Balanced trim shield with a single, dual direction line cutting member

Abstract

A hand-held cutting device () may include an elongated member () graspable along a portion thereof by an operator, a trimmer head () disposed at one end of the elongated member () and configured to be rotatable to perform a cutting function using trimmer line () held at a portion of the trimmer head (), a power unit operably coupled to the trimmer head () to selectively cause rotation of the trimmer head, and a trim shield () disposed to extend away from the elongate member () to a position radially outward relative to the trimmer head () proximate to at least a portion of a path traced by a distal end of the trimmer line () when the trimmer head is rotated. The trim shield () may include a first housing portion () disposed on one side of a longitudinal centerline () of the device, a second housing portion () disposed on an opposite side of the longitudinal centerline () and substantially symmetrical relative to the first housing portion, a cutter mount () and a cutter member (). The cutter mount () may be disposed at the longitudinal centerline () on an interior portion of the trim shield () proximate to an intersection of the first housing portion () and second housing portion (). The cutting member () may be operably coupled to the cutter mount () with substantially equal portions of the cutting member () extending to respective opposing sides of the longitudinal centerline ().