Wci Outdoor Products, Inc.

Robert T Cline

Lloyd H Tuggle

Imack L Collins

A 'bump-feed' type line head (108) and replaceable spool (116) for a flexible line trimmer are specially adapted for removing and mounting the spool in a single manual movement to the line head to facilitate spool and line replacement. The line head includes a 'U' shaped retention spring (118) mounted within a hub in the line head on with the spool is journalled. The spring includes knob-shaped sections (122) protruding through the hub, beneath the spool, for retaining the spool on the hub without interfering with a bump-feed indexing means. Pulling the spool from or pushing the spool onto the hub tends to deflect the knobs inwardly, allowing axially movement of the spool on the hub. The compression force of the spring is set to be sufficient to retain the spool on the hub during normal operation but not to withstand force manually applied in an axial direction to the reel. The spool includes an integrally formed reel (116) and an integrally formed button (130) connected in a single movement to the bottom of the reel using undercut surfaces (136)(138), forming a cavity having a radius sufficient to accommodate extension of the knobs beneath the spool.

Line head for flexible line trimmer

A trimmer (10) has a power source (12) and a tabular drive shaft housing (32) for coupling the power source (12) to a rotating working element. The drive shaft housing (32) is rotatable with respect to the power source (12) and a handle (26) which is fixed to the power source, such that rotation of the drive shaft (32) allows the plane of the working element to be re-oriented. Rotation of the drive shaft housing is fixed by a coupling latch (38) disposed within the handle. An external trigger (46) located on the handle is provided for manually decoupling the coupling latch for allowing rotation of the handle.

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Bethany, LA, United States of America

Robert T Cline