Weeder for Inland Waterways

Aquatic weeds have long been a problem for persons enjoying property located on inland lakes, ponds, and rivers. The weeds grow uncontrolled to lengths in excess of several feet to interfere with swimming and boating usage.

Earlier attempts to remove such weeds from along the shore out to some distance therefrom, have not heretofore proven successful. Hand-operated cutting tools in the form of sickles and hoes were limited due to the poor visibility through the water when the water was disturbed. The cut weeds which float to the surface are removed in a separate operation either by hand or by means of a rake or similar tool. The cut weeds which sink to the bottom regenerate and form new growth. Dredgers in the form of chains drained along the water bed by means of a row boat to trap the weeds were not as effective as tools that employed blades or blade-like edges to cut the weeds.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,299 entitled "Aquatic Weeder" describes a hand held weeder useful for cutting weeds growing beneath the surface of such inland waterways. The weeder is moved back and forth to cut the weeds in shallow waters and remove them from the underwater soil surface. The weeds are later gathered at the surface and taken to the shore for disposal.

U.S. Pat. DES. 190,822 entitled "Underwater Weed Cutter" shows a weeder device having a plurality of serrated blades along one surface for cutting weeds from the underwater soil surface with a screen-like implement for catching the weeds and towing them behind a boat for later disposal.

The present invention proposed is an underwater weed removal device that is either hand-operated or boat-towed for engaging and holding the weeds at the juncture of their root and stalk assembly, removing the roots from the soil, and dragging the roots and stalks, i.e., the entire weeds, to the surface in a single operation.

The invention comprises a first rectangular body of expanded metal having rope-engaging swivels attached to the opposite corners thereof. A metal reinforcement bar is positioned along the body, parallel to the longer sides. An additional rectangular metal body of expanded metal of lesser width than the first body is attached to the first body between the metal reinforcement bar and a longitudinal edge of the first body. The edges of the expanded metal bodies provide a first edge having V-grooves of a first width for capturing larger weeds and V-grooves of shorter width for capturing smaller sized weeds. A pivoted handle support can be optionally attached to the center of the support bar for hand-operation.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a waterway weeder in accordance with the invention, with the component parts in isometric projection;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the weeder of FIG. 1, with towing ropes attached;

FIG. 2A is a top perspective view of a further embodiment of the weeder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B is a top perspective view of a further embodiment of the weeder of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the weeder of FIG. 1, with a handle attached;

FIG. 3A is a front perspective view of the handle attachment assembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the weeder depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the weeder of FIG. 2 shown attached to the transom of a row boat; and

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the weeder depicted in FIG. 5 being withdrawn from the water.

The waterway weeder 10 is shown in FIG. 1 in exploded perspective, and comprises a planar expanded metal body 11, metal support bar 12 and a planar expanded metal body 13. The expanded metal bodies 11 and 13 have a plurality of diamondshaped openings 8 between elements 22 and 23, respectively. When the elements 22, 23 are cut edgewise, a corresponding plurality of V-grooves 7 and 9 are defined along the cut edges 13A, and along edges 11A and 11B. The significance of the V-grooves 7 and 9 will be described below in greater detail. A metal bar 12 formed from a carbon steel composition is on top of the body 11 parallel to the edges 11A, 11B. The narrow expanded metal body 13 having a plurality of V-grooves 7 along one edge 13A is then attached to the bar 12 and to the body 11 by aligning link 22 in the narrow chain link 13 and in the body with the thru-hole 24 in the support bar 12. The chain bodies and the bar 12 are fastened together by means of bolt 18, washers 19, 20 and nut 21. Alternatively, body 11 and the bar 12 can be placed over both bodies 11 and 13 before bolting. In high speed assembly operations, the narrow body 13 can be edge-welded or brazed to body 11 as depicted at 6 in FIG. 2 for example. Four S-shaped swivel hooks or rings 14 are attached to the four opposing corners of the body 11 to facilitate the attachment of ropes or cords 28 as also shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, weeder 10 is arranged for towing by the attachment of two or more cords 28 by means of connectors 27 attached to opposite ends of the cord. In the weeder 20, the bar 12 can also be edge-welded or brazed to the body 11 as shown at 25 in a high speed automated assembly process. When the narrow body 13 is attached to body 11, a plurality of narrow V-grooves are defined along the composite edge defined by the edge 13A of the narrow body 13 and the edge 11A of narrow body 11. The opposing edge IIB provides a plurality of larger V-grooves 9 for engaging, holding and extracting larger-sized weeds when the cords 28 are attached to swivel hooks 14B and the rake 10 is towed in the direction indicated by arrow B. When the cords 28 are attached to the opposite swivels, one of which is indicated at 14A and the other omitted for purposes of clarity, and the rake 10 is dragged in the direction indicated by arrow A along the underwater solid surface, the smaller weeds are caught, held and pulled form the soil by the narrower V-grooves 5.

A less expensive variation of the weeder of the invention, is provided by rake 10, shown in FIG. 2A, which comprises an expanded metal body 11 having V-grooves 9 on opposing sides and is attached to the towing ropes 28 directly without using any type of swivel hooks. A reinforcing bar 12 is attached to the body 11 for added stability and weight to insure that it remains in contact with the weeds growing along the bed of the waterway. The reinforcing bar 12 which adds strength and weight to the body 11 for sinking it to the bottom underwater soil surface; however, bar 12 can be eliminated if the expanded metal of body 11 is of sufficiently heavy gauge.

Another simple and inexpensive embodiment of the weeder of the invention is provided by rake 10" shown in FIG. 2B, wherein an expanded metal body 11 is directly welded as indicated at 16 to an expanded metal body 4 having closely spaced elements 15 to define a plurality of narrow V-grooves 5 on one edge. A plurality of regular sized V-grooves 9 are formed on body 11 on the opposite side therefrom.

Besides being towed behind a row boat such as indicated at 43 in FIG. 5 for example, the weeder 10 is also capable of being hand-operated as best seen by referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 3A. A two part arcuate bracket 29 is attached to the support bar 12 by bolts 50 through plate 34 of one part of bracket 29. One end of the other part of bracket 29 is internally threaded as indicated at 51 to accept the threaded end 52 of a handle 33. The handle 33 comprises a plurality of sections 33', 33" which are joined together to provide any desired length.

As shown in FIG. 3A, a post 38 extends upwardly from the plate 34, and has a hole 53 surrounded by a knurled surface: the other part of the bracket 29 has a plate 37 which is also knurled for engagement with the knurled surface of the post 38; a hole 54 therein is aligned with the hole 53 and post 38, so that a bolt 36 may be passed through them, and secured by wing nut 32 and washer 35. As will be apparent, this permits the securing of the handle 33 at any desired angle, so that the angle of the handle 33 can be adjusted to various angles as indicated in phantom at 33A and its direction can be reversed as indicated at 33B. This allows the angle of the weeder to be adjusted with respect to the operator as well as the bottom of the waterway which in turn provides more positive drag on the weed roots. This also allows the weeder to be drawn in the A direction for example when the handle is located at position 33A and in the direction B when the operating handle 33 is located at 33B. The operator can first remove the larger weeds and then change the position of the handle 33 and retrace his steps to remove the smaller weeds.

The weeder 10 is depicted in FIG. 4 with a pair of heavy compression springs 39, similar to those used with overhead garage doors, attached intermediate the S-shaped swivel hooks 14 and the cords 28. One spring end 40 is attached directly to the S-shaped hook 14 and the other spring end 41 is attached to the connector 27 attached to the end of the cords 28. The heavy expansion springs 39 assist in lifting the weeder upwards through the water. The water resistance to the weeder, when loaded with weeds, causes the springs to elongate when the weeder is lifted from the bottom of the water. The energy stored in the springs alternately releases to assist the operator during upward motion of the weeder toward the water surface.

The towing operation of the weeder 10 is shown in FIG. 5 wherein the weeder is towed by a row boat 43 by means of the pair of cords 28 that are attached to a corresponding pair of hooks 44 fastened to the boat transom 56. The weeder is drawn along the underwater soil bed 47 in a horizontal direction to capture the weeds 46 at the junction of the soil 47 with the water 45 and to hold and remove them.

The multi-functional features of the weeder 10 can be seen by referring now to FIG. 6 wherein the weeder is depicted carrying a plurality of weeds 46 of the type consisting of stalks 42 and roots 48. When the weeder is drawn along the underwater soil surface, the stalks 42 become captured within the V-grooves 9 such that they lay along the top surface 55 of the weeder. When the weeder is removed from the water by means of cords 28, the water depicted as droplets 49 drains through the opening 8 while the weeds 46 remain entrapped on the top surface.

An effective means for removing weeds from inland waterways has herein been described whereby the weeds are engaged at the junction of the soil with the water and are held and removed by means of a simple, efficient and economical device. The weeds are removed in a single operation without additional equipment or additional gathering steps.

The claims and the specification describe the invention presented, and the terms that are employed in the claims draw their meaning from the use of such terms in the specification. Some terms employed in the prior art may be broader in meaning than specifically employed herein. Whenever there is a question between the broader definition of such term as used in the prior art and the more specific use of the term herein, the more specific meaning is meant.