Control assembly for a walk-behind mower

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10485167-B2
Application number	US-201715711408-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 21, 2017
Priority date	Sep 21, 2016
Publication date	Nov 26, 2019
Grant date	Nov 26, 2019

Abstract

A control assembly for controlling the mode of all-wheel-drive walk-behind mower is provided. The control assembly includes a casing and a pair of levers extending from opposing lateral sides of the casing, wherein both of the levers are rotatable between a first operative position and a second operative position relative to the casing. Rotating both of the levers to the second operative position switches the control assembly to an all-wheel-drive mode in which a front transmission and a rear transmission are both in an engaged state resulting in the front and rear wheels of the lawn mower to be rotated by the transmissions. When both levers are in the second operative position, the levers are releasably attached to each other and can be maintained in the second operative position by the user continually grasping only one of the levers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control assembly for controlling a drive mode of a walk-behind lawn mower, said control assembly comprising:
a casing attached to a handle assembly;
a first lever operatively connected to said casing and extending from a lateral side of said casing, said first lever being rotatable between a first operative position and a second operative position relative to said casing, and said first lever includes a first positioning boss;
a second lever operatively connected to said casing and extending from an opposing lateral side of said casing than said first lever, said second lever being rotatable between a first operative position and a second operative position relative to said casing, and said second lever includes a second positioning boss;
a first spring latch attached to said first lever, wherein said first spring latch selectively receives said second positioning boss;
a second spring latch attached to said second lever, wherein said second spring latch selectively receives said first positioning boss;
a front transmission operatively connected to said first lever and a pair of front wheels, wherein rotation of said first lever from said first operative position to said second operative position causes said front transmission to be switched from a disengaged state to an engaged state, said front wheels being driven by said front transmission when said front transmission is switched from said disengaged state to said engaged state; and
a rear transmission operatively connected to said second lever and a pair of rear wheels, wherein rotation of said second lever from said first operative position to said second operative position causes said rear transmission to be switched from a disengaged state to an engaged state, said rear wheels being driven by said rear transmission when said rear transmission is switched from said disengaged state to said engaged state;
wherein actuation of both said first lever and said second lever from said first operative position to said second operative position produces an all-wheel-drive mode in which said front wheels are driven by said front transmission and said rear wheels are driven by said rear transmission; and
wherein said all-wheel-drive mode is maintained by continuously actuating only one of said first lever or said second lever in said second operative position.

2. The control assembly of claim 1 , wherein said first spring latch receives said second positioning boss and said second spring latch receives said first positioning boss when said first lever and said second lever are both positioned in said second operative position.

3. The control assembly of claim 2 , wherein when said first and second levers are both in said second operative position, said first and second levers are disconnected from each other by actuation of at least one of said levers by an operator.

4. The control assembly of claim 1 , wherein both of said first lever and said second lever are biased toward said first operative position.

5. The control assembly of claim 1 , wherein said second operative position of both said first lever and said second lever is positioned immediately adjacent to said handle assembly.

6. The control assembly of claim 1 , wherein said first and second levers are selectively positionable in order to provide a no-wheel-drive mode, a front-wheel-drive mode, a rear-wheel-drive mode, and an all-wheel-drive mode.

7. A control assembly for controlling a drive mode of a walk-behind lawn mower, said control assembly comprising:
a casing attached to a handle assembly, said casing formed of an upper housing and a lower housing;
a first lever operatively connected to said casing and extending outwardly from a lateral side of said casing, said first lever being rotatable between a first operative position and a second operative position relative to said casing, and said first lever includes a first positioning boss;
a second lever operatively connected to said casing and extending outwardly from an opposing lateral side of said casing than said first lever, said second lever being rotatable between a first operative position and a second operative position relative to said casing, and said second lever includes a second positioning boss;
a first spring latch attached to said first lever, wherein said first spring latch selectively receives said second positioning boss;
a second spring latch attached to said second lever, wherein said second spring latch selectively receives said first positioning boss;
a plurality of transmissions operatively connected to said first and second levers, said plurality of transmissions being operatively connected to said front wheels and said rear wheels;
wherein actuation of both said first lever and said second lever from said first operative position to said second operative position produces an all-wheel-drive mode in which said front wheels and rear wheels are driven by at least two of said transmissions.

8. The control assembly of claim 7 , wherein when said first and second levers are both in said second operative position, said first and second levers are disconnected from each other by actuation of at least one of said levers by an operator toward said first operative position.

9. The control assembly of claim 7 , wherein both of said first lever and said second lever are biased toward said first operative position.

10. The control assembly of claim 7 , wherein said second operative position of both said first lever and said second lever is positioned immediately adjacent to said handle assembly.

11. The control assembly of claim 7 , wherein said first and second levers are selectively positionable in order to provide a no-wheel-drive mode, a front-wheel-drive mode, a rear-wheel-drive mode, and an all-wheel-drive mode.

12. A method for controlling a drive mode of a walk-behind lawn mower having a deck and a handle assembly extending from said deck, said control assembly comprising:
providing a casing attached to said handle assembly, said casing formed of an upper housing and a lower housing;
providing a pair of levers operatively connected to said casing, wherein said levers extend in opposite directions from said casing and said levers are rotatable relative to said casing between a first operative position and a second operative position, and each of said levers includes a positioning boss;
providing a spring latch attached to each of said pair of levers, wherein said spring latches selectively receive said positioning boss of the other lever;
providing a plurality of transmissions, each of said transmissions being operatively connected to a separate one of said levers, one of said transmissions being operatively connected to said front wheels and the other of said transmissions being operatively connected to said rear wheels;
rotating said levers between said first operative position and said second operative position to switch said transmissions between a no-wheel-drive mode, a front-wheel-drive mode, a rear-wheel-drive mode, and an all-wheel-drive mode in response to selective rotation of said first and second levers.

13. The control assembly method of claim 12 , wherein rotating said first and second levers to said first operative position generates said no-wheel-drive mode.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein rotating one of said pair of levers to said second operative position causes one of said plurality of transmissions to drive said front wheels to generate a front-wheel-drive mode.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein rotating one of said pair of levers to said second operative position causes o

Assignees

• Mtd Products Inc

Inventors

• Smith Philip B

Classifications

• A01D2034/6825

  being tyre driven · CPC title

• A01D2034/6843

  Control levers on the handle of the mower · CPC title

• A01D34/824

  Handle arrangements · CPC title

• A01D34/6806 Primary

  Driving mechanisms (for the cutters A01D34/76) · CPC title

• A01D2101/00

  Lawn-mowers · CPC title