Prior-art ride-on lawnmowers, i. e. implement car- riers provided with a lawnmower assembly, have a steering device of this type. The column of the steering device is placed in the front portion of the ride-on lawnmower and extends obliquely upwards-backwards towards a driver's seat. The driving comfort of a driver sitting on the driver's seat, as concerns the space for the legs and the driving position, depends on his physical constitution.

One object of the present invention is to provide a steering device, which makes the driver's driving comfort less dependent on his physical constitution and which for this purpose permits an individual adjustment of the position of the steering wheel in the vertical direction.

According to the present invention, this object is achieved by means of a steering device, which is of the type mentioned by way of introduction and which is char- acterised in that the column consists of an outer tube and a steering column which is arranged in the same in an axially displaceable manner, that the outer tube has a series of holes, which extend through the wall of the outer tube and are axially distributed along a line, which extends between two axially separated points on the wall of the outer tube, and a slot, which extends through the wall of the outer tube and has an extension corresponding to said line, and that the steering column supports two pins, which project radially from the steering column and of which one pin is arranged to engage in a hole in the series of holes of the outer tube, said hole being dependent on the

relative displacement position of the outer tube and the steering column, and is adapted to be pushed in radially against spring action to a position in which it is dis- engaged from the hole, and of which the other pin engages in the slot of the outer tube to prevent the outer tube and the steering column from turning in relation to one another.

In a preferred embodiment, said line is an axial, straight line and the slot is an axial slot.

In conformity with said one pin, said other pin is preferably adapted to be pushed in radially against spring action to a position in which it is disengaged from the slot.

In a preferred embodiment, the steering column is formed as an inner tube. Then the inner tube preferably has two diametrically opposed holes, through which the pins project, the series of holes and the slot of the outer tube extending along two diametrically opposed, axial lines, and a spring means being arranged inside the inner tube to press the pins radially outwards.

The spring means is preferably a U-shaped leaf spring, the pins being attached to a respective free end of the legs of the leaf spring.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a lateral view of a steering device ac- cording to the invention.

Fig. 2 shows an outer tube included in the steering device in the direction of the arrow II in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows an inner tube included in the steering device partially in cross-section.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the steering device in a first setting position.

Fig. 5 corresponds to Fig. 4 but shows the steering device in a second setting position.

The steering device which is shown in the drawings has a steering wheel 1 and a column 2 connected there-

with. The column 2 consists of an outer tube 3, to which the steering wheel 1 is attached, and an inner tube 4 which is arranged in the outer tube 3 in an axially dis- placeable manner. The outer diameter of the inner tube 4 is substantially equal to the inner diameter of the outer tube 3.

The outer tube 3 has a series of holes 5, which ex- tend through the wall of the tube and are distributed along an axial, straight line. The holes 5 are circular and have the same diameter. The outer tube 3 has an axial slot 6, which is diametrically opposed to the holes 5 and formed axially substantially just in front of the series of holes and which extends through the wall of the tube.

The inner tube 4 has two circular holes 7 and 8, which are located diametrically opposite to each other and which extend through the wall of the tube.

A U-shaped leaf spring 9 is fixed in the inner tube 4. A projecting pin 10 is attached to one of the free leg ends of the leaf spring 9. The pin 10 has a circular- cylindrical shape and approximately the same diameter as the holes 5 and 7. The projecting end of the pin 10 is slightly rounded. At the other free leg end of the leaf spring 9, a pin 11 is attached, which projects opposite to the pin 10. This pin 11 also has a circular-cylin- drical shape and its diameter, which approximately equals the diameter of the hole 8, substantially equals the width of the slot 6.

The pin 10 of the leaf spring 9 extends through the hole 7 in the wall of the inner tube 4 and through one of the holes 5 in the wall of the outer tube 3, from which it projects slightly with its rounded end. The pin 11 of the leaf spring 9 extends through the hole 8 in the wall of the inner tube 4 and through the slot 6 in the wall of the outer tube 3, thus preventing the tubes 3 and 4 from turning in relation to one another.

The pin 10 is adapted to be pushed in radially a- gainst the action of the spring 9 to a position in which

it is disengaged from the hole 5. When the pin 10 is thus pushed in, the outer tube 3 can be displaced on the inner tube 4 to thereby adjust the total length of the column 2 and thus set the steering wheel 1 in a vertical position convenient for the driver. The outer tube 3 is then placed in a displacement position, in which the pin 10 is situated just in front of and engages by snap action in that hole 5 in the series of holes of the outer tube 3 which best corresponds to this vertical position. If accidentally the outer tube 3 should be placed in such a displacement position in relation to the inner tube 4 that the pin 10 is located just in front of and pressed against a portion of the wall of the tube between two successive holes 5 in the series of holes, the steering capability of the steering wheel 1 is still ensured since the pin 11 engages in the slot 6, thus non-rotatably con- necting the tubes 3 and 4 with each other.

The outer tube 3 is displaceable between two end posi- tions, in which the pin 11 abuts against a respective end wall of the slot 6. In the setting positions which are shown in figs 4 and 5 and in which the pin 10 engages in one or the other of the two outer holes 5 in the series of holes, the outer tube 3 is, as appears from Figs 4 and 5, located very close to these two end positions. The pin 11 is adapted to be pushed in radially against the action of the spring 9 to a position in which it is disengaged from the slot 6. When the pin 11 is thus pushed in and if the pin 10 is also pushed in, the outer tube 3 can be com- pletely pulled away from the inner tube 4.

In order to prevent the pin 11 from being acciden- tally pushed in, the outer tube 3 and thus the steering wheel 1 losing their capability of steering or acciden- tally being completely pulled away from the inner tube 4, the pin 11 can be formed as an internally threaded sleeve, in which a screw (not shown) with a head is se- cured, whose diameter is greater than the width of the slot 6.

The above-described steering device can be modified in many different ways within the scope of appended claim 1. Thus, the line along which the holes 5 are distributed does not necessarily have to be an axial, straight line, even if this is a preferred embodiment. What is essential for the invention is that the holes 5 are axially dis- tributed along a line which extends between two axially separated points on the wall of the outer tube 3 and that the slot 6 has an extension corresponding to this line.

This line and the slot 6 can, for instance, each extend a distance along a similar screw line, in which case the action of the slot preventing the tubes 3 and 4 from turning in relation to one another is provided by the pin 10, if the latter happens to be in a position between two successive holes 5 in the series of holes, being inserted in one of these holes 5, owing to the engagement of the pin 11 in the slot 6, as soon as a turning motion of the steering wheel is initiated. Nor do the slot 6 and the series of holes have to be located diametrically opposite to each other, but they can be displaced in relation to each other in the circumferential direction at an angle other than 180°, provided that the angle of displacement is the same for the holes 7 and 8 in the inner tube 4.

The slot 6 and the series of holes as well as the holes 7 and 8 can also be axially displaced in relation to each other.