Reel mower having quick change grooming attachments

摘要

A reel mower has a drive and mounting system for easily and quickly installing a turf grooming attachment. A pair of bearing supports on opposite sides of the reel mower frame provides laterally spaced stub shafts between which the through shaft of the attachment can be nested. A pair of identical clamps releasably couples the opposite ends of the through shaft of the attachment to the adjacent stub shafts. Installation and removal of the clamps is sufficient to install or remove the attachment without requiring disassembly or lateral movement of the bearing supports or of the stub shafts rotatably journalled therein.

主权项

1. A reel mower, which comprises:
(a) a frame carrying a prime mover with the frame being supported for rolling over a turf surface having grass; (b) a reel cutting unit carried on the frame comprising a cutting reel rotatable about a horizontal axis for pushing blades of grass against a cooperating bedknife to sever the blades of grass in a shearing action between the cutting reel and the bedknife, wherein the cutting reel is operatively connected to the prime mover for powered rotation; (c) a turf grooming attachment comprising a rotatable through shaft having opposite ends with the through shaft carrying for rotation therewith an implement assembly that performs a turf grooming operation on the turf surface that is different from the grass cutting performed by the reel cutting unit; (d) a drive and mounting system for permitting the turf grooming attachment to be easily installed and removed from the frame, which comprises:
(i) a pair of stub shafts with one stub shaft being carried on a left side of the frame and the other stub shaft being carried on a right side of the frame such that the stub shafts are laterally spaced apart from one another by a predetermined distance, the stub shafts being aligned with one another for rotation about a common axis, and one of the stub shafts being operatively connected to the prime mover for powered rotation;(ii) wherein the through shaft of the turf grooming attachment has a length and configuration relative to the predetermined distance between the stub shafts and a configuration of the stub shafts that allows the turf grooming attachment to be placed into a nested condition relative to the stub shafts and to be removed from the nested condition without disassembling the stub shafts from the frame and without moving the stub shafts laterally relative to the frame, the through shaft of the turf grooming attachment when in the nested condition being aligned with the common axis of rotation of the stub shafts;(iii) a pair of clamps for releasably coupling the stub shafts to the opposite ends of the through shaft of the turf grooming attachment when the turf grooming attachment is in the nested condition to thereby drive and mount the turf grooming attachment on the frame, each clamp in the pair of clamps comprising first and second fasteners for installing each clamp, wherein the first and second fasteners in each clamp are laterally spaced apart relative to one another with the first fastener in each clamp passing through a cross bore in a given one of the stub shafts and the second fastener of each clamp passing through a cross bore in a corresponding end of the through shaft of the turf grooming attachment that is attached to the given one of the stub shafts, the cross bores that receive the fasteners of each clamp being perpendicularly oriented relative to the common axis of rotation of the stub shafts.