Patent ID: 7631477

Claim:
A lawn mower comprising: a mower deck; an adjustable striping roller assembly mounted on the mower deck, the striping roller assembly comprising: a mounting bracket connected to the mower deck, the bracket having a top arm extending away from the mower deck in a generally horizontal direction and a lower portion generally adjacent the mower deck, wherein said top arm has an opening therein; a roller arm pivotally mounted on the lower portion of the mounting bracket at a pivot connection; a striping roller rotatably mounted on a distal end of said roller arm; a height adjusting rod attached to the pivoting roller arm and having a plurality of height-adjustment holes in an upper end thereof, the height adjusting rod attaching to the roller arm intermediate the pivot connection and the distal end of the roller arm, wherein the height adjusting rod extends through the opening in the top arm of the bracket and is slidable relative to the bracket; a U-shaped connection member having substantially parallel upper and lower legs with a collar on the upper leg, the collar having a height-selection hole therein, the U-shaped connection member being positioned with respect to the mounting bracket such that the upper leg and collar are above the top arm of the bracket and the lower leg is below the top arm of the bracket; a biasing member positioned such that one end of the biasing member rests against the lower leg of the U-shaped connection member and the other end of the biasing member rests against the underside of the top arm of the bracket such that said biasing member acts upon the U-shaped connection member causing the upper leg to be biased toward the upper surface of the top arm of the bracket and forcing the striping roller downward with respect to the mower deck; and a connector pin, wherein after aligning one of the height-adjustment holes in the height adjusting rod with the height-selection hole in the collar to select the desired height of the striping roller, the connector pin is inserted through said holes to fix the collar to the height adjusting rod, thereby positioning the striping roller at the desired height.