction of circulation section  15  to function as a mulching mower as shown in FIG.  3  and moved forward in the direction of distribution section  14  to function as a discharge and collection lawn mower as shown in FIG.  4 . Both FIG.  3  and FIG. 4 show a rotary blade  19  connected to said shell  11  and is set at an angle of  20  shown as A relative to ground beneath said shell  11 . A power source  18  is connected to said shell  11  and powers said rotary blade  19  using main power transmitter  21 . A reversible and adjustable handle  12  is connected to said main shell  11  at the center  13  between said circulation section  15  and distribution section  14 . FIGS. 3-4 show a reversible and adjustable handle  12  positioned at  12 A and  12 B to move lawn mower  10  and its shell  11  in the direction of circulation section  15  and in the direction of distribution section  14  from the center  13  to function as mulching mower and bag collection mower respectively. A collection port  11 A is connected to circulation section  15  of said shell  11  and a collection port cover  11 C is connected to said collection port  11 A using collection port connector  11 B shown at open position while a collection bag  27  is connected to said shell  11  as demonstrated in FIG. 4. A collection bag  27  is connected to said shell  11  using said collection port  11 A for discharge and collection of cut grass clippings  31 . A self locking device  22  is connected to said multidirectional shell  11  and said reversible handle  12  and secures said handle  12  at desired positions such as  12 A and  12 B as shown in FIG.  3  and FIG. 4 respectively. FIG. 3 shows power connectors  22 A and  22 B for towing and pushing said shell  11  and said power connectors connects said shell  11  with a power source designed to tow and push said shell  11  using  22 A or  22 B. 
     FIG. 3 also shows grass  28  being cut by multifunctional lawn mower  10  using rotary blade  19  set at an angle of  20  which cuts grass  28  in increments shorter and shorter from height of H1 down to H2 due to said angle  20  as said shell  11  moves forward. Cut grass clippings are circulated in circulation section  15  and is cut further depending on the speed of said shell  11  and rotational velocity of said blade  19  before discharged from distribution section  14  into to cut grass  29  in the form of mulch  30 . 
     FIG. 4 shows grass  28  being cut by multifunctional lawn mower  10  using rotary blade  19  set at without or with an angle of  20  which cuts grass  28  as shell  11  moves forward by manually using handle  12  or by wheels  25 B powered by power source  18 . Cut grass clippings are moved to circulation section  15  from distribution section  14  before discharged to collection bag  27  through collection port  11 A and collected in the form of grass clippings  31  and cut grass  29  is left free of grass clippings. Collection bag  27  is connected to shell  11  using collection port  11 A by means of opening collection port cover  11 C using collection cover connector  11 B as shown in FIG.  4 . 
     FIGS. 1-4 show a combination of variables including blade angle  20 , defining horizontal shell angle  16  and vertical shell angle  17  of section  15 , and a functional shell curve  26 . Functional shell curve  26  connects said vertical angle  17  and horizontal angle  16  in both horizontal and vertical dimensions all of which define the shell  11  to work as a function of direction of shell  11 . Above mentioned variables in aggregation and combination result in a multidirectional shell which functions a bag collection lawn mower and mulching lawn mower and side discharge lawn mover. 
     FIG. 5 shows a side view of a multifunctional lawn mower  10  including rotational blade  19 A which is positioned parallel to the ground and set with no angle relative to ground. Multidirectional shell  11  positioned to move in the direction of circulation section  15  and reversible handle  12  is also positioned to move lawn mower in the direction of circulation section  15 . FIG. 6 shows two alternatives through which an angel of  20 , shown as A, is established using adjustable same size pairs of wheels  25 A and  25 B. Circulation section  15  of multidirectional shell  11  is raised to level  33  from level  32  by H using wheel adjustments as shown in FIG. 6 to achieve angle  20 . Same angle of  20  can be achieved by using a larger wheel  25 C which is larger in diameter by H corresponding level  32 . Therefore a combination of wheel adjustments and different wheel sizes in diameter can be used to establish a desired angle of  20 , shown as A in FIGS. 5-6. 
     FIG.  7  and FIG. 8 show a side and top view of multidirectional shell  11  positioned to function as a side discharge lawn mower including rotational blade  19  set with an angle  20  shown as A facing circulation section  15 . Multidirectional shell  11  is positioned to move in the direction of distribution section  14  and reversible handle  12  positioned to move lawn mower in the direction of zone of distribution  14 . A secondary discharge shell  34  is connected to said multidirectional shell  11  using collection port  11 A. Collection port  11 A is opened using collection port cover  11 C and port cover connector  11 B. Port cover connector  11 B is preferred to be rotational and connected to  11 C and  11 A. FIG. 7 also shows grass  28  is being cut by rotational blade  29  as multifunctional lawn mower  10  and its shell  11  moves forward in the direction of distribution section  14 . Cut grass clippings are moved to circulation section  15  from distribution section  14  to be discharged through secondary discharge shell.  34 . 
     FIG. 8 shows a top view of a multifunctional lawn mower  10  showing multidirectional shell  11  positioned to move in the direction of distribution section  14 . A reversible handle  12  is also positioned to move lawn mower  10  in the direction of distribution section  14  and secondary discharge shell  34  is connected to said multidirectional shell  11 . Secondary discharge shell is utilized for side discharge of grass clippings. 
     FIG. 9 is a side view of a ride lawn mower  50  positioned and adjusted to function as a collection lawn mower including center  53 , front  52 , and end section  54  of the body  51 . FIG. 9 also shows a power source  55  and a multidirectional shell  56  connected to said body  51  having a circulation section  56 A and a distribution section  56 B and collection bag  67  connected to collection port  62  and a positioning device  57 . Collection port  62  allows collection bag  67  be connected to multidirectional shell  56  through openings  62 A and  62 B of body  51 . Said connection is further sealed by one or preferably two sealers  63  and  64  as shown in FIG.  9 . Power from power source  55  is transmitted to rotational blade  69  through a power transmission system preferably using elastic belts  59  and shaft  58 . Said blade  69  is connected to shaft  58  and multidirectional shell  56  using and through positioning device  57 . Shell connectors  60  and  61  and  60 A all of which permit multidirectional shell  56  to be adjusted and positioned to operate as a multifunctional shell. Grass  28  is cut by ride lawn mower  50  which is positioned to function as a collection mower using rotational blade  69  set with no angle relative to the ground and cut grass  68  is discharged into collection bag  67  through discharge port  62 . 
     FIG. 10 is a side view of a ride lawn mower  50  positioned and adjusted to function as a mulching lawn mower including center  53 , front  52 , and end section  54  of the body  51 . FIG. 10 also shows a power source  55  and a multidirectional shell  56  connected to said body  51  and wheel  70 B shown as being powered by  55  using belt  66 . Circulation section  56 A of said shell  56  is positioned to correspond front section  52  of the body  51  using shell connectors  61  and  60 A and distribution section  56 B of said shell  56  corresponds to end section  54  of body  51 . Power from power source  55  is transmitted to rotational blade  69  through a power transmission system preferably using elastic belts  59  and shaft  58 . Said blade  69  is connected to shaft  58  and multidirectional shell  56  trough positioning device  57 . Shell connectors  61  and  60 A and positioning device  57  permit multidirectional shell  56  to be adjusted and positioned to operate as a multifunctional shell. Angle of A shown as  69 A in FIG. 10 is preferred to be established by adjustments  71 A and  71 B using adjustable wheels  70 A and  70 B. Adjustable wheel  70 A is adjusted from level  72  to  73  to achieve an angle of  69 A shown as A. Grass  28  is cut by ride lawn mower  50  using rotational blade  69  which is set with an angle of  69 A relative to the ground. Cut grass is circulated in circulation section  56 A where grass is incrementally cut and moved to distribution section  56 B from which incrementally cut and re-cut grass  30  is discharged and uniformly distributed into the cut grass  29  from distribution section  56 B. 
     FIG. 11 shows a ride lawn mower  50  positioned and adjusted to function as a side discharge lawn mower including a power source  55  and a multidirectional shell  56  which is connected to said body  51 . Shell  56  has a circulation section  56 A and a distribution section  56 B and secondary discharge shell  74  connected to circulation section  56 A of said shell  56  and a positioning device  57  which positions shell  56 . FIG. 11 also shows pairs of optional multifunctional shell wheels  75 A and  75 B to further adjust and support said shell  56 . 
     FIG. 12 shows a side view of ride lawn mower  50  also positioned and adjusted to function as a discharge lawn mower including the body  51  and a power source  55  and a multidirectional shell  56  which is connected to said body  51 . Multidirectional shell  56  has a circulation section  56 A and a distribution section  56 B both of which positioned to function as a discharge lawn mower. A secondary body discharge shell  76  is connected to said body  51  and through opening  62 A is connected to  62 . A universal joint  77  connects said shell  59  and rotational blade  69  to the body  51  and power source  55  respectively. Multidirectional shell  56  is adjusted and positioned using universal joint  77  including elastic stabilizers  78  and  79  and using adjustment system including fixed rods of  80  and  81  and lock  83  as shown in FIG.  12 . 
     The present invention incorporates variables of rotational blade angle  20 , direction of multifunctional shell, and defined shape of multifunctional shell  11  using defining angles of  16  and  17  and curve  26  as shown in FIG. 1 Said variables give multifunctional lawn mower such as  10  and  50  unique ability to function as a mulching lawn mower and side discharge and bag collection lawn mower if moved in opposite directions from the center of said shell. This novel approach provides the following primary benefits and uses 
     ability to operate over overgrown long grass as a mulching mower by means of cutting long grass in increments into short grass clippings which then is mulched into the cut grass and distributed uniformly, 
     one lawn mower with no additional parts (except collection bag) is used for cutting grass for mulching and bag collection of grass clippings, 
     same rotary blade is used for both mulching and collection of grass clippings, 
     quality of distribution and cut length of grass clippings can easily be adjusted using angle of rotary blade adjustments, 
     does not need conversion from collection mower to mulching mower except changing the direction of the lawn mower by means of using same reversible handle in two different opposite positions, 
     same handle and same shell and same blade is utilized without modifications to function as a multifunctional lawn mower for mulching, side discharge, and bag collection. 
     While I have fully shown and described embodiments of apparatus for multifunctional lawn mower and multidirectional shell no limitations as to the scope of the present invention should be implied from the foregoing description. The true scope of the present invention is limited only by the following claims.