The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 23, 1996
Filed:
Jan. 30, 1995
Richard D Thier, Juneau, WI (US);
Howard V Speer, Beaver Dam, WI (US);
Phillip O Swenson, Beaver Dam, WI (US);
Deere & Company, Moline, IL (US);
Abstract
An operator presence mechanism for a walk-behind reel mower having a drive lever control engagable for initiating forward travel of the mower, the drive lever being shiftable to intermediate positions for inching the mower forward, the drive lever being biased to return to a non-driven position when an operator releases the lever from the intermediate positions. A locking linkage is provided for generally locking the drive lever in its fully engaged position and which allows the drive lever to shift back to its non-driven position when an operator releases the drive lever in the intermediate positions. An operator presence lever is operatively coupled with the drive lever for returning the drive lever to the non-driven position when the operator presence lever is disengaged. A lockout linkage is coupled between the drive lever and the operator presence lever for preventing the drive lever from being engaged without the operator presence lever being engaged.