Garden Way Incorporated

Irving Lobdell

Alfred J Bold

Kevin J Connolly

Steven E Kodesch

Bruce E Roberts

Carmen M Satalino

Lawn and garden maintenance equipment for collecting and shredding debris and chipping branches is provided with wheel support, a housing, and a handle for guiding the apparatus, the housing having a substantially closed bottom wall below a motor-driven disc for rotation about a vertical axis, which disc is capable of chipping branches because of a knife on one side and of moving air because of blades on the other side. A circumfirentially extending screen within the housing is supported in a vertical orientation relative to the ground, which screen is formed of at least two segments, both of which are supported radially inwardly and spaced from the sidewalls of the housing. The air and entrained debris are drawn into and enters the housing through an inlet extending to a centrally disposed axial opening whereby the entrained air and debris are driven against the screen to be broken up into smaller pieces. The debris thereafter is propelled from the space between the screen and the sidewall to a rear exit from the housing. Cleaning of the screen and replacement of the screen are facilitated by creating a screen comprised of two arcuate segments, one of the segments being supported adjacent an access door provided in the housing. The access door is removable by disabling a safety interlock through removal of a special fastener captive on the access door, the fastener upon initial withdrawal serving to actuate a switch to disable the engine drive to the disk, the fastener being of such a length as to require more than the average amount of time for its full withdrawal, thereby permitting the disk (and engine) to achieve its rest position.

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Averill Park, NY, United States of America

Irving Lobdell