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:
Mar. 20, 2007
Filed:
Sep. 23, 2004
Tomoki Fukushima, Saitama, JP;
Hayato Matsuda, Saitama, JP;
Shinichi Katsuragawa, Saitama, JP;
Hiroshi Kobayashi, Saitama, JP;
Tomoki Fukushima, Saitama, JP;
Hayato Matsuda, Saitama, JP;
Shinichi Katsuragawa, Saitama, JP;
Hiroshi Kobayashi, Saitama, JP;
Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In a control system of a lawn mower having an internal combustion engine controlled to a desired engine speed by a throttle actuator, a blade connected to the engine to be driven to cut grass, an engine output is estimated based on a detected throttle position and the desired engine speed, and when the estimated engine output exceeds a prescribed value, the grass bag is determined to be full of cut grass. With this, a full grass bag can be detected and the operator informed without providing a dedicated sensor. In addition, a blade switch that inputs a drive instruction to drive the blade and a running switch that inputs a running instruction to propel the lawn mower are provided, and the desired engine speed is set to a first speed when neither the drive instruction nor the running instruction is inputted, but is changed immediately to a second speed, set higher than the first speed, when the drive instruction is inputted, or is changed to the second speed gradually, when the running instruction is inputted, whereby fuel efficiency and operability are improved.