U.S. patent number 3,816,873 [Application Number 05/385,839] was granted by the patent office on 1974-06-18 for folding handle and latch assembly.
This patent grant is currently assigned to The Toro Company. Invention is credited to Richard A. Thorud, Henry B. Tillotson, III, William D. Wood.
United States Patent |
3,816,873 |
Thorud , et al. |
June 18, 1974 |
FOLDING HANDLE AND LATCH ASSEMBLY
Abstract
A folding handle for a rotary mower. The handle is composed of
two similar inverted U-shaped sections, an upper and lower, with
the lower section being attached to the mower housing, and with the
upper section overlapping the lower section for a portion of its
length, and being pivotally connected to the lower section. A
unique latch mechanism locks both sides of the upper and lower
handle sections together rigidly in the upright operative position,
and is easily released by one hand of the operator to allow the
upper section to be folded forward to a generally horizontal
position over the engine. The latching mechanism includes two
sliding pins biased outwardly by two spring-wire handles. The upper
handle section includes ramps to engage and push inwardly the pins
as the upper handle section is being swung into the rigid operative
position. Aligned holes in the upper handle section engage the pins
to secure the upper handle section to the lower handle section.
Inventors: |
Thorud; Richard A.
(Bloomington, MN), Tillotson, III; Henry B. (Minneapolis,
MN), Wood; William D. (Minneapolis, MN) |
Assignee: |
The Toro Company (Minneapolis,
MN)
|
Family
ID: |
23523070 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/385,839 |
Filed: |
August 6, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
16/437; 403/324;
280/655.1; 403/328 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01D
34/824 (20130101); B62B 5/06 (20130101); Y10T
403/598 (20150115); Y10T 16/499 (20150115); A01D
2101/00 (20130101); Y10T 403/604 (20150115); B62B
5/067 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A01D
34/82 (20060101); A01D 34/63 (20060101); B62B
5/06 (20060101); B62B 5/00 (20060101); B62b
003/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;16/110,111R,111A,112,125,126 ;24/21SL,21S ;248/354P ;280/47.37
;403/13,14,94,101,102,324,325,328 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Gay; Bobby R.
Assistant Examiner: Lyddane; William E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Olds; James E. Johnson; Vernon
A.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A folding handle and latching mechanism for a lawn mower,
comprising in combination:
a. a lower handle section having two elongated lower legs secured
at the lower portion of said legs to the lawn mower and a cross
portion located near the upper portion of said legs extending
between said lower legs;
b. two spring-wire handles each secured to one of said legs and
extending along said legs toward said cross portion, said
spring-wire handles also extending along said cross portion toward
each other, said spring-wire handles terminating adjacent each
other along said cross portion with each spring-wire handle
including a hand engageable loop to permit a person to engage each
loop on each spring-wire handle and bias said spring-wire handles
toward each other;
c. two latch pins each extending outwardly through each lower leg,
each of said pins secured to one each of said spring-wire handles;
and
d. an upper handle section having two elongated upper legs each
pivotably secured to one each of said lower legs, each said upper
legs including a hole in alignment with and to receive said latch
pin to rigidly secure said upper handle section to said lower
handle section in the operative position of said upper handle
section.
2. A folding handle and latching mechanism according to claim 1
wherein:
each of said upper legs includes a ramp adjacent to said hole, said
ramp to engage said latch pins for moving inwardly said latch pin
as said upper handle section is swung toward the rigid operative
position and when said upper handle section reaches the rigid
operative position said latch pin will pass into said hole.
Description
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention concerns a folding handle and latch mechanism for a
hand-push or self-propelled apparatus, and in particular a rotary
mower.
In any seasonal type of equipment that is normally used or stored
around the home, it is extremely desirable that the equipment have
the capability of being stored in a minimum of space. In the
average home or garage, storage space is at a premium, with
increased use of lawn and garden maintenance equipment,
recreational vehicles, etc., all requiring storage space when not
in use. In regard to the particular seasonal unit being discussed
in this application, namely a rotary mower, ease of transporting is
another important consideration. Many times the owner must move the
mower in his family car, perhaps to a lake cottage, a cemetery,
elderly parents' home, etc. Therefore, another advantage of this
invention is to make the mower easily reducible in size so it will
fit into a station wagon, or into the trunk of a car and allow the
trunk lid to be closed. An equally important aspect of this
invention is to provide that the handle can be quickly and easily
restored to the operative position.
Since rotary mowers are often operated by persons who are not
necessarily mechanically inclined, it is another advantage of this
invention to make it as simple as possible to manipulate, both when
folding the handle to the non-operative position, and when
restoring the handle to the rigid operative position. No tools are
required, and there are no knobs, wing nuts, cotter pins, or other
fasteners to loosen or remove, and which are then subject to loss.
To fold the upper section of the handle forward, a squeezing action
between the thumb and finger of one hand of the operator, pulls
together the two spring-wire handles which in turn move two latch
pins out of the latched position. The operator may then rotate the
upper section of the handle forward with the other hand. Any
flexible control cables or wires which may be attached to the upper
section will fold in a gentle bend and will suffer no damage. To
return the upper section of the handle to the operative position,
it merely requires swinging the upper section of the handle to the
original position. During this swinging movement, a ramped area,
integral in the upper handle section, guides the latch pins
inwardly against the spring tension of the spring-wire handles.
When the pins are aligned with the elongated holes in the upper
section, spring tension will snap the pins outwardly into the
holes, thus locking the upper section to the lower section. No
manipulation of the latch mechanism is required to engage the
handle sections in the latched position. An integral stop in the
upper handle section prevents the upper section from rotating
over-center, or past the operative position in the wrong
direction.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide for ease and
economy in the manufacture of the component parts. The upper
section of the handle is made of one continuous piece of tubing,
shaped at the closed end for a hand grip area, and shaped, formed,
and punched at the ends of the legs for the latch pins and pivot
bolts. Since there are no weldments or projections, a vinyl tube or
other non-slip material can be slipped onto the upper handle
section to be located on the hand grip area. The lower section of
the handle is also formed of one piece of continuous tubing,
shaped, formed and punched. The lower end of the legs are flattened
for greater support in the area where the legs are pivotally
attached to the brackets on the mower housing. The latch pins and
spring-wire handles are made with standard materials and
processes.
Still a further advantage of this invention is to provide a latch
mechanism in which the components are mutually interconnected so
there is virtually no possibility of malfunction of the folding
mechanism due to loss of any of the components. The only components
that are not captivated are the lock units on the pivot bolts. In
the rare event that one of the lock nuts should work loose and fall
off, the spring-wire handle will hold the pivot bolt in
position.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Other advantages of this invention will become apparent after a
study of the accompanying drawings and descriptions, wherein:
FIG. 1 is an isometric front view of a rotary mower, typical except
for the folding handle and latch mechanism of this invention, with
the handle in the normal operative position;
FIG. 2 is a front view of the latch mechanism with the upper and
lower handle sections locked together in the operative
position;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the latch pin;
FIG. 4 is a rear view of the latch mechanism in the unlatched
position;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the latch pin just as the ramp area
on the upper handle contacts the latch pin prior to engaging the
handle sections;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged rear view of a portion of the upper handle,
similar to FIG. 5, with portions of the latch mechanism removed for
clarity; and
FIG. 7 is a front view of one spring-wire shown in an unbiased
orientation.
Referring to the preferred embodiment in detail, FIG. 1 shows a
conventional rotary mower M, typical except for the folding handle
and latch described in this application. The mower includes a
housing H, four wheels W, two of which may be powered, an engine E,
a shroud S over the engine, and a handle assembly 14. A
horizontally rotating blade is enclosed within the housing H, and
is not shown.
The handle assembly consists of a lower section and an upper
section. The lower section is a continuous piece of tubing, bent to
provide two parallel lower legs 15 and a connecting lower cross
portion 16. The lower ends of legs 15 are flattened and pivotally
connected to the housing H by two horizontal pins 17. A short brace
18 is pivotally attached to each side of the housing by means of
shoulder bolts slightly forward of pins 17. These braces 18 have a
series of holes 19 at the upper end, one of which is selectively
fitted over a swaged pin 20 protruding outwardly from each of the
lower legs 15. Each brace 18 provides a diagonal support to hold
the lower handle section in the operative positions. The operator
selects the hole which will provide the proper handle angle and
height for his stature.
The upper section of the handle is similar to the lower section,
but the upper legs 22 are slightly longer, and the upper cross
portion 23 is wider and is shaped for a convenient hand grip. The
lower ends of legs 22 are flattened and formed to overlap slightly
the upper portion of legs 15 and are pivotally attached to legs 15
by means of pivot bolts 24.
The upper legs 22 are held in alignment with the lower legs 15 by
means of latch pins 25 which protrude through the lower legs 15 and
through aligned holes 26 (See FIGS. 2, 4 and 6) in the overlapping
portion of upper legs 22. A spring-wire handle 27 passes through
the inner end of each of the latch pins 25. The spring-wire handles
27 have a transverse bend at the lower end, this portion passing
outwardly through the lower legs, and are secured by retaining
clips 28. The bend is slightly less than 90.degree., .theta. being
approximately 80.degree., in relation to the straight portion of
the spring-wire handle 27, thus imposing spring tension to each
spring-wire handle 27 toward the inner portion of each leg 15 of
the lower handle section, and thus tensioning the latch pins 25
outwardly in the engaging direction. The straight portion of the
spring-wire handle 27 passes over the heads of the pivot bolts 24
and thus prevents the bolts from dropping out of the lower handle
sections even if the lock nuts should somehow come off pivot bolts
24. The upper ends of the spring-wire handles 27 are bent inwardly
and generally follow the curve of the upper bend of the lower
handle section. The inner end of each of the spring-wire handles is
formed into a loop 29 into which the operator can insert a thumb
and forefinger to manipulate the latch. The loop end of the
spring-wire handles 27 press upwardly against the bottom surface of
the cross portion of the lower handle section, thus imposing
additional outward spring tension on the latch pins 25. The tension
of the spring-wire handles 27 holds the latch pins 25 in the
latched position when the spring-wire handles are in the normal
at-rest position.
In order to disengage the latch pins 25, to allow the upper handle
section to be folded forward, the operator merely inserts his thumb
and finger of one hand into the loop ends 29 of the spring-wire
handles 27 and squeezes the loop ends toward each other. This
action slides the latch pins 25 inwardly and out of the holes 26 in
the upper handle section of upper legs 22. The upper handle section
is then free and can be swung forward pivoting on pivot bolts
24.
It will be noted in FIG. 1, by the phantom lines of the upper
handle, that the overall length and height of the unit is
materially reduced with the upper handle folded forward.
The aperatures 30 (see FIG. 4) in the lower handle section for the
sliding latch pins 25 are fairly close fitting over the pins to
provide support and to prevent the pins 25 from canting and
cocking, and thus to allow free movement on the pins as are moved
in or out. The aligned holes 26 in the upper handle legs 22 are
elongated in the plane of the legs for ease of disengagement and
engagement of the latch pins 25.
To prevent the possibility of the latch pins 25 being pulled
inwardly all the way through and out of the aperatures 30 in the
legs 15 of the lower handle section, the outer end of each latch
pin 25 is upset (clinched) to form two small tabs 31 in the plane
of the legs as shown in FIG. 3. These tabs will pass easily through
the elongated holes 26 in the upper legs 22, but will not pass
through the smaller close-fitting aperatures 30 in the lower handle
section. As the spring-wire handle loops 29 are squeezed together,
the latch pins 25 move inwardly, and the tabs 31 move freely
through the upper legs 22 and then come to rest against the outside
of the lower handle section. The pins are thus prevented from
pulling completely out of the lower section of the handle. The
spring-wire handle through the pins 25 maintain the tabs 31 in
alignment with the elongated axis of the holes 26.
As the upper handle is being returned to the operative position,
the ramp or ramp-shaded area 32 (see FIGS. 4, 5, 6) of the upper
legs 22 contacts the outer end of each latch pin 25, and forces the
pins inwardly against the tension of the spring-wire handles. The
outer end of each pin 25 includes a bevelled area 33 (See FIG. 3)
in the plane of the legs 15 to assist in the movement of the pins
25 along the ramp 32. As the upper handle moves into alignment with
the lower handle, the pins 25 engage the ramps 32 and as the pins
25 slide along the ramps 32, the pins 25 are pushed inwardly
against the spring tension of the spring-wire handles 27. The
elongated holes 26 come into alignment with the latch pins 25 and
the spring tension of the spring-wire handles snaps the latch pins
outwardly into the elongated holes in the upper legs, thus
automatically locking the upper handle into the operative position.
Thus, no manipulation of the latch mechanism or of the lower handle
is required to secure the upper handle into the operative
position.
It is understood that even though this application describes a
folding handle and latch mechanism for a lawn mower, such a
combination may also be applied to any similar apparatus, in which
transportation and storage are significant considerations.
It is further understood that while the shape, material, size,
etc., of the component parts of the invention may be altered or
modified for particular applications, the scope of the invention
should be determined by the appended claims.
* * * * *