Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
3~3
WE13DER FOR :tNLAND WATERWAYS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Aquatlc weeds have long been a problem for persons
~nJoylng proper~y located on lnland lakes, ponds, and rivers.
The weeds grow uncontrolled to lengths in exces~ of ~everal
feet to interfere wlth ~wlmmlng and boatlng usag~.
Earlier attempts to remove such weeds from along the
shore out to some di~tance there~rom, have not heretofore
proven successful. Hand-operated cutting tool~ in the form of
slckles and hoe~ were limlted due to thQ poor vlslbllity
through the water when the water wa~ dl~turbed. The cut weeds
which float to the ~urfaGe are removed ln a separate operatlon
either by hand or by means of a rak2 or simllar tool. The cut
weeds whioh sink to the bottom regQnerate and form new growth.
Dredgers ln the form of chalns dragged along the water bed by
means of a row boat to trap the wa~d~ were not as e~ective as
tools that employed blade~ or blade-like edges to cut the
weed~.
U.S. Patent 4,375,~99 entltled ~Aquatlc Weeder" de~oribe~
a hand held weeder u~e~ul ~or cutting weed~ growing beneath
the surfac~ of quch lnland waterway~. The weeder i~ moved
back and forth to cut the w~eds ln ~hallow water~ and r~mova
them from the underwater 90il Yur~ca. The weed~ are later
gath~red at the ~urface and taken to ~he shore for dlsposal.
V.S. Patent DES. 190, 822 entltl~d ~Underwat~r W~ed
Cutter" ~hows a weeder device h~ving ~ plurallty of ~errat~d
blades along one surface or cutting weed~ from the und~r~at~r
~oll surfaee with a screen~ 0 lmpl~ment ~or catchlng the
weed~ and ~owlng the~ b~hlnd ~ bo~ r la~er dlspo~al.
The present lnv~ntion propo~e~ 1~ an underwa~er weed
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removal devlce that lg el~her hand-operated or boat-towad for
engaglng and holding the weed~ ~t the Juncture of thelr root
and qtalk assembly, removlng the root3 from the soil, and
dragging the root~ and ~talks, i.e., the entire weeds, to the
surface ln a Qingle operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention compri~ a ~lrst rectangular body of
expa~ded metal haviny rope-enga~ing swivels a~tached to the
opposlte corner~ ~hereof. A metal relnforcement bar ~g
positloned along the body, parallel to the longer slde~. An
addltional rectangular metal body of expanded matal of lesser
width than the first body 19 attach~d to the first body
between the metal relnforc~ment bar and a long$tudinal edge of
~he flrst body. The ed~ss of ~he expanded metal bodle
provide a flrst edge having V-grooves o~ a f$rst w~dth for
capturing larger weed~ and V-grcov~s of shorter wldth for
capturing smaller ~lzed weed~. A pivoted handle support can
be optlonally attached to the centsr of ~he support bar for
hand-operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 1~ an exploded per~pectlve view of a waterway
weeder in accordanc~ with the lnvention, wlth the component
part~ ln isometrlc proJection;
Figure 2 1~ a top perspactlve view of an alternate
embodiment of the weedar o~ Figur~ 1, wlth towing ropes
attached;
Fi~ure 2A i~ a top per~pec~ivQ view o~ a fur~her
embod~ment of the weeder o Flgure 1:
Figure 2B i~ a top persp~ctlve view of a ~urth~r
embodiment of the weeder of Figur~ 2A:
Flgure 3 is ~ top per~p~atlv~ vlew o~ ~n altern~te
embodiment of the weeder of Figur~ 1, wi~h a handle attached:
. ~ 2
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Flgure 4 ~ a top perspec~lve v18w of an alternative
embodiment of the weeder depicted in Figure3 l and 2;
Flgure 5 i~ a p~rspective view of the weed~r of Figur~ 2
shown attached to the transom o a row boat; and
Flgure 6 19 a front per~pectlve vlew of the weeder
depicted ln Figure S belng wlthdrawn from the water.
DESCRIPTION OF T~E PREFERRED EM~ODIMENTS
The waterway weeder 10 1~ ~hown in Figure 1 in exploded
perspective, and compr~eQ a planar expanded metal body ll,
metal support bar 12 and a pla~ar expanded metal body 13. The
expanded metal bodies 11 and 13 have ~ plurallty of dlamond-
shaped openings 8 between elements 22 and 23, respectlvely.
When the element~ 2~, 23 are cut edgewlse, a corresponding
plurality of V-grooves 7 and 9 are defined along th~ cut edges
13A, and along edges llA and llB. The slgnlficance of the V-
groove~ 7 and 9 wlll be d~scrlbad below ln greater detail.
metal bar 12 form~d from a carbon teel composltion i3 on top
of the body 11 parallel to the edge~ llA, llB. The narrow
expanded mstal body 13 having a plurallty of V-grooves 7 along
one edge 13A i8 then attached to the bar 12 and ~o the body 11
by allgning llnk 22 in tha narrow chaln l~nk 13 and ln the
body with ~he ~hru-hole ~4 ln the ~uppor~ bar 12. The chain
bodle~ ~nd the bar 12 are fastened ~ogether by me~ns of bolt
18, washers 19, 20 and nut 21. Altornatlvely, body 11 and the
bar 12 can be placed over both ~odle~ 11 and 13 before
bolting. In high speed a~sembly operations, ~he narrow body
13 can be edg~-weld~d or brazed to body 11 a~ depicted at 6 ln
Figure 2 or example1 Four S-~haped ~wivel hook~ or rings 14
are at~ached to the four opposln~ corn~rs o th~ b~dy 11 to
~cilltate the a~a~en~ of ropes or cor~ 28 a~ o ~hown
ln Figur~ 2.
As ~hown in Figure 2, weed~r 10 is arranged fsr towin~ by
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the attachm~nt of two or more cords 2~ by means of connec~or
27 ~ttached to oppo~lte ends of th~ cord. In ths weeder 20,
the bar 12 can also be edge-welded or brazed to the body 11 a~
shown at 25 ln a hlgh speed automated assembly process. When
S the narrow body 13 19 attached to body 11, a plurality of
narrow V-grooves S are dafined along the composite edge
deined by ~he edge 13A of the narrow body 13 and the edge llA
of narrow body 11. ~he opposing sdge llB provide a plurallty
of larger V~grooves 9 for engagln~, holdlng and extractlng
larger-slzed weedq when the cord~ 28 are attached to swlvel
hooks 148 and the rake 10 1~ towed in the diractian indlcated
by arrow 8. When the cords 28 are at~ached to the oppo~ite
swlve}~, one of whlch i8 lndicated ~t 14A and the other
omitted for purpo~e~ o~ clarlty, and the rake 10 1 dragged in
the direction indlcated by arrow A along the underwater -~olid
surface, the smaller weeds are caught, held and pulled form
the soil by the narrower V-groove3 S.
A less expen~ive variation of the weeder o~ tha
inventlon, i~ provided by rake 10, hown ~n Figure 2A, which
comprl3es an expanded metal body 11 having V-groove~ 9 on
opposing sldes and 18 attached to the towlng rope~ 28 dlrectly
wlthout u~lng any typ~ of swivel hooks. A reinforclng bar 12
i~ attachad to the body 11 for added s~abllity and weight to
lnsure that it remains ln contact wlth the weed~ growlng along
Z5 the bed of the watsrway. The reln~orcing bar 12 which ad~
strength and welght ~o the b~dy ll or slnking lt to the
bottom underwater 9011 ~urfac~: however, bar 12 can be
~limlnated l the ~xpanded me~al o~ }~y 11 i~ o suicia~tly
heavy gauge.
~nother ~imple and in6xpen~ivo ~bod~ment o~ the w~eder
of the lnventlon i8 provlded by r~ke 10~ ~how~ ln Flyure 2B~
whereln an expa~ded metal ~ody 11 i8 directly welded as
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lndicated at 16 to an expanded matal body 4 havlng cloqely
spaced element~ 15 to deflne a plurallty of narrow V-groove~
5 on one edge. A plurality o~ ragular sized V-grooves 9 are
formed on body 11 on the oppo~lte sld~ therefrom.
Baslde~ ~elng towed behlnd a row boa~ such as lndicated
at 43 ln Fi~ure 5 for example, the weeder lO i9 also capable
of being hand-operated as best ~ean by referring to Figure 3
and Figure 3A. A two part arcuate bracket 29 i~ attached to
the support bar 12 ~y bol~s 50 through plate 34 of one part of
la bracket 29. One end of the other part of bracket 29 1~
lnternally threaded a~ indicat~d a~ 51 to accept the threaded
end 52 of a handle 33. The handlQ 33 comprlses a plurallty of
sectlon-q 33', 33" whlch are lolned together to provlde any
desired length.
lS A5 shown ln Flgure 3A, ~ post 38 extends upwardly from
the plate 34, and has a hole 53 ~urrounded by a knurled
surface: the other part of the brac~et 29 ha~ a plate 37 which
~s also knurled for engagement with the knurled surface of the
post 38; a hole 54 thereln 1~ aligned wi~h ~he hole 53 and
post 38, 30 that a bolt 36 may bo pa4sed through tham~ and
secured by wln~ nut 32 and wa~her 35. A~ will be appasent,
thl~ permlt~ the securing of the handle 33 at any de~lred
anglQ, 80 that the angle of tha handle 33 can be adJusted to
various angle~ aq lndlcated in phantom at 33A and itY
d~reation can be rsversed as indicated at 33~. This allows
the angle of the weeder to be adJu~ted with re~pect to ~h~
oper~tor a~ well as the bottom of the waterway which in turn
provide~ more po~ltiYa drag on tha weed roots. Thl~ al80
allows the weeder to be dr~wn ln the ~ dlrection ~or a~ample
when the handl~ 18 l~c~ted at ~o~ltion 33A and ln the
dlrection B when the operatln~ h~ndle 33 i5 located at 33B.
The opera~or can flrs~ remove the l~rger wee~ and then changa
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the posltion of the handle 33 and retrace his St~p3 to remove
the s~aller weeds.
The weeder 10 is depicted in Figurs 4 w~th a pair of
heavy compression spring~ 39, ~lmllar to those used wlth
overhead garage door~, attached lntermedlate the S-~haped
swivel hooks 14 and the cordY 28. One spring en~ 40 i9
attached directly to the S-shaped hook 14 and the other spring
end 41 i~ attached to th~ connector 27 attached to the end of
the cordq 28. The hQavy expansion springs 39 ~ssl~t in
1~ llftlng the weeder upwards through the water. ~he water
resl~tance to the w~eder, when loaded wlth weeds, cau~Q~ the
springs to elongate when the weeder ls llfted from the ~ottom
of the water. The energy ~tored ln the springY alternately
releases to asslqt the operator during upward motlon of the
weeder toward the water surface.
The towlng operatlon of the weeder 10 1~ shown ln Flgure
5 whereln the weeder is towed by a row hoat 43 by mean~ of the
palr of cords 28 that are attached to a corresponding pair of
hook.Q 44 fastened to the boat tran~om 56. The weeder 1~ drawn
along the underwater soil bed 47 ln a horizontal dlrection to
capture tha weed~ 46 at the ~unctlon of the 8011 47 with the
~atar 4~ and to hold and remo~ th~m.
The multl-functional f~atura3 of the weed~r 10 can be
seen by referr~ng now to Figure 6 wherein th~ weeder is
deplcted carrylng a plurali~y of w~ed~ 46 of the type
consisting of ~talks 42 and root~ 48. When the wePder 1~
drawn along the underwater soil ~urfaca, the ~talks 42 become
captured within th~ V-gr~oves 9 such ~hat they lay along tha
top 3urfacs 55 of tha weeder. When ~h~ weader 18 re~oved fro~
ths water by mean3 of cord~ 28, the water d~plcted a~ droplets
49 drains through th~ openln~ 8 whlls the we~ds 46 ramaln
entrapped on ths top ~urfac~
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An affectlve mean~ for removlng weed~ from lnland
waterway~ has hsreln been descrlbed whareby the weed~ are
engaged at the ~unction of the 9011 with the water and are
held and removed by mean of a slmple, eff~cient and
economical device. The weeds are removed in a ~ingle
operat~on without addltional equipment or additional gathering
step~.
The claims and the speclficatlon dsscribe the lnvention
presented, and the term~ that are employed in the claim~ draw
lQ thelr meanlng from the use of such term~ in the speciflcation.
Some terms employed ln the prior art may be broader ln meaning
than speclfically employad herein. Whenever there i8 a
question between the broader definition of such term a~ u~ed
in the prior art and the more spa~iflc use of the term herein,
the more specific meanlng ia meant.
