Speed control system for a power equipment vehicle

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 60/314,379, entitled SPEED CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A WALK BEHIND MOWER, filed Aug. 23, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] A. Field of Invention

[0003] This invention pertains to the art of methods and apparatuses of a power equipment vehicle and more specifically to a speed control system that allows the operator to control the speed of the vehicle.

[0004] B. Description of the Related Art

[0005] It is known in the art to provide a self-propelled power equipment vehicle such as a walk behind lawn mower. More specifically it known in the art to provide a speed control system for a self-propelled vehicle to allow the operator the ability to control the speed of the vehicle.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,949 to Seyerle discloses a variable speed self-propelled lawn mower where the top portion of the handle is pivotally attached to the lower portion of the handle. In order to increase the speed of the mower the operator pushes the upper portion of the handle in the forward direction and to decrease the speed of the mower the operator pulls the upper portion of the handle in the backward direction.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,083 to Staples et al. also discloses a ground speed control system for an outdoor power equipment unit, such as a lawn mower. The control system includes a handle grip on the handle that slides up and down relative to a lower portion of the handle. As the operator slides the handle down the speed of the mower increases and as the operator slides the handle up the speed of the mower decreases.

[0008] Both aforementioned inventions achieve the objective of varying the speed of the mower. However, one distinct disadvantage of these inventions and others of similar design is the cost of manufacturing assembling these components. During the assembly process of these inventions it can be seen that hand tools and possibly power tools are required to complete the assembly. The additional time required to retrieve the tools and assemble the components for each mower increases the overall manufacturing cost of the mower.

[0009] The present invention provides methods and apparatuses for a new and improved speed control system, which is simple in design, effective in use, and overcomes the aforementioned disadvantage of increased manufacturing costs.

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, a new and improved speed control system is provided which has a handle, a speed control bail, a pivot rod, a cover and does not require hand held or power tools for assembly.

[0011] One advantage of this invention is the simple design of the speed control system that allows the manufacture the capability of assembling the components without the use of tools. This advantage permits the manufacture to reduce manufacturing time thereby reducing overall production costs of each vehicle.

[0012] Still other benefits and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which it pertains upon a reading and understanding of the following detailed specification.

[0026] Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention only and not for purposes of limiting the same, FIG. 1 shows a walk behind lawn mower (10) that incorporates the inventive speed control system (30). The lawn mower (10) has an engine (12), a transmission (14), a deck (16), back wheels (18), front wheels (20), a handle bar (22), and a cutting blade (not shown). The handle bar (22) has two support members (24) where each support member has an opening (26) located near the top (28) of the handle bar (22) as illustrated in FIG. 7. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to use on a walk behind lawn mower (10). The present invention can be used on any type of power equipment vehicle used with sound engineering judgment such as a snow blower, yard vacuum, leaf blower, and the like. The operation of the lawn mower (10) is well known in the art and will not be described herein.

[0027] FIGS. 2 and 3 show the present invention in the assembled state on the handle bar (22) of the lawn mower (10). In the preferred embodiment, the components of the present invention include a first pivoting member that is preferably a speed control bail (32), a rod member that is preferably a pivot rod (34), an attachment member that is preferably a cover (36), a second pivoting member that is preferably an operator presence control bail (38), and a self-starting mechanism (40). It should be noted that the operator presence control bail (38) and the self-starting mechanism (40) are optional components and are not required for the operation of the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 7 shows an exploded view of how the components of the speed control system (30) are assembled to the handle bar (22) of the mower (10). The speed control bail (32) is a U-shaped member (42) that has two support legs (44). Each support leg (44) has two-support members (46) that form a horseshoe shape (48) with the support leg (44). Each horseshoe shape (48) is designed to receive one support member (24) of the handle bar (22). Each support member (46) of the speed control bail (32) contains an aperture (50,51) designed to line up with the openings (26) on handle bar (22). The apertures (50, 51) are further designed to receive the pivot rod (34). The horseshoe shaped (48) ends can best be seen on FIG. 8. The speed control bail (32) further consists of a slot (52) designed to receive the operator presence control bail (38). The speed control bail (32) also consists of two cable stops (54, 56). The first cable stop (54) is used on an embodiment that utilizes the self-starting mechanism (40) and the second cable stop (56) is used on an embodiment that does not utilize the self-starting mechanism (40). Both cable stops (54, 56) are shown on FIG. 7. It should be noted that only one cable stop (72) is required for operation of the present invention and that both cable stops (54, 56) are shown only for the purpose of illustration.

[0029] Referring to FIGS. 2 through 5, show the cover (36) of the present invention. The cover (36) includes at least a first connection means that is preferably a snap (58). Most preferably each snap (38) includes two legs that form a groove into which the item to be attached to (or snapped to) are received. By “snapped” it is meant that the snaps (58) of the cover (36) are pressed against the item to be attached such that the item to be attached is received within the groove and held in place therein. In the preferred embodiment, a plurality of snaps (58) are used to snap the cover (36) onto the pivot rod (34) and to each of the support members (24) of the handle bar (22). The preferred snap (58) locations are best illustrated on FIG. 3. The cover (36) also preferably consists of two receiving zones (60) designed to wrap partially around and receive each end of the speed control bail (32). A tab (62) and tab slot (64) are located at the back of the receiving zones (60) so that the cover (36) can be securely fastened to the speed control bail (32). The cover (36) further consists of two additional bail slots (66) designed to receive the operator presence control bail (38) as illustrated in FIG. 2. The bail slots (66) in the cover (36) permit the operator presence control bail (38) to move in the forward and backward direction.

[0030] The self-start mechanism (40) can be best seen in FIGS. 6 and 10. The self-starting mechanism (40) consists of a cable engaging button (68), a cable lock (70), a cable stop, (72) a cable (74), and a cable surround (76). In one embodiment of the self-starting mechanism (40) the cable (74) is attached to the operator presence bail (38) as illustrated in FIG. 10 and in another embodiment of the self-starting mechanism (40) the cable (74) is attached to the cable stop (72). In order to operate the self-starting mechanism (40), the operator pushes the cable-engaging button (68) in a forward direction as indicated by the arrow (71). This in turn rotates the cable lock (70) in a counterclockwise direction. The cable lock (70) rotates or pivots until the end of the cable lock (70) is received within a slot (78) on a cable stop (72). This prevents the cable stop (72) from sliding in a direction along the pivot rod (34) and holds it in position. When the operator pulls the operator presence control bail (38) in the direction shown by the arrow (80) on FIG. 11, the cable (74) is pulled, but the cable surround (76) is held in place thereby engaging the self-starting mechanism (40) and ultimately starting the engine (12). FIG. 11 shows the engine (12) running using the self-starting mechanism (40).

[0031] With the components of the present invention now herein described the method of assembling the speed control system (30) will now be explained. Referring to FIG. 7, the horseshoe shaped (48) ends of the speed control bail (32) are placed over each support member (24) of the handle bar (22) in a direction illustrated by the arrows (82). The cable engaging button (68), the cable lock (70) and the cable stop (72) are then placed over the apertures (50, 51) on the speed control bail (32) as indicated by the shaded line (53) in FIG. 7. The pivot rod (34) is then inserted through the first or outside aperture (50) on the horseshoe shaped (48) end portion of the speed control bail (32) then through the openings (26) in the support member (24) of the handle bar (22) and through the second or inside aperture (51) on the horseshoe shaped (48) end of the speed control bail (32). The pivot rod (34) is then further extended to the other horseshoe shaped (48) end of the speed control bail (32) where the preceding process is repeated. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the pivot rod (34) extends slightly beyond the horseshoe shaped (48) portion of the speed control bail (32). This allows the cover (36) to be snapped onto the end portion (35) of the pivot rod (34) that extends beyond the horseshoe shape (48) of the speed control bail (32) thereby holding the pivot rod (34) in position and eliminating any back and forth the movement in the pivot rod (34) with respect to the handle bar (22). This snap location (58) is best illustrated in FIG. 4. Next, legs (90) on the operator presence control bail (38) are inserted into the appropriate slots (52) on the speed control bail (32) as illustrated by the arrows (84) in FIG. 7. Even though the operator presence control bail (38) is made of a rigid material there remains enough flexibility in the material to allow the manufacturer the capability to insert either end of the bail into the appropriate slots (52). Finally, referring to FIG. 5, the cover (36) is placed over the handle bar (22) and around the ends of the speed control bail (32) as illustrated by the arrows (86). The cover (36) is then snapped into the various locations on the pivot rod (34) and the handle bar (22) as illustrated by the snap locations (58) in FIG. 3. The tab (62) is then inserted into the tab slot (64) on the backside of the receiving zone (60) of the cover (36) to secure the cover (36) to the speed control bail (32). Again, it should be noted that the components for the self-starting mechanism (40) and the operator presence control bail (38) are not required for the present invention. In its simplest form, the present invention will consist of the speed control bail (32), the pivot rod (34), and the cover (36), which are assembled as described above.

[0032] Referring to FIGS. 9, 11 and 12 operation of the speed control system (30) will now be described. Once the operator engages the engine (12) the operator simply pushes the speed control bail (32) in the forward direction to engage the transmission (14). The further the operator pushes the speed control bail (32) in the forward direction the tighter the belt driven transmission (14) engages and the faster the vehicle will travel. It should be noted that a belt driven transmission (14) is not required for the operation of the present invention. Any type of transmission (14) could be used chosen with sound engineering judgment. FIG. 11 shows the speed control system (30) at half speed and FIG. 12 shows the speed control system (30) at full speed. In order to decrease the speed of the vehicle operator pulls the speed control bail (32) in the backward direction. The belt driven transmission (14) will begin to release and the vehicle will begin to slow in speed.

[0033] The preferred embodiments have been described, hereinabove. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above methods may incorporate changes and modifications without departing from the general scope of this invention. It is intended to include all such modifications and alterations in so far as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.