Safety interlock for lawn mowers

Claim 1

In a lawn mower having an engine for driving a cutter blade and drive wheels, first and second clutch means for coupling and disengaging said cutter blade and drive wheels, respectively, to and from said engine, safety interlock means operable in a first position to maintain the engine in operation and in a second position to deactivate said engine when said cutter blade or drive wheels are coupled to the engine, a pair of spaced apart, generally elongate, individual handles mounted on said lawn mower and extending generally rearwardly and each having a surface adapted to be gripped by an operator for manipulating the lawn mower, each surface including an inner surface portion facing generally toward the other handle, an outer surface portion on the opposite side thereof and an upper surface portion, the improvement wherein the safety interlock means includes at least one lever pivotally mounted adjacent at least one of said handles for pivotal movement between said first and second positions and movable therewith, said hand grip being disposed, adjacent to the outer surface portion of the one handler and spaced from the upper surface portion thereof when said lever is in its first position, whereby said handle grip will fit comfortably in the palm of the operator's hand without stain as the hand grip means is maintained in its first position by the operator gripping the one handle.