Patent ID: 7810303

Claim:
A human powered ground cover mower comprising: (a) a frame; (b) a handle assembly having one end thereof pivotally secured to said frame and having an opposed end thereof extending in a rearward direction; (c) a rear axle centrally secured on said frame at a rear end thereof; (d) a rear wheel mounted on said rear axle for rotation thereabout; (e) a pair of front ground cover engaging wheels, each of said pair of front wheel rotatably affixed in spaced apart relationship to said frame; (f) a blade assembly having at least one blade thereof mounted on said frame and rotating in a substantially horizontal plane; and (g) a front axle disposed in said direction transverse to said direction of mowing; (h) a pair of first bearings assemblies, each of said pair of bearing assemblies having a housing thereof secured to said frame in a spaced apart relationship to each other, said each of said pair of bearing assemblies having a bearing thereof operatively receiving a respective end of said front axle so that said front axle rotates about a horizontally disposed rotational axis; (i) at least one second bearing assembly having a housing thereof secured to said frame; (j) at least one vertically disposed shaft operatively received in a bearing of said at least one second bearing assembly, said at least one vertically disposed shaft having a lower end thereof secured to said at least one blade and having an opposed upper end thereof extending above said housing of said at least one second bearing assembly, (k) arrangement connecting said rear axle to said front axle, whereby rotation of said rear axle causes rotation of said front axle; (l) at least one plate secured to an upper end of said at least one shaft and disposed in said horizontal plane; (m) at least one friction wheel secured on said front axle for rotation therewith and having a peripheral edge thereof disposed in each of a predetermined alignment and a predetermined frictional engagement with a top surface of said at least one plate; and (n) at least one resilient member caged between a top surface of said housing of said at least one second bearing assembly and a bottom surface of said at least one plate and applying upward force thereto.