Wheeled lawn care unit

Abstract

A compact, lightweight and easy-to-use wheeled lawn care unit comprising a two-wheeled carriage, a power source, plurality of tools which may be alternatively connected to the power source, a handle and a boom connecting the selected tool to the power source. The power source is pivotally connected to the carriage at a location within its footprint. The unit has a low center of gravity by placing the power source pivot and center of gravity within a cylinder defined by the wheels. The boom extends horizontally from the power source and is of a split boom configuration which allows selective rotation for the boom portions relative to one another. An edger that can be selected for the unit, which includes a spring-loaded wheel. The edger may be rotated from a non-working position where the edger blade does not contact the ground to a working position by rocking a handle behind the carriage forward against the bias of the spring. A second more compact version has the shield positioned on the boom.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A wheeled lawn care unit comprising: 
 a wheeled carriage,    a power source pivotably connected to the carriage about a generally vertical axis to allow selective rotation in a substantially horizontal plane,    a plurality of tools, each of which may be alternatively selected to be joined to the power source so to be the working tool for the unit, each tool joined to a tool boom portion,    a power source boom portion, which is rigidly joined to the power source so to be maintained in a substantially horizontal orientation and to move with the power source about the vertical axis, and    a connector allowing selective joinder of the power source boom portion to a tool boom portion of a selected tool at selective rotational angular relationships between the portions.    
     
     
         2 . The lawn care unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a locking device for holding the power source at a selected transverse angular relationship to the carriage.  
     
     
         3 . The lawn care unit of  claim 2 , further comprising a single control mechanism for the locking device and the connector where the locking device and connector are jointly controlled by the control mechanism.  
     
     
         4 . The lawn care unit of  claim 3 , where the control includes a support that spans the space between the connector and the carriage and moves with the boom about the pivot and indicators on the support and carriage that provide for alignment of the boom at predetermined positions relative to the vertical axis.  
     
     
         5 . The lawn care unit of  claim 1 , where the wheeled carriage has a pair of wheels and the center of gravity of the unit lies within a cylinder defined by the wheels.  
     
     
         6 . A wheeled lawn care unit having a center of gravity for use on a surface comprising: 
 a power source having a footprint,    a carriage having a front end, a pair of wheels having a common wheel axis and a substantially vertical pivot for power source positioned within power source footprint,    a tool positioned forwardly of the front end of the carriage which turns with the power source on the pivot, and    a center of gravity of the unit within a cylinder defined by the wheels and forwardly of the wheel axis.    
     
     
         7 . The lawn care unit of  claim 6 , where the center of gravity lies within two inches of the wheel axis.  
     
     
         8 . The lawn care unit of  claim 6 , where the pivot lies within the wheel cylinder.  
     
     
         9 . A wheeled lawn care unit comprising: 
 a carriage having a front end, wheels and a substantially vertical pivot,    a power source having a circular footprint defined by the outer perimeter of the power source when viewed from above,    a tool positioned forwardly of the front end of the carriage and joined to the power source,    where the tool turns on the axis which lies within the footprint of the power source.    
     
     
         10 . The lawn care unit of  claim 9 , further comprising a boom connecting the tool to the power source and the tool, power source and boom turn together on the pivot as a unit.  
     
     
         11 . The lawn care unit of  claim 9 , further comprising a shield which lies between the power source and the tool and overlies the boom.  
     
     
         12 . The lawn care unit of  claim 11 , where the shield is connected to the boom and pivots therewith.  
     
     
         13 . The lawn care unit of  claim 9 , where the power source has a side profile and the wheels have a common side profile and a common axis and the unit has a center of gravity that lies within the side profiles of the power source and wheels forwardly of the wheel axis.  
     
     
         14 . A wheeled lawn care unit comprising: 
 a carriage having a front end, a back end and a pair of wheels with a common wheel axis,    a handle joined to the carriage and positioned rearwardly of the carriage wheel axis, and    an edger joined to the carriage and positioned forwardly of the front end having an edging blade that rotated in a substantially vertical plane and an edger wheel, the edger wheel having a non-working position where the bottom of the edger wheel and bottom of the carriage wheels define a substantially horizontal planar surface that is below the blade and a work position where the bottom of the edger wheel and bottom of the carriage wheels define a substantially horizontal planar surface through which the blade passes, the edger having a bias that urges the wheel toward the non-working position,    where by rocking the handle forwardly, the edger bias is overcome and the edger wheel moves from the non-working position to the work position.    
     
     
         15 . The lawn care unit of  claim 12 , further comprising an edger shield and where the edger bias is provided by a spring joined to the edger wheel and edger shield.