Grass-cutting head with reloading of the line without removal of the spool

Abstract

A grass-cutting head ( 1 ) including: a housing ( 3 ); and at least one spool ( 5 ) placed in the housing and on which a cutting line (F) can be wound. The spool is accessible from the outside to enable a supply of cutting line to be wound onto it without taking said spool out of the housing. A stop is provided to hold the spool in the housing while the supply of cutting line is being wound onto the spool.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A grass-cutting head with a line, the head comprising: 
 a housing;    at least one spool placed in said housing and on which a line can be wound, said spool including an anchor for the line, said anchor being accessible from outside said housing to enable the line to be connected to said anchor of said spool without taking said spool out of said housing;    a feed mechanism for feeding the line from said spool;    a winding mechanism for rotating said spool to enable a supply of the line to be wound onto said spool;    a stop connected to said housing to hold said spool in said housing while the line is being connected to said spool.    
     
     
         2 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said winding mechanism rotates said spool from outside said housing without taking said spool out of said housing;    said stop means holds said spool in said housing while said supply of line is being wound onto said spool.    
     
     
         3 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said stop and said anchor are arranged spaced from each other in a radial direction of said spool.    
     
     
         4 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said spool defines a center opening;    said stop and said housing connect to each other though said center opening of said spool;    said stop extends radially outward further than said center opening of said spool.    
     
     
         5 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein: 
 said anchor is arranged radially further outward than said stop.    
     
     
         6 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said anchor defines a line receiving hole opening in an axial direction of said spool.    
     
     
         7 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said feed mechanism includes a spring-action member;    said stop opposes action of said spring-action member when the head is opened to render said spool accessible from the outside.    
     
     
         8 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said stop includes retention members that act against the force of said spring-action member, preventing said spring action member from escaping from the housing when the housing is open to enable said supply of cutting line to be wound onto the spool.    
     
     
         9 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said feed mechanism comprises in combination an actuating slider, a first series of teeth integral with said spool and a second series of teeth integral with said spool, teeth of the first series engaging with a first stop or group of stops rotationally fixed to said housing and teeth of the second series engaging with a second stop or group of stops rotationally fixed to said housing, positions of arrest of said spool defined by the first series of teeth and by the first stop or group of stops being angularly offset relative to positions of arrest of said spool defined by the second series of teeth and by the second stop or group of stops;    and movement of said actuating slider causes an axial movement of the spool between two positions to bring the teeth of the first series or the teeth of the second series alternately into engagement with their respective stops, the spring-action member exerting a force on the spool.    
     
     
         10 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 9 , wherein: 
 said housing includes a housing portion through which extends an axial hub of a rotary drive, and said spool being placed around said housing portion;    axially elongate openings in said support, through which pass said moveable stops carried by said actuating slider and engage with the teeth on the spool; and    an annular cover closes said housing and extends around the support for said spool.    
     
     
         11 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 10 , wherein: 
 said support has end teeth engaging with corresponding end teeth on said housing portion.    
     
     
         12 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 11 , wherein: 
 said end teeth are shaped so as to allow rotation of the support and of the spool in a winding direction and prevent rotation in an opposite direction.    
     
     
         13 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 10 , wherein: 
 said support for said spool has a cylindrical wall around which the spool is placed and said support also includes a supporting collar supporting said spool.    
     
     
         14 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 13 , wherein: 
 said support has a cylindrical support in which said actuating slider moves, the actuating slider being elastically pressed by said spring-action member.    
     
     
         15 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 13 , wherein: 
 a generally cylindrical closing wall extends from said supporting collar, said annular cover is mounted on said cylindrical closing wall.    
     
     
         16 . A grass-cutting head in accordance with  claim 15 , wherein: 
 a circular skirt defines a circumferential wall of the housing, said annular cover has an edge that embraces said circular skirt.    
     
     
         17 . A cutting head comprising: 
 a housing: 
 a spool rotatably mounted in said housing, cutting line being windable on said spool;  
 a feed mechanism for rotating said spool in an unwinding direction in said housing and feeding cutting line off of said spool;  
 a winding mechanism for rotating said spool in a winding direction while said spool is in said housing and winding cutting line onto said spool, said winding mechanism including teeth on said spool and teeth on said housing, said teeth having a shape to slide past each other when said spool is wound in said winding direction, said shape of said teeth blocking rotation of said spool with respect to said housing in said unwinding direction;  
 a stop connected to said housing and blocking separation of said spool from said housing during winding of cutting line by said winding mechanism, said stop including a support connected to said housing, said support rotatably holding said spool between said housing and said support.  
   
     
     
         18 . A head in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein: 
 said spool has projections to facilitate rotation of the spool by hand in the housing in order to cause the supply of line to be wound up.    
     
     
         19 . A head in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein: 
 said feed mechanism bypasses said winding mechanism to feed cutting line off said spool.    
     
     
         20 . A head in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein: 
 said stop and said winding mechanism share common structure.