Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
The present invention relates to a tool includ-
ing a tube with a handle, and having at the bottom end
of the tube means mountad for making a hole in the ground,
in which is to be planted a plant that has been taken
down through the tube, the means comprising a jaw mounted
pivotable on the tube relative an opposing jaw, the
pivotable jaw being provided with a foot pedal for open-
ing it against spring bias, and a mechanism for retaining
it in its open position and releasing it from this posi-
tion for movement towards the opposing jaw under the spring
bias.
Apparatus of this or similar kind are already
known, e.g. from the Swedish design registration No.
20 720, the Swedish Patent Application 7303494-4, the
Swedish Patent Specification 369 823, the US Patent
Specifications 643 524 and 2 361 005 and the French Patent
Speciications 30 635, 584 917 and 916 122.
Apparatuses according to these publications have
one or more drawbacks. In the cases where the apparatus
can be used for carrying out all the operations required
for a plant to be planted in a sufficiently deep hole,
without the plant being damaged and without the planter
needing to carry out too many and time~consuming opera-
tions, these apparatuses are complicated, unreliable and
lack means for regulating the distance between the open
jaws for the purpose of adapting to differentlysized plants.
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The problems of the prior art are overcome by
the present invention which broadly provides a
planting tool including a tube provided with a
handle and having at the bottom end of the tube means
mounted for making a hole in the ground, in which is
to be planted a plant that has been taken down through
the tube, the means comprising a jaw mounted pivotable
on the tube relative an opposing jaw, the pivotable jaw
being provided with a foot pedal for opening it against
the action of spring b.~as and a ~echanism for retaining
it in its open position and releasing it ~rom his
position for movement towards the opposing jaw under
the action of the spring bias, characterized in that
the mechanism includes detent means pivotably attache~
to the foot pedal and engaging against an abutment in
the open position of the pivotable jaw by the action
of the spring bias, the abutment being mounted on the
tube or the opposing jaw, the detent means being
displaceable away from the abutment ~y a movable element
disposed between the tube or the opposing jaw and the
detent means for releasing the pivotable jaw from its
open position.
The present invention will be described in
greater detail with reference to the drawings wherein:
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Figure 1 is a schematic s~de view of the tool in
accordance with the invention, and
Figure 2 is a schematic view, seen from ~ehind,
of the tool illustrated in Figure 1.
The planting tool illustrated in Figures 1 and
2 includes a square-section tube 1 having a bevelled
bottom portion, a handle 2 mounted integral with a
hopper 3 attached to the tube, a fixed jaw 4 attached ~o
the bottom portion of the tube, a movable jaw ~ pivot.ably
mounted on a shaft 4a on the left-hand portion of the
fixe~ jaw in Figure l, a U-shaped foot pedal 6 made
integral with t~e movable jaw, and a mechanism 7 acting
between the foot p~dal and the tube for retaining the
mova~le jaw 5 in an open position, after the opposing
jaws 4, 5 have been thrust down into the ground and the
movable jaw moved with the aid of the foot pedal into
the open position illustrated in the Figures, the
mechanism 7 also acting to release the mo~able jaw for
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movement towards the fixed jaw, after the jaws have been
pulled out of the ground and removed from the plant,
which was taken down between the jaws via the hopper 3
and tube 1 in a previous operation, to arrive in -the
planting hole made by the jaws.
The mechanism 7 includes a threaded rod 8, one
end of which is in mesh with a threaded sleeve 9 and the
other end of which is attached to a shaft 10 extending
between, and pivotably mounted in, the two opposing legs
of the pedal 6. The end of the sleeve 9 facing away from
the rod 8 engages against an abutment, when the movable
jaw 5 is moved to its open position illustrated in the
Figures. The abutment is formed by the bottom edge of
one leg of a short length of angle bar 11, fastened to
the rear long side of the tube, the other leg of the bar
11 pxojecting out from the tube being used to fasten one
end of a helical tension spring 12. The other end of the
spring 12 is fastened to an arm 13 attached to the shaft
10. The spring 12 urges the sleeve 9 anticlockwise about
the shaft 10, such that the upper end of the sleeve
engages against the abutment with a relatively large force.
A stirrup 19, surrounding the member 11 in the
way illustrated in Figure 2, is provided with a shaft 14
situated between the sleeve 9 and the tube 1. The upper
end of the stirrup 1~9 is joined onto a rod 15, the upper
end of which is taken through a hole in a length of angle
bar 16 attached to the tube, and terminates in a bend 17
situated immediately below the handle 2.
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The function of the tool will now be summarily
described.
With the foot pedal 6 and the movable jaw 5 in
their positions illustrated by chain-dotted lines in
Figure 1, the tool is pressed into the ground where a
plant is to be planted. Next, the right-hand portion of
the foot pedal 6 is depressed, whereby it is swung clock-
wise around the shaft 4a in Figure 1 so that the movable
jaw 5 moves away from the fixed jaw 4 and a hole is made
in the ground. During the pivoting movement of the foot
pedal, the sleeve 9 is moved downwards while the spring
12 is tensioned and pulls the arm 13-anticlockwose round
the shaft 10, the upper end of the sleeve being urged
against the member 11. At the end of the clockwise pivot-
ing movement of the pedal, the upper end of the sleeve
passes the lower edge of the member 11 and into engage-
ment against the tuk,e 1. When the pressure on the foot
pedal ceases, the upper end of the sleeve will engage
against the abutment 11 under the action of the bias in
the spring 12, and cannot be removed from this position
by mistake.
After a plant has been taken by the planter via
the hopper 3, tube 1 and the opened jaws 4, 5 into the
hole thus made, the tool is lifted by the handle 2
straight up out of the hole so as nGt to damage the
plant. The planter then pulls the bend 17 upwards and the
stirrup 19 connected to the rod 15 is pulled upwards. The
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stirrup 19 cannot move notably laterally since both its
opposing vertical legs are on either side of the member
11. When the shaft 14 meets the underside of the sleev~ 9,
the sleeve is pressed out from the abutment on the
member 11 against the bias of the spring 12. As soon as
the sleeve has left the abutment, the spring 12 pulls the
foot pedal 6 anticlockwise round the shaft ga while the
sleeve glides towards the member 11. The anti-clockwise
movement of the foot pedal is terminated when the jaw 5
engages against the jaw 4.
To adjust the use of the tool to different sized
plants, the longest distance between the jaws 4, 5 may
be adjusted in a simple way, namely by screwing the
sleeve 9 more or less onto the rod 8 after a locking
nut 18 has been loosened, thus increasing or decreasing
the distance between the upper end of the sleeve 9 and
the shaft 10. For a long such distance the jaw 5 is
retained by the sleeve in a maximally open position and
~or a short distance in a less open position. The altera-
tions of the combined length of sleeve 9 and rod 8 is
suitably carried out when the bias of the spring 12 is
weakest, i.e. when the jaws 4, 5 engage against each
other.
Although only one embodiment of the invention
has been described above and illustrated on the drawing,
it should be understood that the invention is not limited
to this embodiment but is only limited by the disclosures
in the claims.
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