Combination yard maintenance apparatus

Abstract

A combination yard maintenance apparatus used for lawn mowing, leaf clearing and snow blowing comprises a blade assembly having an elongated support member for rotatably mounting to a drive shaft and two shovelling surfaces disposed at opposite ends of the elongated support member extending from the elongated support member downwardly and laterally opposite one from the other. Each shovelling surface has a lower edge with a cutting edge, an upper edge, an inner edge and an outer edge. The present invention also provides a clutch mechanism for engaging and disengaging an input shaft from an output shaft comprising a first and a second threadable engagement associated with the input shaft and output shaft respectively, and an initiator for inducing the engagement of the first and second threadable engagements. A friction-drive self-propelling system is also provided, comprising a driving wheel and a friction disk wherein the driving wheel has central recessed portion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 811,100 filed Jun. 6, 2006.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to a combination yard maintenance apparatus which is especially useful but not limited to mowing grass, clearing leaves and blowing snow.BACKGROUND[0003]The tasks of mowing grass, blowing snow and clearing leaves or the like typically require three different pieces of equipment, namely a lawn mower, snow blower and leaf blower. This obviously requires a large amount of storage space and can incur significant purchase and operating costs.[0004]There are various multi-use devices that have been proposed for cutting grass and blowing snow. Canadian Patent No. 2,133,548, for example describes a snow blower attachment for lawnmowers that is used for clearing snow and other particulate material. This enables the lawnmower to be used for clearing snow during the winter, when it cannot be used for cuttin...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0024]Advantageously, the speed of rotation of the driven friction disk can be adjusted by lateral movement of the driven friction disk thereby altering the distance between the propelling position and the central recessed portion of the driving surface.

Problems solved by technology

This obviously requires a large amount of storage space and can incur significant purchase and operating costs.

One important source of wear of the friction disc results from the friction disc contacting the driving wheel at the center or neutral axis resulting in flat portions being ground on the friction disc.

Another common problem with current self-propelling mechanisms of this type is that they can produce a significant amount of heat especially when used continuously for long periods of time.

The excessive heat in turn accelerates the deterioration of the disks and thereby shortens the lifetime of the drive unit.

Images