Abstract:
A lawn trimmer of the present disclosure has a trimmer head with a first opening for receiving string and a second opening for extending the string through so that the string can be used to cut weeds. In addition, the lawn trimmer has a first spool of string mounted to the lawn trimmer, and the string is wound around the spool and has a free end that is inserted into the first opening and out of the second opening. The spool rotates such that when the string breaks during use a user can manually forward the string through the second opening for continued use of the string.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/049,817 filed on May 2, 2008, entitled “Continuous String Feeding Trimmer,” which is fully incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates generally to lawn trimmers. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a lawn trimmer that has continuous string feeding. 
         [0003]    Typically, one uses a lawn trimmer for trimming and edging around obstacles on a lawn. For example, one may use a lawn trimmer to level the grass around the base of a tree, fences posts or decking so that the level of the grass around the obstacles is consistent with that of the mowed lawn. 
         [0004]    Oftentimes, trimming is accomplished with a gas or electrically powered trimmer that operates a nylon string. As the trimmer is activated, the nylon string spins in a whipping motion and cuts the grass in which it comes into contact. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    A lawn trimmer in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a spool of string mounted on a shaft and a trimmer head. The trimmer head has a first opening for receiving the string from the spool and a second opening for extending the string through so that the string can be used to cut weeds. The spool rotates such that when the string breaks during use a user can manually forward the string through the second opening for continued use. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention. Furthermore, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the figures. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary lawn trimmer in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view of a spool of the exemplary lawn trimmer depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a side plan view of the spool of the exemplary lawn trimmer depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a side perspective view of an exemplary shaft and pipe holder in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a side plan view of another exemplary pipe holder in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a side perspective view showing the pipe holder of  FIG. 5  coupled to a bar holder in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a side perspective view of the spool of the exemplary lawn trimmer depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of an exemplary lawn trimmer in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure having two spools mounted on a shaft. 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is a bottom plan view of the trimmer head depicted in  FIG. 8 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of an exemplary lawn trimmer in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure having dual spools mounted on a trimmer head of the lawn trimmer. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary lawn trimmer  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The lawn trimmer  100  comprises a shaft  101  that is connected to a trimmer head  102 . The trimmer head  102  rotates either through electric or gas powered operation via a motor (not shown). 
         [0018]    During operation, a user grasps the shaft  101  of the lawn trimmer  100  and powers on the lawn trimmer  100 . The user directs the trimmer head  102  in a direction of weeds and/or grass (not shown) that the user desires to trim. As the lawn trimmer  100  operates, a string  108  that exits an opening  109  in the trimmer head  102  rotates. As the trimmer head  102  rotates, the string trims the weeds and/or grass in the path of the lawn trimmer  100 . 
         [0019]    In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the lawn trimmer  100  further comprises a bar holder  106 . In one embodiment, the bar holder  106  is composed of aluminum. However, the bar holder  106  may be made of other types of material known in the art or future-developed. 
         [0020]    The bar holder  106  attaches to the shaft  101  of the lawn trimmer  100  via one or more rings  111  that are secured to the bar holder  106 . In one embodiment, the rings  111  consist of aluminum material. However, the rings  111  may be made of other types of material known in the art or future-developed. 
         [0021]    Further, the bar holder  106  is coupled to a pipe holder support  104 . In one embodiment, the pipe holder support  104  is composed of aluminum. However, the pipe holder support  104  may be made of other types of material known in the art or future-developed. For example, the pipe holder support  104  may be composed of a plastic material. 
         [0022]    The pipe holder support  104  may be coupled to the bar holder  106 , for example, via a weld. However, the pipe holder support  104  may be coupled to the bar holder  106  in other ways known in the art or future-developed. 
         [0023]    The lawn trimmer  100  further comprises a spool  103  that houses a length of the string  108  wrapped within the spool  103 . The spool  103  is rotatably mounted to the shaft  101  via the pipe holder support  104 . In this regard, the spool  103  comprises an opening  112 . A user aligns the opening  112  of the spool  103  with the pipe holder support  104  and slides the spool  103  over the pipe holder  103 . 
         [0024]    The spool  103  is mounted on the pipe holder support  104  by inserting the pipe holder support  104  in the opening  112 . A wing nut  105  secures the spool  103  to the shaft  101  and the pipe holder support  104 . 
         [0025]    The spool  103  comprises two sections including a first section  113  and a second section  114 . At the intersection of the first section  113  and the second section  114  is a channel  115  that runs the circumference of the spool  103 . The channel  115  is opened such that the string  108  can be retrieved from the wound string  108  within the spool  103 . 
         [0026]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , the string  108  is retrieved from the spool  103  manually by a user (not shown). The user feeds the string  108  through an opening  110  in a bearing housing  116  that attaches to the trimmer head  102 . The opening  110  in the bearing housing  116  provides a path all the way to the opening  109  in the trimmer head  102  through which the string  108  is fed. The user further feeds the string  108  through the opening  109  in the trimmer head  108 . Thus, the string  108  is continuously fed from the spool  103 , through the bearing housing  116  and out the opening  109 . 
         [0027]    During operation, the trimmer head  102  rotates, and the string  108  cuts down weeds and/or grass in the path of the lawn trimmer  100 . When the string  108  breaks during use, the string  108  is then easily pulled through the opening  109  again to continue use. The string  108  remains available so that the user does not have to rethread the string  108  in order to continue cutting weeds and/or grass. 
         [0028]      FIG. 2  depicts a top plan view of the spool  103 . As noted herein, the spool  103  comprises the opening  112 . The opening  112  goes completely through the entire width of the spool  103 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  is a side plan view of the spool  103 .  FIG. 3  further illustrates the channel  115  that runs the circumference of the spool  103 . The channel enables the string  108  to be retrieved from the wound string  108  within the spool  108 . 
         [0030]    With respect to  FIG. 4 , the pipe holder  104  may not necessarily be coupled to the bar holder  106 . In such an embodiment, the bar holder  106  may not be desirable. In this regard, the end  590  of the pipe holder  104  may be machined to exhibit a radius of curvature such that the end  590  fits snugly against the shaft  101  as shown. In such an embodiment, the end  590  may be welded, for example, to the shaft  101 . 
         [0031]    In another embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , a pipe holder  570  may comprise an opening  890  that extends through the width of the pipe holder  570 . In such an embodiment, the opening  890  may be substantially rectangular, which is described further with reference to  FIG. 6 . Further, the end  571  of the pipe holder  570  may curved. 
         [0032]      FIG. 6  depicts the pipe holder  570  such that the curved end  571  sits snugly to the shaft  101 . In such an embodiment, the bar holder  106  fits all the way through the opening  890  of the pipe holder  570 . On each side of the pipe holder  570 , the bar holder  106  is coupled to the shaft  101  with one or more of the rings  111 . 
         [0033]      FIG. 7  depicts a perspective view of the spool  103 . The spool  103  comprises the sections  113  and  114  that connect together to form the channel  115 . The string  108  is wound about the wall formed by the opening  112  and a portion of the string  108  protrudes for pulling the string  108  from the spool  103 . The pipe holder support  104  receives the spool  103  via the opening  112 . The spool  103  can be secured on the pipe holder support  104  via the nut  105  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0034]      FIG. 8  depicts a lawn trimmer  200  in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure. The lawn trimmer  200  works similarly to the lawn trimmer  100  depicted in  FIG. 1 , however, the lawn trimmer  200  comprises two spools  202  and  203 . Each of the spools  202  and  203  are wound with string  208  and  209 , respectively. 
         [0035]    The spools  202  and  203  are rotatably mounted to a single shaft  201  via a pipe holder support  204 . Note that the pipe holder  204  is longer than the pipe holder support  104  ( FIG. 1 ) to accommodate the two spools  202  and  203 . The spools  202  and  203  have openings  212  and  213 , respectively, and the spools  202  and  203  are mounted on the shaft  201  by inserting the pipe holder  204  into the openings  212  and  213  and securing them with a wing nut  105 . 
         [0036]    A user (not shown) pulls the strings  208  and  209  from the spools  202  and  203 , respectively. The user inserts the ends of the strings  208  and  209  through the openings  218  and  219  on an encasing  216  until the strings  208  and  209  are at a length from trimmer heads (shown in  FIG. 9 ) to cut weeds and/or grass (not shown). 
         [0037]    If during operation, one of the strings  208  and  209  breaks, the user can manually feed additional string  208  and  209  to continue use. The user can grab the string  208  and  209  and pull, and the spools  202  and  203  rotate about the pipe holder support  204  to provide additional string  208  and  209  when a break occurs. 
         [0038]    Note that the pipe holder support  204  is mounted to the shaft  201  in a similar fashion as that for the lawn trimmer  100  ( FIG. 1 ). Notably, the pipe holder support  204  is mounted to the bar holder  106 , and the bar holder  106  is mounted to the shaft  201  via rings  111 . However, the pipe holder  204  may be mounted in the way described above with reference to  FIG. 4 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 9  is a bottom plan view of the encasing  216  of the lawn trimmer  200  depicted in  FIG. 8 . The encasing  216  houses two trimmer heads  1000  and  1001 . Each of the trimmer heads  1000  and  1001  receives a string  208  and  209 , respectively, through the openings  218  and  219 , respectively. During operation, each of the trimmer heads  1000  and  1001  rotates independent of the other to trim and/or edge weeds and/or grass (not shown). If one of the strings  208  or  209  breaks, the user (not shown) can pull the string  208  or  209  through the openings  218  or  219  from the spools  202  or  203 , respectively, to continue operation. 
         [0040]      FIG. 10  is an exploded perspective view of a lawn trimmer  300  in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure. The lawn trimmer  300  works similarly to lawn trimmer  100  ( FIG. 1 ) and lawn trimmer  200  ( FIG. 2 ). However, in the lawn trimmer  300  one or more spools  303  and  304  are mounted on top if a trimmer head  302 . 
         [0041]    The spools  303  and  304  are mounted to a pipe holder support  306 . The pipe holder support  306  is mounted to a bearing  321 . The bearing  321  has an opening  320 . 
         [0042]    In such an embodiment, once assembled a user (not shown) pulls strings  309  and  310  from their respective spools  303  and  304 . The user then inserts the strings through the openings  307  and  308  of the spools  303  and  304 , respectively. The strings  309  and  310  run through the pipe holder support  306 , through opening  320  and out a first opening  322  in the trimmer head  302  and a second opening (not shown). 
         [0043]    Note that in such an embodiment, there are two openings, the opening  322  through which the string  309  exits the trimmer head  302  and another opening (not shown) on the opposing side of the trimmer head  302  through which the string  310  exits the trimmer head  302 . The opening that is not shown through which string  310  exist the trimmer head  302  is substantially similar to the opening  322 . Thus, for brevity and clarity, only opening  322  is shown. 
         [0044]    During operation, the trimmer head  302  rotates. As the trimmer head  302  rotates, strings  309  and  310  rotate. As the strings  309  and  310  rotate, they edge and trim weeds and/or grass. 
         [0045]    Note that each spool  303  and  304  corresponds to a separate string  309  and  310 , respectively. Thus, if string  309  breaks, the user (not shown) pulls the string  309  which rotates spool  303  thereby obtaining additional string from the spool  303 . On the other hand, if string  310  breaks, the user pulls the string  310  which rotates spool  304  thereby obtaining additional string from the spool  304 .