Patent ID: 7866135

Claim:
A turf mower comprising: a mower deck carrying a plurality of cutting blades and having a top wall and a plurality of walls defining a cutting chamber and a side discharge opening nearest one of said plurality of cutting blades, said top wall having a pair of apertures therethrough; a sliding flow control baffle having a panel wall adapted to block part of the side discharge opening and a curved foot wall, with said curved foot wall extending generally vertically and inwardly into the mower deck between said top wall of the mower deck and a plane of rotation of said plurality of cutting blades, wherein a height of said foot wall decreases as said foot wall extends inwardly; and a pair of fasteners passing through the pair of apertures and connecting the flow control baffle to an underside of the cutting chamber, together said pair of fasteners and said pair of apertures limiting a range of motion of the flow control baffle within the cutting chamber, and limiting said sliding flow control baffle to rotate generally about a center of said nearest one of said plurality of cutting blades, wherein the curved foot wall and a portion of said plurality of walls define a volute section, with said volute section having a variable width dependent on a position of said foot wall relative to said center, and with airflow through said side discharge opening being controlled by said volute width.