LAWNMOWERBLADEGRINDINGMACHINE

Technical Field

The present invention relates in general to machines for sharpening the blades of reel-type grass mowers commonly used to mow golf course fairways and the like.

Background Art Various grinding machines for sharpening the blades of grass mowers and the like have heretofore been developed. See, for example, Green, U. S. Patent 630,697; Tallman, U. S. Patent 684,128; Meyer, ϋ. S. Patent 1,154,712; Boling, U. S. Patent 1,187,807; Carlson, U. S. Patent 1,734,713; Barnes, U. S. Patent 2,038,470; Roth, U. S. Patent 2,244,976; Kingsley, U. S. Patent 3,073,100; Markham, U. S. Patent 3,677,316; Fleming U. S. Patent 3,863,403; and Goering, C. S. Patent 4,019,287. None of the above patents disclose or suggest the present invention.

Multiple gang, reel-type mowers are commonly used to mow the fairways of golf courses and the like. The most common method of sharpening the cutting blades of each mower gang is presently to remove that gang from the mower unit, transport the removed gang to a maintenance building, use a winch or the like to lift the gang high off the floor and onto a grinding machine such as the Model 388 lawn mower grinder manufactured by Foley Manufacturing Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and repeat the above steps in reverse order after the blades have been sharpened.

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Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement to prior machines for sharpening the cutting blades of reel-type grass mower gangs.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable, highly efficient blade grinding machine that will sharpen the blades of the cutter reel of a reel-type grass mower gang while the gang is resting on the ground.

Disclosure of the Invention 0 Other objects and advantages will in part be obvious, and will in part appear hereinafter, and will be accomplished by the blade grinding machine of the present invention which includes a base for resting upon a support surface such as the ground and for being securely fastened to the frame of a reel- type grass mower gang with the gang resting upon the support surface. The base includes a pair of longitudinal extending guide members. Also included is a trolley for being supported by the base means and suitable ° for back-and-forth longitudinal movement along the guide members of the base means. A grinding wheel is attached to the trolley for back-and-forth longitudinal movement with the trolley and for engaging the longitudina cutting edge of a blade of the mower gang as the 5 trolley means is moved back-and-forth along the guide members of the base. A motor is provided for rotating the grinding wheel to sharpen the cutting edge of the blade of the mower gang as the grinding wheel moves back-and-forth with the trolley. 0

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Brief Description of the Drawings

The above-mentioned features of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the consideration of the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a pictorial view of a portion of the blade grinding machine of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the blade grinding machine of the present invention with a reel-type grass mower gang attached thereto.

Figure 3 is a sectional view substantially as taken on line III - III of Figure 2.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

The blade grinding machine 11 of the present invention is. specifically designed for sharpening the elongated blades 13 of reel-type grass mower gangs 15 commonly used to mow the fairways of golf courses and the like. One tractor is commonly used to drive a plurality of the mower gangs 15 over a fairway. Each mower gang 15 includes a frame 17 and a cutter reel 19 rotatable on the frame 17 about its own longitudinal axis. Each cutter reel 19 has at least one and preferably a plurality of the elongated blades 13 extending helically about its axis. Each blade 13 has a longitudinal cutting edge 21. The specific construction and operation of such mower gangs 15 may vary and is well known to those skilled in the art. The machine 11 is specifically adapted to grind and, thereby, sharpen the cutting edge 21 of the blades 13.

The machine 11 includes a base means 23 for resting upon a support surface 25 such as the ground and for being securely fastened to the frame 17 of a mower gang 15. The base means 23 includes a pair of longitudinally extending guide members 27. These guide members 27 may consist simply of a pair of opposed, elongated metal angle members as clearly shown in Figure 1. The opposite ends of each guide member 27 preferably fixedly joined to one another by rigid end members 29 (see Figure 2) . The end member 29 may also consist of elongated metal angle members. The guide members 27 and end members 29 are preferably fixedly attached to one another in any manner apparent to those skilled in the art, such as by welding, to form a rigid, open rectangle as clearly shown by

Figure 2. A pair of arm members 21 are preferably fixedly attached to one of the guide members 27 in a spaced apart location between the end members 29 as clearly shown in Figure 2. A plate member 33 is preferably adjustably attached to the outer end of each arm member 21 by way of a bolt means 35 or the like. The outer end of each plate member 33 is provided with one or more apertures 37 or the like for allowing a bolt 39 or the like to pass therethrough whereby the frame 17 of the mover gang 15 can be securely attached to the base means 23 in a manner which will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the drawings.

The machine 11 includes a trolley means 43 for being supported by the base means 23 and for back- and-forth longitudinal movement along the guide members 27. The trolley means 41 preferably includes

a substructure member 43 for slidable engagement with the guide members 27 of the base means 23. The substructure member 43 may consist of a substantially rectangular, rigid metal plate as clearly shown in the drawings. A plurality of wheel-like roller means 45 are preferably attached to the substructure member 43 for rollably supporting the substructure member 43 on the guide members 27 of the base means 23 to allow the substructure member 43 to be easily moved back- and-forth on the guide members 27. The roller means 45 can be attached to the substructure member 43 in a manner apparent to those skilled in the art such as by welding the axle member 47 of the roller means 45 to the substructure member 43 (see Figure 3) . The trolley means 41 also preferably includes a superstructure member 49 for being pivotally attached to the substruc¬ ture member 43 by a pivot means 51. The pivot means 51 preferably includes a first member 53 for being fixedly attached to the substructure member 43, includes a second member 55 for being fixedly attached to the superstructure member 49, and includes a pivot member 57 for pivotally joining the first and second members 53, 55 relative to one another. The first and second members 53, 55 may be fixedly attached to the substructure and superstructure members 43, 49 respectively in any manner apparent to those skilled in the art such as by being bolted thereto.

A first screw means 59 is preferably provided for causing the superstructure member 49 to pivot relative to the substructure member 43 about the pivot member 57. The first screw means 59 includes a screw rod 51 having a first end 63 and a second end 65 and includes

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a handle 67 fixedly attached to the first end 63 of the screw rod 61 to allow the screw rod 61 to be manually turned. The screw rod 61 extends through and coacts with a threaded aperture 69 in the super- structure member 49 in such a manner that a second end 65 of the screw rod 61 engages the substructure member 43 so that rotation of the handle 67 and, therefore, the screw rod 61, will cause the superstructure member 49 to be pivoted toward or away from the substructure member 43 in a manner. as will now be apparent to those skilled in the art.

A second screw means 71 is provided for causing the superstructure member 49 to move transverse relative to the substructure member 43. More specifically, the second screw means 71 includes a screw rod 73 that extends through a portion of the second member 55 of the pivot means 53 and is attached to a slide portion 75 of the second member 55 of the pivot means 51 in such a manner that rotation of the screw rod 73 will cause the slide portion 75 to move back-and- forth relative to the substructure member 43 in a manner as will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. The superstructure member 49 is fixedly attached to the second member 55 of the pivot means 51 only at the slide portion 75 by way of bolts 77 or the like so that movement of the slide portion 75 by way of the second screw means 71 will cause the superstructure member 49 to move toward or away from the pivot member 57 as will now be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The machine 11 includes a grinding wheel means 79 attached to the trolley means 41 for back-and-forth

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longitudinal movement with the trolley means 41 and for engaging the longitudinal cutting edge 21 of one of the blades 13 of the cutter reel 19 of the mower gang 15 whose frame 17 is attached to the base means 23. The grinding wheel means 79 preferably includes a typical grinding wheel 81 of ordinary construction well-known to those skilled in the art, and support structure for securely supporting the grinding wheel 81 relative to the superstructure member 49. The support structure may include a pair of elongated, rigid arm members 83 having one end fixedly attached to the superstructure member 49 in any manner apparent to those skilled in the art such as by welding or the like, and may include a bearing means 85 attached to the opposite end of the arm members 83 for rotatably supporting the grinding wheel 81 in any manner as will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. The machine 11 includes a motor means 87 for selectively rotating the grinding wheel 81 to sharpen the cutting edge 21 of the blades 13. The motor means 87 preferably includes an electric motor 89 of any well-known construction and includes a belt-and- sheave mechanism 91 extending between the electric motor 89 and the grinding wheel 81 to transfer power from the electric motor 89 to the grinding wheel 81 as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The machine 11 preferably includes a blade guide means adjustably attached to the superstructure member 49 of the trolley means 41 for causing the cutting edge 21 of the blade 13 being sharpened to be properly positioned relative to the grinding wheel 91 as the trolley means 41 is moved back-and-forth along the

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guide members 27 of the base means 23. The blade guide means preferably includes a rod member 93 for engaging the knife 13 as the trolley means 41 is moved back-and-forth on the guide member 27 and includes support structure 95 for attaching the rod member 93 to the arm members 83 of the grinding wheel means 79. The rod member 93 is preferably adjustably mounted to the support structure 95 for allowing proper adjustment of the cutting edge 21 of the blade 13 being sharpened relative to the grinding wheel 81.

The operation of the machine 11 of the present invention is quite simple. When it is desired to sharpen the cutting edge of the blades of the cutter wheel of a reel-type grass mower, the portable, light-weight machine 11 can be carried to the mower. The frame 17 of the mower gang 15 is then fixedly attached to the base means 23 by way of the bolts 39 or the like in a manner as will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. The superstructure member 49 is then adjusted by way of the first and second screw means 59, 71 so that the grinding wheel 91 properly engages the cutting edge 21 of one of the blades 13. The rod member 93 is then also adjusted so as to properly engage the knife 13 to be sharpened. The electric motor 89 is then activated, causing the grinding wheel 81 to rotate and sharpen the cutting edge 31 of the blade 13. The trolley means 41 can then be manually moved back-and-forth along the guide members 27 whereby the entire length of the cutting edge 21 of the blade 13 is sharpened. Each blade 13 of the cutter reel 19 can be sharpened in a similar manner.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is not to be so limited since changes and modifications may be made therein which are within the full intended scope of the invention.

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