MULTI-DIRECTIONAL EDGING ASSEMBLY This invention relates to a multi-directional edging assembly in the form of an edging attachment for a motor mower and in particular relates to an edging attachment that may be bolted onto the frame of a motor mower to provide a multi-directional edging facility- In my earlier International Patent Application No. PCT/AU85/00208 I disclose an edging assembly that can be bolted to the- housing of a- mower of the kind having a horizontally rotatable cutting blade supported beneath the housing and rotatable by a substantially vertically extending shaft driven by suitable petrol engine. In my earlier patent application the edging attachment comprises a plate which is bolted to the mower

housing, the plate supporting a drive shaft carrying an idler pulley and a drive pulley. A drive belt interconnects a pulley on the motor of the mower to either the idler pulley or the drive pulley and means is provided to selectively engage either the idler or drive pulley. The edging attachment further includes edging means operating in a plane substantially perpendicular to the cutting plane of the mower. The edging means is supported by the plate via a boom and is driven by the drive shaft via a flexible spindle. Although the boom allows adjustment of the cutting angle of the edging means the boom is secured to the plate at one side of the plate and only allows the edging facility to be operable at one side of the mower.

The present invention is concerned with increasing the versatility and range of operation of the edging means to allow the edging facility to be used in situations that would normally be inaccessible-

According to the present invention there is provided a multi-directional edging assembly for attachment to the housing of a motorised lawn mower comprising an edging means supported by a bracket that is secured to one end of an arm to pivot thereto in the plane of the arm, the opposite end of the arm being pivotally secure to ^" a _^ moαnting plate that is arranged to be detachably secured to the housing of the mower, a clamp fastened to the arm to bridge the adjacent edges of the bracket and the mounting plate, the clamp being capable of tilting relative to the arm, the edge of the bracket including an inclined ramp positioned so that when the bracket is pivoted relative to the arm to be on either side of the longitudinal axis of the arm the ramp engages the arm and the clamp to cause the clamp to tilt so that its opposite edge is forced into engagement with the edge of the mounting plate, and when the bracket is axially aligned with the arm the ramp is out of engagement with the clamp thereby releasing the forced engagement of the

opposite edge of the clamp with the mounting plate thereby releasing the arm for pivotal movement relative to the mounting plate.

Preferably releasable latching means is furnished on

"*\ 5 the bracket to latch the bracket in a fixed position relative to the arm on either side of the longitudinal axis of the arm.

In a preferred embodiment the edging means is attached to the bracket to extend in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of the bracket. 10 Preferably the bracket include means to adjust the angle between the plane of the edging means the plane of the bracket.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only by reference to the 15 accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an edging assembly;

Figures 2a and 2b are respectively plan and side elevational views of a component of an arm assembly of the 20 edging assembly illustrated in Figure 1 showing the arm in the locked position; and

Figures 3a and 3b are respectively plan and side elevational views of the arm assembly in the locked position. The edging assembly illustrated in Figure 1 is 25 similar to the assembly illustrated in my earlier

International Patent Application No. PCT/AU85/00208. The features that are common to my earlier patent application are described herein in brief terms since they do not form part of this invention. 30 The edging assembly comprises support plate 10 that can be bolted to the upper surface of the housing (not shown) of a rotary mower, the support plate 10 has welded -thereto-a piece of hollow pipe 13 that supports a pulley assembly 20 that includes coaxial idler and drive pulleys 21 and 22 35 coupled to a flexible spindle drive 150, a bowden cable 39 coupled to a drive control mechanism 40 that has the effect of selectively causing a belt 41 driven by a primary pulley 42

mounted on the motor of the mower (not shown) from either the idler pulley 21 or the drive pulley 22. The spindle drive 150 is coupled to an edge cutter assembly 110 that is mounted on a boom assembly 200 for pivotal rotation in both horizontal and vertical planes. The cutter assembly 110 includes a proprietary edge cutter in the form of a strip of nylon 119 that is wound onto a spool 111 that is, in turn, spring loadedly mounted within a rotatable drum 112. Details of the drum and its attachment to the support assembly and drive by the flexible drive are disclosed in my earlier patent specification and are not described herein. The present invention relates to details of the boom 200 and its association with the edge cutter assembly 110.

As shown in Figure 1 the boom assembly 200 comprises an elongate steel arm 201, one end 198 of which is attached to the centre of the support plate 10 by a bolt 199 so that the arm 201 is pivotable thereto. The front surface 202 of the support plate is provided with an arcuate edge with the centre of curvature corresponding to the central pivot point of the arm 201. The arm 201 terminates at its free end 204 in an outer bracket 205, details of which are described later. The outer bracket 205 supports a pair of parallel spaced arms 211 and 212 that clampingly engage -a vertically extending flange 206 that has secured to one end thereof a sleeve 207 that supports the edge cutter 110. The sleeve 207 also supports a collar 208 from which a guard 209 projects. A clamping lever 210 cooperates with the collar 208 to allow adjustment of the position of the guard 209 relative to the edge cutter 110. An adjustable lock nut 214 allows the flange 206 to pivot about the lock nut between the arms 211 and 212. The degree of pivotal movement is controlled by the location of a bolt 215 within an arcuate slot 216 provided in the flange 206. Displacement of the flange 206 relative to the arms 211 and 212 allows adjustment of the inclination of the edge cutter 110 relative to the vertical. The arrangement is such that the angle of the cutter may be inclined outwardly up to an angle of 25 from the vertical or inwardly up to an angle of

6 from the vertical. This tilting of the cutter allows the choice of either a straight cut when the cutter is in the vertical or a bevelled cut as the cutter is inclined. This also has the feature of allowing the cutter to operate under fences or sleeper edges, around bushes and trees. The range of the cutting action is substantially increased by this tilting feature. By simple release of the lock nut 214 the angle can be adjusted and then the cutter can be held in this position by tightening up the lock nut thereby clamping the flange 206 within the arms 211 and 212.

The edging assembly is also designed so that it can be used on either side of the mower or at an intermediate position at the front of the mower. As described earlier the arm 201 is mounted to be pivotable about the support plate 10. The pivoting movement is restricted by the arc of the front surface 202 which allows the edge cutter to be positioned on either side of the mower.

The outer bracket 205 is pivotally secured to the end 204 of the arm 201 by a nut and bolt assembly 220. The inner edge of the outer bracket 205 is provided with a cam assembly (not shown in Figure 1). A trigger 222 is mounted between the spaced parallel arms 211 and 212 and is spring loaded to be urged against- an arcuate edge ¹ 223 at the end 204 of the arm 201. This edge is provided with two rectangular cut-outs 224 and 225 into which the trigger engages to in effect lock the position of the outer bracket 205 relative to the inner arm 201 in one position that allows the cutter assembly to be used on the left hand side of the mower and a second position that allows the cutting assembly to be used on the right hand side of the mower. A clamp 230 is attached to the under side of the arm 201 by a bolt 232 to extend between the arcuate edge 202 of the front of the support plate 10 and the cam surface (not shown in Figure 1) at the inner end of the outer bracket 205. Details of this assembly and operation are illustrated with reference to Figures 2a, 2b, 3a and 3b. The lateral edges of the clamp 230 are provided with a rebate 242

and 243 that are arranged to be positioned respectively under the arcuate edge 202 of the support plate 10 and under a bevelled arcuate edge 244 formed on the bracket 205. Although not shown in detail in the drawings, the bevelled edge 244 of the bracket 205 increases in thickness towards the extremities of the arc of the edge with the portion of minimum thickness being at the centre of the arc. Accordingly, when the bracket 205 is locked into one of the operative positions shown in Figure 1, that is with the spring trigger 222 engaged in either the notch 224, 225 in the arcuate edge 223 of the arm 201, the thicker portion of the bevelled edge 224 engages the rebate 243 on the clamp 230. This has the effect of causing the clamp 230 to tilt upwardly, as shown in Figure 3b, about the pivot point thereby causing a downward reaction force illustrated as F2 in Figure 3b, causing the opposite rebate 242 on the edge of the clamp 230 to be pressed into engagement with the arcuate surface -202 of the support plate 10. The upward force Fl which equates to the downward force F2 is sufficiently great to clamp the clamp 230 and thus arm 201 against the edge 202 and prevent rotation of the arm 201 about the pivot 199.

By releasing the trigger lock 222 to free the bracket 205 from its latch—posit-ion _* , the bracket can then be moved so that its longitudinal axis is coincident with the longitudinal axis of the cam 201 (see Figures 2a and 2b) .

This has the effect of moving the arcuate bevelled edge 244 of the bracket 205 so that the thinner portion is underneath the rebate 243 formed on the clamp 230 causing the edge to move out of contact with the clamp and therefore removing the clamping force that was holding the opposite edge 242 of the clamp against the arcuate edge 202 of the support plate 10. Thus the arm 201 is freed for movement relative to the support plate. The whole arm together with the bracket 205 and edging assembly can be pivoted to the other side of the support plate and then the bracket 205 can be latched onto the other notch 225 so that the cutting assembly can operate on the opposite side of the support plate. Should the user wish to use the

edging assembly at the front of the mower the arm can be displaced to a position between the extremes illustrated in Figure 1 and then the trigger latching assembly can be located in either notch 224 or 225 thereby both clamping the arm 201

/- 5 against the clamp 230 and ensuring that the edging assembly is locked in an operative position either to the left or to the right of the central axis of the mower. The clamping assembly acts as an important safety device ensuring that the arm cannot move when the edging assembly is in the operative 10 position. The clamping force has the effect of preventing accidental displacement of the arm whilst at the same time allowing the assembly to absorb knocks and bumps that it will be subject to in use. As mentioned above, to release the assembly the operator releases the trigger lock 222 to unlatch 15 the bracket 205, pivots the bracket to be coaxial with the arm thereby uncla ping the arm and then pivots the whole assembly to the desired operative position. The assembly is relocked by latching the bracket in either one of the latched positions defined by the notches 224 and 225. 20 The guard 209 that has quick release pivotal association with the sleeve 208 that supports the edging assembly, allows the guard to be positioned at any desired angle. For example, the g^ard may be positioned forwardly of the edging assembly to facilitate lifting of flowers and small 25 bushes over the cutter.

Although not shown in detail in the drawings it is understood that the guard 209 may be simple removed from the sleeve 208 in circumstances where extra cutting cord is required such as when the mower is used around the edges of 30 ponds.

Another feature of the guard is the provision of a V-shaped cutting blade 250 at is forwards edge 251. This V-shaped cutting blade has the effect of causing the line 119 to be trimmed so that it does not project past the guard 209 35 in use. Thus as a new piece of line is pulled from the spool 111 it can be pulled past the edge 201 of the guard. Once the machine operates with the guard lowered the edge of the line

119 extending past the guard will be cut off by the V-shaped cutting blade 250 thereby ensuring that the rotational path of the line is always within the guard.

In addition, a guiding line may be applied to the top of the guard 209 to enable the user to line up the line with the edge of the lawn or concrete border.

The assembly described above gives the user of the mower increased versatility in that the edging means may be used at either side of the mower or at the front of the mower. Furthermore, the edging assembly can be tiltered both inwardly and outwardly from the vertical to both increase the range of cutting action and vary the cut produced. The assembly has been designed to incorporate desirable safety features without jeopardising the simplicity and versatility of use.