BA R10J$7.wpd filed 7 September 2005 MOWERS AND CUTTER HOUSINGS FOR MOWERS This invention relates to mowers and cutter housings for mowers. The invention has particular application to push mowers and self propelled mowers but also provides advantages for ride on mowers and deck mowers. The cutter housing (which is also commonly called the cutter deck or mower deck) of push mowers typically has an upper wall on which a vertical crank shaft engine is mounted with the drive end portion of the crankshaft extending through an opening in the upper wall, and a skirt depending from the upper wall across the front, sides and rear of the housing, except for a discharge opening, in order to restrict discharge of cut grass and other material such as stones to the discharge opening. The skirt also inhibits access to the cutter disc and blades which typically rotate within the housing when the mower is being used, the skirt effectively providing a barrier against accidental entry of a persons feet into the housing. However, it will be appreciated that the skirt can interfere with the cutting action of the blades in some situations, for example by forcing incoming grass to lie over to such an extent that the cutter blades pass over the grass without cutting it or not cutting it cleanly and evenly. The present invention is aimed at providing a cutter housing which ameliorates the aforementioned problem. The invention is also aimed at providing a cutter housing or a component for a cutter housing which inhibits accidental access to the cutter housing while the mower is in use. With the foregoing in view, the invention resides broadly in a cutter housing for a mower, the cutter housing including an upper wall and a skirt depending from the upper wall, at least D a portion of the skirt having a plurality of spaced apart openings therein adapted in use to receive uncut grass therethrough. In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a cutter housing for a mower, the cutter housing including an upper wall 5 and a skirt depending from the upper wall, at least a portion of cBAR10157.wpd filed 7 September 2005 2 the skirt comprising a plurality of spaced apart projections depending from the upper wall. In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a skirt for the cutter housing of a mower, the cutter housing defining an entry for grass and the skirt being adapted to be secured to the cutter housing and including a plurality of spaced apart projections adapted to depend from the cutter housing to partially close the entry. In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a detachable skirt for the cutter housing of a mower, the cutter housing defining an entry for grass and the skirt being adapted to be secured to the cutter housing and to depend therefrom across the entry and having a plurality of spaced apart openings therein adapted in use to receive uncut grass therethrough. In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a mower including a cutter housing as previously described. Preferably, the projections are shaped to guide grass into runs and to hold it to the extent that it can be cut more easily and definitely by the mower cutter blades. For that purpose it is preferred that the projections be triangular shaped teeth. In such form it is also preferred that the teeth terminate at their free ends in blunt points thereby retaining a predetermined resistance to bending under front impact loads as the mower is pushed or driven through grass in the usual manner. 5 Preferably, the skirt is selected with projections that depend from the cutter housing to the extent necessary to prevent or at least significantly inhibit a persons foot from accidentally slipping under the housing and into contact with the cutter blades. Advantageously, the openings in the skirt allow D the grass to ride high enough to be cut while the skirt provides a barrier to the persons feet. Preferably, the skirt is shaped and arranged to direct incoming grass away from the edges of the cutter housing and towards the cutter blades thereby reducing the amount of grass 5 which is missed by the blades or only partially cut.
:BAR10157.wpd filed 7 September 2005 3 In order that the invention may be more clearly understood and put into practical effect reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1 is a pictorial representation of a mower to which a skirt according to the present invention is to be attached; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the main part of the mower deck of the mower of Fig. 1 without the skirt; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the mower deck of Fig. 2 without the skirt; Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the mower deck of Fig. 2 with the skirt attached; Fig. 5a is a pictorial representation of the mower deck of Fig. 4 with the skirt attached; Fig. 5b is another pictorial representation of the mower deck of Fig. 4 with the skirt attached; Fig. 6a is an elevation of the skirt which is attached to the mower deck in Fig. 4; Fig. 6b is a pictorial representation of the skirt which is attached to the mower deck in Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is a pictorial representation of another mower deck according to the invention. The self driven push mower 10 illustrated in Fig. 1 includes a chassis 11 which is supported by a pair of spaced apart rear wheels 12 and a front wheel 13. A cutter deck 14 is supported 5 from the chassis by a linkage assembly 16 and may be raised or lowered by operation of a lever 17. A cutter disk with cutter blades connected thereto are mounted to a central drive shaft and adapted to rotate within the cutter deck in known manner. The drive shaft is driven by a belt which in turn is driven by an engine 18 mounted on the rear of the chassis. A pair of handles 19 extends rearwardly from the chassis for pushing the mower by an operator. Control levers 20 and 21 are mounted on the handles for adjusting the operation of the engine and controlling the ground drive. The cutter deck has an upper wall 23 and a skirt 24 cBAR10157.wpd filed 7 September 2005 4 extending thereabout which opens at the right hand side of the mower to a grass discharge chute 26. A cover 27 is pivotally mounted to the housing in known manner and arranged to form windrows of grass as it leaves the discharge chute. As can be more clearly seen in Fig. 3, the skirt at the front of the cutter deck is shorter at the front 28a than at the sides 28b and 28c and rear 28d thereby providing an entry 29 at the front of the deck for grass as the mower is pushed along. As can be seen in Figs. 4 and 5, the improvement to the cutter deck resides in the inclusion of an additional skirt or skirt portion 31 which is secured to the main skirt 24 across the front 28a by bolts 32. The additional skirt is constructed of light spring steel sheet and has a mounting portion 33 and a toothed portion 34 made up of a plurality of teeth 35 which form triangular shaped recesses or openings therebetween. Suitably, the mounting portion abuts the main skirt and the toothed portion extends across the entry 29 so that the only obstructions to grass entering the cutter deck from the front are the teeth. Advantageously, the teeth guide the grass into the apices of the openings between the teeth and tend to hold it in position as it lies over so that it can be more easily cut by the cutter blades. It will be appreciated that the main skirt 24 is slightly inclined outwards away from the upper wall and consequently the additional skirt in its component form is curved as shown in Fig. 5 4 so that when fitted to the deck it also is inclined outwardly but the points of the teeth are horizontal once fitted. As can be seen in Figs. 4 and 6, the additional skirt has a number of small teeth 36 adjacent the lefthand side of the cutter deck which depend below the main skirt on that side of the deck and extend downwards beyond the teeth 34. Advantageously, the small teeth guide grass away from the lefthand side of the skirt and into the path of the cutter blades due to the curvature of the deck at that position. Advantageously, the skirt can be seen to provide a barrier to feet thereby reducing the 5 possibility of accidental damage to an operator.
BARI0157.wpd filed 7 September 2005 5 The mower deck 50 illustrated in Fig. 5 is part of a push mower and includes an upper wall 51 having mounting pads 52 thereon to which a vertical crank shaft engine may be mounted with the crank shaft extending through opening 53 for connection to a cutter disk in known manner. A skirt 54 depends from the upper wall around the mower with the portion 55 of the skirt at the front being formed with a plurality of teeth 56 providing spaces 57 therebetween. Advantageously, the teeth guide the grass in the manner previously described and also act to inhibit accidental damage to an operators feet by preventing accidental entry of the feet into the cutter space under the deck. while the foregoing description has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in many other forms and all such forms are deemed to fall withing the broad scope and ambit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.