Patent ID: 7730577

Claim:
Control handle assembly for a walk-behind mobile machine comprising, in combination: a rigid handle adapted to be mounted to the walk-behind mobile machine, with the rigid handle being graspable by an operator's hands for steering the walk-behind mobile machine; a control portion movably mounted relative to the rigid handle and defining a separation between the rigid handle and the control portion, with the control portion controlling an operative function of the walk-behind mobile machine, with the control portion being moveable by the operator's hands while grasping the rigid handle, with the control portion having a rigidity; and an extension extending between the rigid handle and the control portion and over the separation, with the extension formed of flexible material having a rigidity less than the rigid handle and the control portion to allow flexing if a finger of the operator's hand is extended into the separation and if the extension simultaneously engages the rigid handle and control portion during movement of the control portion relative to the rigid handle.