Patent ID: 7730706

Claim:
A lawn mower, comprising: a vehicle body that is supported by a plurality of wheels; a support frame that is connected to a rear part of the vehicle body, including: a pair of right and left arms extending rearward from the vehicle body; and a holding frame linked to the arms, including: a pair of right and left connecting plates connected to respective arms; and a connecting member bridging the right and left connecting plates; a grass collector that is supported on the support frame so as to be pivoted between a grass collecting position and a discharge position about an axis oriented in a transverse direction of the vehicle body, the grass collector having a bottom wall with a lower surface generally oriented downward when the grass collector is in the grass collecting position; a rotating shaft extending between the connecting plates and rotatably supported on the connecting plates, the rotating shaft being disposed in the vicinity of a rear end of the bottom wall of the grass collector, the grass collector being mounted on the rotating shaft to be rotated in unison, the rotating shaft being adapted to create a pivot axis for pivotal movement of the grass collector between the grass collecting position and the discharge position; a swiveling mechanism that is connected to the rotating shaft of the grass collector to be rotated in unison to allow the grass collector to pivot through the rotating shaft including: a support member supported on the connecting member; and a swiveling body that is connected to the rotating shaft to be rotated in unison; and a cylinder connected to the support member at one end thereof and to the swiveling body at the other end thereof; wherein the swiveling mechanism and the cylinder are disposed below and rearward of the grass collector in the grass collecting position, and the cylinder extends along the lower surface of the grass collector; the lower surface of the grass collector has a recess portion that is formed along a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body in a central region of the bottom wall of the grass collector with respect to the transverse direction, so as to separate at least a portion of a space proximal to an opposite surface of the bottom wall into right and left sides of the vehicle body, the opposite surface being positioned opposite from the lower surface of the bottom wall, and when the grass collector is in the grass collecting position, the swiveling mechanism and the cylinder are located within the recess portion movably without interference with the recess portion.