Patent Publication Number: US-9422107-B1

Title: Lawn debris collector with removable rigid supports

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
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     REFERENCE TO APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of lawn care equipment, more specifically, a device that collects lawn debris. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The lawn debris collector with removable rigid supports is a kit that is adapted to be used to collect lawn debris. The lawn debris collector includes a tarp member and a plurality of removable rigid supports. The plurality of removable rigid supports is each securable to a perimeter of the tarp member. More specifically, a first and second of the plurality of removable rigid supports are inserted into sleeves provided on a first and second edge of the perimeter of the tarp member. A plurality of immovable flexible supports is permanently secured along a bottom surface and sides of the tarp member. The oriented with respect to the plurality of removable rigid supports. The plurality of removable rigid supports are removed in order to fold the tarp member in half with lawn debris collected on said tarp member. The tarp member is used to collect and dispense the lawn debris into a receptacle. 
     These together with additional objects, features and advantages of the lawn debris collector with removable rigid supports will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the lawn debris collector with removable rigid supports when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     In this respect, before explaining the current embodiments of the lawn debris collector with removable rigid supports in detail, it is to be understood that the lawn debris collector with removable rigid supports is not limited in its applications to the details of construction and arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustration. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concept of this disclosure may be readily utilized as a basis for the design of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the lawn debris collector with removable rigid supports. 
     It is therefore important that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the lawn debris collector with removable rigid supports. It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for purposes of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention: 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates another perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure along line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  illustrates another perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure in use. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates another perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure in use. 
         FIG. 6  is a detailed view of one of the plurality of removable rigid supports of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
     The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments of the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. 
     Detailed reference will now be made to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in  FIGS. 1-6 . A lawn debris collector with removable rigid supports  100  (hereinafter invention) is further defined with a tarp member  101  and a plurality of removable rigid supports  102 . 
     The plurality of removable rigid supports  102  are further defined as a first support  103 , and a second support  104 . Each of the plurality of removable rigid supports  102  is further defined as comprising a plurality of attachable support segments  107 . The plurality of attachable support segments  107  linearly join to form each of the plurality of removable rigid supports  102 . The plurality of attachable support segments  107  attach to one another via a male member  108  and a female receptacle  109 . An elastic member  110  spans between two consecutive support segments  107  (see  FIG. 6 ). End caps  111  are provided on distal ends  112  of each of the plurality of removable rigid supports  102 . 
     The end caps  111  enclose the distal ends  112 . Moreover, the elastic member  110  includes a support bracket  113  that engages the distal end  112  in order for the elastic member  110  to span across the plurality of attachable support segments  107 . Each of the support bracket  113  is secured in place with respect to the distal end  112  of each of the plurality of removable rigid supports  102  via the end caps  111 . 
     The tarp member  101  is further defined with a collection surface  114  and a perimeter  115 . The collection surface  114  is adapted to receive debris  200  thereon. The perimeter  115  defines the overall size and shape of the tarp member  101 . The perimeter  115  is further defined with a first edge  116 , a second edge  117 , a third edge  118 , and a fourth edge  119 . The second edge  117  and the fourth edge  119  each include a sleeve  120  thereon. The sleeve  120  enables two of the plurality of removable rigid supports  102  to be inserted therein. Each of the plurality of removable rigid supports  102  is defined with a support length  121 . The support length  121  shall be equal to or less than a tarp edge length  122 . That being said, the two of the plurality of removable rigid supports  102  are fully inserted into the sleeve  120  provided on the second edge  117  and the fourth edge  119  of the perimeter  115  of the tarp member  101 . It shall be noted that the two of the plurality of removable rigid supports  102  may be either permanently affixed or removable with respect to the sleeve  120 . 
     The invention  100  includes a plurality of immovable flexible supports  123 . The plurality of immovable flexible supports  123  is affixed to the tarp member  101  in order to provide rigidity to the tarp member  101  with respect to a longitudinal axis  124 . The tarp member  101  is further defined with a bottom surface  125 . The bottom surface  125  of the tarp member  101  includes a plurality of bottom sleeves  126  that are oriented along the longitudinal axis  124 , and which house the plurality of immovable flexible supports  123 . 
     The plurality of immovable flexible supports  123  is perpendicularly oriented with respect to the plurality of removable rigid supports  102 . The plurality of immovable rigid supports  123  are made of a flexible material that may be a piece of rope or a piece of plastic, and enable the tarp member  101  to be folded in half with the lawn debris  200  collected on said tarp member  101 . The tarp member  101  is used to collect and dispense the lawn debris  200  into a receptacle  300 . 
     The sleeves  120  are used with the plurality of removable rigid supports  102  in order to support the tarp member  101  in a flattened state (see  FIG. 4 ), and subsequently, the plurality of removable rigid supports  102  are removed from the sleeves  120  in order to fold the tarp member  101  inwardly and in halves. The folding of the tarp member  101  inwardly and in halves (see  FIG. 5 ), adaptively enables the contents of the lawn debris  200  collected on the collection surface  114  to be condensed and dispensed into a receptacle  300  with no mess or spilling. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the invention  100  may include a storage bag  130  to store the tarp member  101  and the plurality of removable rigid supports  102  when not in use. The removable rigid supports  102  are constructed of tubular components, which may resemble tent pole construction. The tarp member  101  may be made of a piece of fabric, which is treated with an impermeable coating, which is well known in the art of tarps. 
     With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationship for the various components of the invention  100 , to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function, and the manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the invention  100 . 
     It shall be noted that those skilled in the art will readily recognize numerous adaptations and modifications which can be made to the various embodiments of the present invention which will result in an improved invention, yet all of which will fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims. Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.