Collector and separator apparatus for lawn and garden

Abstract

An apparatus for collection and reduction of yard debris combining a frontally facing rotor-assisted vacuum pick up having through-put-enhancing features with a blower unit to induce airflow for entraining debris collected at the vacuum pick up; reduce the entrained debris to a more manageable volume; impel the reduced debris to a free-flow-separator device for removing the debris from the air in which it is entrained; and deposit the debris in an accumulator for subsequent dumping.

Description

RELATED US APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority to, co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 145,289, filed Jun. 3, 2005, which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 846,029, filed May 14, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,904,742, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to, co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 724,316, filed Nov. 26, 2003, which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 045,123, filed Nov. 9, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,833, which claims benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 247,456, filed Nov. 9, 2000.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to an apparatus for collection and reduction of yard debris in thick layers and deep piles. BACKGROUND [0003] Homeowners, commercial-property owners, and companies who provide care for lawns have an ongoing challenge of how to remove leaves, grass clippings, and other debris from lawns, gardens and paved surfaces, particularly wh...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a machine which effectively removes deep piles of leaves and other debris. In preferred embodiments, the thin layer of residual debris which might otherwise be left for later removal in another step is cleanly removed at the same time.

Problems solved by technology

Homeowners, commercial-property owners, and companies who provide care for lawns have an ongoing challenge of how to remove leaves, grass clippings, and other debris from lawns, gardens and paved surfaces, particularly when the debris accumulates to a depth of over an inch.

However, the dilemma with many prior-art units is that while they are reasonably adapted to vacuum a thin layer of debris from the ground, they do not function well when there is a thick layer of leaves or other debris.

If the collector duct is raised to be able to take leaves from the top of the overlayer, it is no longer so effective in collecting the leaves and other debris close to the ground.

Accordingly, while the available machines are somewhat effective in removing the thin layers of debris, the task of collecting thick layers of debris, particularly deep piles of leaves, remains quite problematic.

Such devices are poorly adapted to the tasks for which machine assistance is needed most.

However, as leaf fragments and other debris collect on the filter, resistance to the flow of air increases, diminishing the air flow rate, and thereby, reducing the effectiveness of the vacuum pick-up opening.

Images