Controlled vibration absorbing mounting for engines

Claim 1

In combination with an implement such as a power lawN mower, garden tractor or the like having a frame with a generally horizontal portion, and a vertical shaft engine which provides power for the implement, the engine having a base with spaced apart mounting spots on its bottom, and having its crankshaft projecting downwardly with power take-off means thereon, vibration absorbing means mounting the engine on said generally horizontal portion of the frame of the implement, comprising: A. a soft mount connecting each of the spaced apart mounting spots of the engine base with said generally horizontal portion of the implement; B. a plurality of resiliently flexible strips each rigidly connected at one end to the engine base and projecting therefrom in spaced substantially parallel relationship to said generally horizontal portion of the implement frame; and C. means rigidly anchoring each of said resiliently flexible strips at a distance from its connection with the engine, to said implement frame, said resiliently flexible strips being elongated and substantially flat and having greater width than thickness so that they have edgewise stiffness and flatwise flexibility, and said strips having their major surfaces facing upward and downward so that said strips restrain lateral displacement of the engine with respect to the implement frame but leave the engine free to move vertically to the extent the soft mounts provide for such movement, whereby the location of the power take-off means with respect to the implement is not objectionably altered by the permitted movement of the engine.