초록 ▼

A walk-behind soil aerator includes an engine, a differential, and left and right tine assemblies driven by the first and second output shafts of the differential, and a variable speed drive means between the engine and the differential, as well as a control means accessible by an operator walking b

A walk-behind soil aerator includes an engine, a differential, and left and right tine assemblies driven by the first and second output shafts of the differential, and a variable speed drive means between the engine and the differential, as well as a control means accessible by an operator walking behind the aerator which allows the operator to make tight turns by gradually reducing the speed of the drive means to a desired slow speed in order for the driven tines to drive the aerator through the turn and then gradually increasing the speed of the drive means without having to change the engine speed.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A walk-behind soil aerator, comprising: a frame having front, rear, left and right sides;a plurality of wheels operatively supporting said frame on the ground;an engine mounted on the frame;left and right tine assemblies mounted on the frame, each of said tine assemblies having a plurality of tin

1. A walk-behind soil aerator, comprising: a frame having front, rear, left and right sides;a plurality of wheels operatively supporting said frame on the ground;an engine mounted on the frame;left and right tine assemblies mounted on the frame, each of said tine assemblies having a plurality of tines thereon;a differential mounted on the frame, said differential having first and second output shafts which rotationally drive the left and right tine assemblies, respectively;drive means operatively connected between said engine and said differential and including means for transferring power from said engine to said differential; andcontrol means accessible by an operator walking behind said frame, said control means including means for continually adjusting a rotational speed of said drive means from a higher speed and through progressively reduced speeds to being completely stopped while said engine is operating at a constant speed; wherein the rotational speed of said drive means may be fixed at each of a plurality of said progressively reduced speeds during a plurality of rotations of said wheels. 2. A walk-behind soil aerator as recited in claim 1, wherein said control means, in addition to including means for continually adjusting the rotational speed of said drive means in the forward direction, also includes means for causing said drive means to operate in the reverse direction while said engine is operating at a constant speed. 3. A walk-behind soil aerator as recited in claim 2, wherein said control means includes a single manual control, which can be adjusted by an operator to continually adjust the rotational speed of said drive means in a forward direction and to cause the drive means to rotate in a reverse direction while said engine is operating at a constant speed. 4. A walk-behind soil aerator as recited in claim 1, wherein said drive means includes a hydraulic motor. 5. A walk-behind soil aerator as recited in claim 3, wherein said drive means includes a hydraulic motor. 6. A walk-behind soil aerator as recited in claim 5, wherein said control means includes a swashplate which controls the flow of fluid to said hydraulic motor. 7. A walk-behind soil aerator as recited in claim 6, wherein said plurality of wheels includes a left wheel which is driven by said first output shaft along with said left tine assembly and a right wheel which is driven by said second output shaft along with said right tine assembly. 8. A walk-behind soil aerator as recited in claim 6, and further comprising at least one central tine assembly located between the left and right tine assemblies, said central tine assembly being freewheeling for rotation about the same axis of rotation as the left and right tine assemblies. 9. A walk-behind soil aerator as recited in claim 8, wherein said left tine assembly includes two tine disks, each including a plurality of radially-extending tines, with the tines of the two tine disks being angularly offset from each other. 10. A walk-behind soil aerator as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of wheels includes a left wheel which is driven by said first output shaft along with said left tine assembly and a right wheel which is driven by said second output shaft along with said right tine assembly. 11. A walk-behind soil aerator as recited in claim 10, wherein said left wheel has a left wheel rotational axis coaxial with said first output shaft and said right wheel has a right wheel rotational axis coaxial with said second output shaft. 12. A method of aerating soil, comprising the steps of: walking behind an aerator machine including a frame supported on the ground by a plurality of wheels, said frame supporting an engine which drives an engine shaft in a first direction, and including a variable speed reversible drive means that transmits power from the engine shaft to a differential having first and second output shafts, and further including left and right tine assemblies rotationally driven by said first and second output shafts, respectively;steering the aerator machine by applying varying forces to a steering handle supported on said frame while walking behind the aerator machine; andmoving a single manual control which continually adjusts a speed at which the drive means drives the differential, from a higher speed and through progressively reduced speeds to being completely stopped while said engine is operating at a constant speed of rotation and while walking behind the aerator machine; wherein the speed at which the drive means drives the differential may be fixed at each of a plurality of said progressively reduced speeds during a plurality of rotations of said wheels. 13. The method of aerating soil as recited in claim 12, and further comprising the step of moving the same single manual control to reverse the direction in which the drive means drives the differential while said engine is operating at a constant speed. 14. The method of aerating soil as recited in claim 13, wherein said single manual control is a control handle pivotably mounted to the steering handle. 15. The method of aerating soil as recited in claim 14, wherein the steering handle has an inverted “V” shape. 16. The method of aerating soil as recited in claim 15, wherein the control handle also has an inverted “V” shape, which matches the shape of the steering handle.