The collection of leaves is traditionally achieved using rakes, blowers or other handheld items. In certain environments that are replete with leaves, the use of handheld items to gather leaves renders the collection process burdensomely time-consuming and laborious.
Accordingly, lawn mowers and other similar types of motorized lawn equipment, such as mulchers, chippers and vacuums, are often utilized to assist in the collection of leaves. Specifically, by advancing the lawn mower over the desired area, the mower blade shreds, or mulches, the leaves and discharges the resultant debris into a designated collection bag, or bin, in communication with the mower.
Although the use of traditional lawn mowers has been found to facilitate the collection of leaves, the limited size of the designated collection bag requires frequently unloading of debris retained therein, particularly in environments that are heavily covered with leaves. This frequent unloading of the retained matter renders the entire collection process significantly more time-consuming and highly disruptive.
Accordingly, it is known in the art for oversized leaf collection bags to be used in place of the limited sized collection bag, or bin, typically designated for use with a particular piece of motorized lawn equipment, such as mowers. Due to the enlarged size of the collection bag, the leaves can be collected without stopping frequently to empty collected matter.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,710 to D. DeHart, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, there is provided a grass and leaf catcher for use with a riding mower that is in the form of a large bag of flexible material having a generally conical shape. The bag has an opening around its first end and another at the second end. The opening at the first end is generally circular, with a drawstring to facilitate attachment around the discharge tube and hood of the mower. A cleat in proximity to the opening allows for securing the drawstring. The opening at the second end is likewise secured by a drawstring and cleat combination, or by a hook-and-loop fastener. A mesh area in the surface of the bag relieves the pressure within the bag caused by the entry of air forced up the discharge tube by the action of the cutter blades of the mower.
Oversized collection bags of the type as described above are most commonly connected to a typical riding mower by mounting the enlarged opening of the bag directly over the hood on the rear of the mower that is ordinarily provided to support the plastic collection bin, the bin being removed in this situation so as not to interfere with the bag. The remainder of the bag is thus disposed to drag behind the mower on the lawn surface.
Oversized collection bags of the type as described above have been found to suffer from a pair of notable drawbacks.
As a first drawback, oversized collection bags of the type as described above are generally incapable of being mounted onto a riding mower that does not include the plastic collection bin accessory. As a result, a user who did not originally purchase the mower with the collection bin must subsequently purchase the plastic collection bin accessory, typically at a substantial cost. Otherwise, the user is precluded from using the collection bag with the mower.
As a second drawback, oversized collection bags of the type as described above are designed to drag behind the mower on the ground surface, which is often roughened with presence of rocks, gravel and the like. As a result, it has been found that collection bags often wear prematurely or become punctured or damaged as a result of the direct frictional contact against the ground surface.
Adapters are known in the art to assist in the connection of oversized collection bags to conventional riding lawn mowers that do not include a rear collection bin. These types of adapters are typically connected directly to the blade deck on the underside of the riding lawn mower, rather than to fixed structures. n the rear of the mower. Although useful, these types of adapters have been found to suffer from a plurality of notable drawbacks.
As a first drawback, adapters for connecting an oversized collection bag to the blade deck of a conventional riding mower are typically constructed out of a relatively rigid material for durability purposes. As a result of their rigid construction, these types of adapters are incapable of universal usage. Rather, each adapter is typically designed for use with a single style of mower, thereby necessitating the manufacture of a uniquely dimensioned adapter for each of the large variety of different mowers currently on the market.
As a second drawback, adapters for connecting an oversized collection bag to the blade deck of a conventional riding mower are not only difficult to install but also require the attachment of additional support structures (e.g., an auxiliary support) to the mower deck.
As a third drawback, adapters for connecting an oversized collection bag to the blade deck of a conventional riding mower typically include a plurality of components, many of which are substantial in size. As a result, the packaging for these types of adapters is relatively large, which not only introduces display and storage issues at the point-of-sale but also substantially increases shipping costs, which is highly undesirable.