DESCRIPTION:

Field of the invention

The invention relates to a trirnrning device for trimming excess vegetation from plants, comprising at least one rotary cutting member having a cutting edge, and at least one counter blade that is stationary in operative position and has a further cutting edge along which, in trimming position, the cutting member moves with its cutting edge, which cutting member, which is present on the counter blade side that is turned away from the axis of rotation, is rotatably connected to one end of the stationary counter blade, and is equipped with a coupling element for it to be coupled to a drive unit.

State of the art

A trimming tool equipped with a trimming head of this type is known from US 6 854 524. This known trirnming head comprises a plurality of counter blades which are formed by straight cutters whose upper ends are attached to a round disc and whose lower ends can be embedded in the soil around a plant to be trimmed. The cutting member is formed by a cylinder which has slots extending from the lower end upwards. The cutting edges are present on the bounding walls of the slots. The cylinder is rotatable around the disc and is closed off at the top. This closed top side has in its centre a coupling element for coupling the cutting member to a drive unit, for example a hand-held electric drill or a drive motor.

When a plant is being trimmed, the counter blades are positioned around the plant to be trimmed and the cylinder having cutting edges is rotatably moved downwards while the plant is being trimmed.

A disadvantage of this known head is that the counter blades may be bent slightly outwards or inwards while being pressed into the soil leading to the cutting edged cylinder getting stuck against the counter blades or rotating at a small distance from the counter blades as a result of which the severing effect is reduced. Summary of the invention

It is an object of the invention to provide a trimming head for a trinaming device of the type defined in the opening paragraph for which the chance of a diminishing severing effect during the ti½uning action is smaller than with the known trimming head. For this purpose the trimming head according to the invention is characterised in that the counter blade is connected with the other end to an end of the frame element that is present on the counter blade side turned away from the axis of rotation and extends at a distance from the counter blade, while the cutting member is rotatable between the counter blade and the frame element. The other end of the frame element can be coupled to a frame to which a drive source is connected. The free end of the counter blade is retained by the frame element, so that the chance of the counter blade being bent is smaller than with the known trimming head. As a result, the chance of a reduced cutting effect is then smaller than with the known trimming head.

An embodiment of the trimming device according to the invention is characterised in that the cutting edges of the cutting member and the counter blade have an arc shape.

A further embodiment of the trimming device according to the invention is characterised in that the cutting member is formed by a U-shaped or V-shaped flat member.

A still further embodiment of the trimming device according to the invention is characterised in that a leg is connected to the other end of the counter blade and/or to the end of the frame element connected thereto, with which leg the mming head can rest on the soil. This reduces the chance of sand ending up between the cutting member and the counter blade during the trimming operation. With the known trimming head this chance is much greater because in that procedure the counter blades are pushed into the soil with their free ends.

The trimming head preferably comprises a plurality of counter blades said counter blade forms part of, while the counter blades are present in a dome shape or cone shape. In consequence, the height of the plant can also be trimmed. This is impossible with the known trimming head.

Brief description of the drawings The following description relating to the appended drawings, the whole given by way of non-limiting example of the trimming head according to the invention, will provide better understanding of how the invention can be realised, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the trimming head according to the invention; and

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the cutting member and the counter blades of a second embodiment of the trimming head according to the invention.

Detailed description of the drawings

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the trimming head according to the invention. The trimming head 1 comprises a rotary cutting member 3 which is formed by a U-shaped flat member that has two cutting edges 5 facing each other on the inside of the U-shaped member. The trimming head further includes a plurality of stationary counter blades 7, which have further cutting edges 9 along which, in operative position, the cutting member moves with its cutting edges.

The cutting member 3 is positioned on the side turned away from the axis of rotation 11 of the counter blades and is bearing mounted in a disc 13 to which the counter blades 7 are attached with one end. To the cutting member 3 is fastened a coupling element 15 for the device to be coupled to a drive unit.

The other ends of the counter blades 7 are connected to the ends of frame elements 17 which are present on the sides of the counter blades 7 turned away from the axis of rotation 11 and extend at a distance from the counter blades. The cutting member 3 is rotatable in this case between the counter blades 7 and the frame elements 17.

The cutting edges 5 and 9 of the cutting member 3 and the counter blades 7 have an arc shape, with the counter blades 7 being present in a dome shape. The lower ends of the frame elements 17 may be provided with legs with which the trimming head can rest on the soil. One of these legs is represented in the drawing Figure for illustrative purposes.

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the cutting member 23 and the counter blades 25 of a second embodiment of the trimming head 21 according to the invention. The cutting member 23 is formed in this case by a V-shaped flat member and the counter blades 25 are present in a dome shape.

Albeit the invention has been described in the foregoing based on the drawings, it should be observed that the invention is not by any manner or means restricted to the embodiment shown in the drawings. The invention also extends to all embodiments deviating from the embodiment shown in the drawings within the spirit and scope defined by the claims.