Patent ID: 7114317

Claim:
An apparatus for collecting and reducing yard debris comprising: a. a frame adapted for movement in a principal direction upon a surface; b. a first duct mounted on said frame having an entrance and an exit; c. a collector rotor assembly comprising: a collector rotor body disposed at the entrance to said first duct having a substantially horizontal axis of rotation generally normal to said first direction; and a plurality of impeller elements mounted upon said collector rotor body, said impeller elements being adapted to: i. engage and sweep over said surface, ii. collect yard debris thereupon, and iii. impel said yard debris toward said duct entrance, said impeller elements extending radially from said collector rotor body by at least about one quarter of an inch; said collector rotor assembly and said first duct being configured for substantially untrammeled frontal engagement with yard debris having a depth of at least about two (2) inches; d. a second duct having an entrance and an exit; e. a blower unit, disposed between said exit to said first duct and said entrance to said second duct, adapted to: i. provide suction at said entrance of said first duct, ii. induce a flow of air through said first and second ducts, and iii. reduce yard debris entrained in said flow of air as it passes through said blower unit; f. an air-solids separator disposed at said exit to said second duct for separating said reduced yard debris in said flow of air induced by said blower into a debris-enriched stream and a debris-depleted stream; g. means for discharging said debris-depleted stream to the atmosphere; h. an accumulation operatively connected to said air-solids separator and adapted to receive said debris-enriched stream from said air-solids separator; i. means operatively connected to said blower unit and adapted to provide power to said blower unit; and j. means operatively connected to said collector rotor assembly and adapted to provide power to said collector rotor assembly.