Dead man's control for lawn mower

Claim 1

An apparatus including a frame, a rotary element mounted upon said frame, wheels supporting said frame for movement upon the ground, a handle secured to said frame for guiding such movement, said handle providing a hand grip, a prime mover mounted upon said frame, and clutch means for drivingly connecting said prime mover to said rotary element, said clutch means including an actuator member movable between a clutch engaging position and a clutch disengaging position, and spring means for yieldably urging said actuator member to its disengaging position, in which the improvement comprises lever means for moving said actuator member to its clutch engaging position, thereby to drive said rotary element by said prime mover, said lever means including a lever having a proximal end portion and a distal end portion, means for mounting said proximal end of said lever on said handle beneath said hand grip for pivotal movement of said distal end portion about an axis toward and away from said hand grip, a control cable connected between said actuator member and said lever so that movement of said distal end portion of said lever toward said hand grip moves said actuator member against the urging of said spring means toward its said clutch engaging position, the proximal end of said control cable being connected to said lever at a first point thereon between said proximal and distal end portions thereof and at a first distance from the pivot axis of said lever, the distal end of said cable being connected to said actuator member, said lever and control cable being positioned and arranged such that a straight line extending between said lever axis and said first point is at a first angle with respect to the proximal end portion of said cable when said actuator member is in its clutch disengaging position and at a second and significantly smaller angle slightly greater than zero degrees with respect to said proximal end portion of said cable when said distal end portion of said lever is moved toward said hand grip and said actuator member is in its clutch engaging position, whereby the force necessary to hold said distal end of said lever adjacent said hand grip is significantly less than the force necessary initially to pull the lever toward the hand grip, said lever and cable being positioned and arranged such that the movement of said lever is stopped before the said line between the lever axis and the first point becomes parallel with said proximal end portion of said cable.

Claim 2

An apparatus including a frame, a rotary element mounted upon said frame, wheels supporting said frame for movement upon the ground, a handle secured to said frame for guiding such movement, said handle providing a hand grip, a prime mover mounted upon said frame, and clutch means for drivingly connecting said prime mover to said rotary element, said clutch means including an actuator member movable between a clutch engaging position and a clutch disengaging position, and spring means for yieldably urging said actuator member to its disengaging position, in which the improvement comprises lever means for moving said actuator member to its clutch engaging position, thereby to drive said rotary element by said prime mover, said lever means including a lever having a proximal end portion and a distal end portion, means for mounting said proximal end of said lever on said handle beneath said hand grip for pivotal movement of said distal end portion about an axis toward and away from said hand grip, a control cable connected between said actuator member and said lever so that movement of said distal end portion of said lever toward said hand grip moves said actuator member against the urging of said spring means toward its said clutch engaging position, the proximal end of said control cable being connected to said lever at a first point thereon between said proximal and distal end portions thereof and at a first distance from the pivot axis of said lever, the distal end of said cable being connected to said actuator member, said lever and control cable being positioned and arranged such that a straight line extending between said lever axis and said first point is at a first angle with respect to the proximal end portion of said cable when said actuator member is in its clutch disengaging position and at a second and significantly smaller angle slightly greater than zero degrees with respect to said proximal end portion of said cable when said distal end portion of said lever is moved toward said hand grip and said actuator member is in its clutch engaging position, whereby the force necessary to hold said distal end of said lever adjacent said hand grip is significantly less than the force necessary initially to pull the lever toward the hand grip, said lever and cable being positioned and arranged such that the movement of said lever is stopped before the said line between the lever axis and the first point becomes parallel with said proximal end portion of said cable.