Turf cultivating spoon mounting arrangement

United States Patent

[in 3,534,818

<td> [72]</td><td> Inventor</td><td> Thomas C. Mascaro</td>

<td></td><td></td><td> West Point, Pennsylvania</td>

<td> [21]</td><td> Appl. No.</td><td> 770,351</td>

<td> [22]</td><td> Filed</td><td> Oct. 24,1968</td>

<td> [45]</td><td> Patented</td><td> Oct. 20,1970</td>

<td> [73]</td><td> Assignee</td><td> By mesne assignments to Kearny-National,</td>

Inc.

New York, New York a corporation of Delaware.

[54] TURF CULTIVATING SPOON MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT

Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.CI........................................................ 172/21,

172/540,172/681,287/23

[51] InLCl.........................................................AOlb 45/02

[50] Field of Search............................................ 172/540,

556,21,22,762,763,548, 123,547,550,543; 56/(Inquired), 287/23

[56] References Cited

UNITED STATES PATENTS

2,115,265 4/1938 Jennett......................... 172/550UX

2,580,236 12/1951 Mascaro....................... 172/21X

FOREIGN PATENTS

711,913 6/1965 Canada........................ 172/762

250,490 9/1912 Germany...................... 172/556

Primary Examiner—Robert E. Bagwill Assistant Examiner—.Alan E. Kopecki Attorney—Howson and Howson

ABSTRACT: A turf-cultivating spoon is demountably attached to the edge of a vertical supporting disc by means of an axial slot in the tubular shank portion of the spoon adapted to receive the disc, a bolt passing transversely through aligned holes in said spoon shank and said disc adjacent the edge of said disc, and studs extending from each side of said disc adapted to slidably engage slots in the inner end of said spoon shank portion.

<img file="US3534818A_D0001.tif" />

Patented Oct. 20, 1970

3₉S34_s818

<img file="US3534818A_D0002.tif" />

ATTYS.

3,534,818

1. 2 advanced. This type of device is presently in widespread use for the conditioning of golf courses, athletic fields and lawns.

The cultivating spoon includes a tubular shank portion Id and a spoon-shaped turf engaging portion 16. Because of the 5 repeated engagement and disengagement of the portion 16 with the turf, the spoons are subject to fairly rapid wear and their removal for reconditioning or replacement is frequently necessary. In view of the large number of spoons utilized in a device of this type, it is highly desirable that means be pro¹⁰ vided to facilitate the rapid mounting and removal of the spoons.

It has, as illustrated in my above-mentioned patent, been conventional to attach the spoons to the discs by axially . _s slotting the shank of each spoon to recei ve a disc and by bolting the bifurcated spoon shank portion to the disc by means of a pair of bolts passing through aligned bolt holes in the disc and shank portion. The present arrangement is similar in so far as a slot in the spoon shank portion is utilized to receive the 20 disc, and one bolt adjacent the disc edge is passed through the bifurcated shank portion and disc to partially secure the spoon to the disc. As seen in FIGS. I—4, the tubular shank portion includes an axial slot 18 adapted to permit a sliding engagement of the spoon with the disc. A. bolt 20 is passed through 25 the aligned holes 22, 22 in the bifurcated shank portion, and hole 24 in the disc which is located adjacent the disc edge 26. Nut 28 is tightened on the bolt 20 to secure the spoon in place.

The inner end 30 of the spoon shank portion is secured to the disc by a novel stud and slot arrangement instead of the 30 conventional second bolt. A pair of studs 32, 32 extending from opposite sides of the disc cooperate with axial slots 34, 34 in the end of the bifurcated shank portion to effectively lock the spoon in place on the disc by preventing rotation of the spoon in the plane of the disc around the bolt 20. The slots ³⁵ 34, 34 are of a width just sufficient to permit a sliding engagement of the shank portion over the studs 32, 32 as is evident from FIG. 3. Conical shoulder portions 36 of the studs extending between the disc and the point of engagement of the studs 4q with the spoon shank portions add rigidity to the studs and prevent a possible flattening of the cylindrically shaped bifurcated shank portions due to an overtightening of the bolt and nut 2© and 28.

The manner in which the studs are attached to the disc may 45 take several forms. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1—4, the shank 42 of each stud extends into a bore 44 in the disc. Each stud is axially bored to receive a bolt 46 which passes through the opposed pair of studs and is secured by nut 48 to lock the studs in position. The studs are of a sufficient axial dimension 50 so that the bolt and nut 46 and 48 do not engage the bifurcated shank portion when slid into position over the studs.

Another stud-mounting arrangement is shown in FIG. 5 wherein the studs 50 and 51, instead of employing a through bolt for attachment to the disc, are connected by an internal ⁵⁵ screw portion 52 on the shank of stud SO which engages a threaded bore 54 in the opposed stud 51. Allen wrench sockets 56 and 58 respectively are provided within the ends of studs 5® and 51 to facilitate attachment and removal thereof.

In FIG. 6 still another arrangement for mounting the studs is ⁶⁰ illustrated wherein studs 69, 60 similar to those employed in the embodiment of FIGS. 1—4 are utilized but without the axial bore and through bolt. Instead, the shank portions are press-fitted into the hole in the disc and welds 62 are em05 ployed around the perimeter of the conical shoulder portion to anchor the studs in place.

To attach a spoon to a disc employing any one of the illustrated embodiments of the invention, the bifurcated shank portion of the spoon is simply slid onto the disc with the slots 70 34 of the shank portion aligned to engage the studs. The spoon is then pivoted on the studs and adjusted axially until the holes 22 align with the hole 24 in the disc whereupon the bolt 2® is introduced therethrough and tightened to complete the installation. For removal of a spoon, the bolt 20 is simply removed 75 and the spoon may then be slid from the disc.

TURF CULTIVATING SPOON MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT

The present invention relates generally to turf-aerating apparatus and relates more particularly to an arrangement for demountably attaching the turf-cultivating spoons of such apparatus to the spoon-supporting discs.

In turf-aerating apparatus of the type shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 2,580,236, a plurality of turf-cultivating spoons are attached to the periphery of vertical discs which are mounted in spaced relation for rotation on a common axle at a suitable height above the ground to permit a turf-cultivating action by the^radially protruding spoons. The spoons, due to repeated engagement with the soil are subject to wear and must on occasion be sharpened or replaced. Since a typical machine may include a hundred or more cultivating spoons, the spoons must be readily removable from the discs.

Prior to the present development, it has been conventional to attach each cultivating spoon to a supporting disc by slotting the tubular spoon shank to receive the disc, and passing a pair of bolts transversely through suitable aligned holes in the disc and slotted spoon shank. For spoon replacement with this conventional arrangement, both bolts must be removed and replaced.

To significantly reduce the time and effort involved in the removal and replacement of the spoons, the present invention provides an arrangement whereby only a single bolt need be removed or replaced to free or attach a cultivating spoon to its supporting disc. In brief, the present arrangement includes the conventional axial slot in the tubular shank of the cultivating spoon to receive the edge of the spoon-supporting disc. The spoon is demountably secured to the disc by means of a bolt passing through aligned holes in the disc and spoon shank adjacent the edge of the disc, and by means of slots in the ends of the spoon shank which cooperate with studs extending from the disc which pre vent rotation of the spoon in the plane of the disc. For replacement of the spoon, only one bolt need be removed in contrast to the conventional mounting arrangement in which the removal of two bolts is required.

In view of the above it is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide in a turf-aerating device, an improved arrangement for demountably securing a cultivating spoon to a spoon-supporting disc.

' A further object of the invention is to provide a mounting arrangement as described which permits the removal and replacement, of a cultivating spoon in half the time formerly required with a conventional mounting arrangement.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a mounting arrangement as described which is simple and relatively inexpensive to fabricate.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments thereof when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cultivating spoon attached to a partially shown supporting disc by a mounting arrangement in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing details of the spoon-mounting arrangement;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the elements comprising the assembly of FIGS. 1—3;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing a modified embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5 showing a further modified embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1 thereof, a cultivating spoon .*.'? is shown demountably attached to the edge of a*disc 12 by means of a mounting arrangement embodying the present invention. In an aerating device of the present type as shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 2,580,236, cultivating spoons such as the spoon 10 are attached around the periphery of a plurality of vertical axially spaced discs which rotate about a common axis suitably spaced above the ground to effect a turf-cultivating action of the spoons as the device is

3,534,818

From the above it can be understood that at least a 50 percent saving in the time normally required to mount and demount the spoons of an aerating device can be achieved utilizing the present invention since only one bolt need be applied or removed instead of the two formerly required. In addition it is substantially simpler to align the holes for the single bolt since the studs and slotted shank portion serve to guide the spoon into the approximately correct position during installation.

The present slot and stud arrangement is relatively inexpensive to fabricate and a conventional aerating disc can be converted simply by employing the innermost bolt hole for the mounting of the studs.

Manifestly, changes in details of construction can be effected by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in and limited solely by the appended claims.