A weed trimmer, often also referred to as a string trimmer, weed eater, weed whip, weed cutter, or edge trimmer, works on the principle that a line is stretched out from its fast rotating head by centrifugal force, and can thereby cut grass, weed, and thin branches. A weed trimmer can also use a chain trimmer, metal trimmer blade, or other lightweight cutting implements. Weed trimmers are characterized by having a cutting implement at the end of a long shaft with a handle or handles. They are designed as relatively lightweight devices for one-hand or two-hand operation, and sometimes can be used in conjunction with a shoulder strap.
Weed trimmers have become very popular since their invention in the early 1970's. However, it has remained a problem that these devices will shed the cutting remains in the immediate area of operation.
Some attempts have been made to implement container devices for the weed cuttings. Most notably, it has been attempted to combine a weed trimmer with a weed vacuum, so that the trimmings will be collected in the weed vacuum bag. These devices suffer from a number of problems, particularly they can become very heavy, and they are ineffective because the weed trimmer operation does not work well in conjunction with the inward suction from the vacuum, causing a tendency for a proportion of the cuttings to be pushed to the side instead of into the vacuum bag. Because of these problems, such devices with container bags have not been adopted widely in the market place.
As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for novel and improved weed trimming devices that can collect weed cuttings during use.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds