Various outdoor power equipment units are known which are hand-held during use. Most of these units include a housing having some type of active power driven element. An upwardly extending handle assembly is secured to the housing. This handle assembly is long enough so that a standing operator who is holding the assembly can easily position the housing adjacent to or in contact with the ground. Examples of such units can include both snowthrowers and grass trimmers. For example, the Power Shovel, a small light-weight hand-held snowthrower, along with the entire line of flexible grass trimmers, all marketed by The Toro Company, Minneapolis, Minn., fit this description.
The handle assembly in this type of unit normally comprises upper and lower handle tubes. These tubes are disconnected during shipment of the unit to save space. However, during operation of the unit the tubes must be rigidly secured together end-to-end to provide a handle assembly of sufficient length. The handle tubes are also normally hollow, having an open interior. When the power equipment unit is provided with an electrical drive motor, the power supply cord for the motor normally runs down the entire length of the handle assembly through the hollow handle tubes.
The present invention is particularly directed toward hand held electrical appliances of the type described above. Although there is a wide variety of such appliances, the following description will focus on flexible line trimmers for the sake of illustration. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is applicable to all such electrical appliances, however.
Electrical flexible line trimmers typically include a motor, at the lower housing end, and a switch at the upper end. Manufacturers of electrical trimmers normally prewire the trimmers at the factory by connecting the motor to the switch with an insulated wire. Prewiring is considered necessary because of the use of 110 volt AC power and because of the use of some metal components, e.g., the handle tubes. Since trimmers are prewired in this fashion, a loop of insulated wire bridges the free ends of the disassembled handle portions during shipment. For example, a disassembled prior art electrical trimmer is shown in FIG. 1. It should be noted that the handle portions may have the same nominal outside and inside diameters. However, the free end of one handle portion is reduced in outside diameter to slide within the free end of the other handle portion. The long loop of insulated wire spanning between the handle portions should also be noted. One reason for the extra long loop is to minimize abrasion of the wire insulation during shipment and handling. Abrasion is also minimized through the use of split bushings which cover the edges of the free ends of the tubes. These bushings are removed prior to assembly. Still referring to the prior art unit of FIG. 1, use of a long loop of wire also minimizes stress and strain in the wire, which prevents the insulation from cracking, particularly when subjected to extremely cold temperatures. The Toro Company, assignee herein, has conducted "drop tests" of disassembled trimmers at -32.degree. F., and has discovered that an additional 5 or 6 inches of wire was required.
The "loop" technique described above is problematical, however. For one thing, the extra wire (roughly 6 inches for some trimmers) is costly and this cost becomes significant when multiplied over thousands of units. Moreover, the extra long loop of wire can hinder assembly of the handle. To assemble the unit, the consumer arranges the upper and lower handle portions such that the free ends of same are adjacent and such that the handle portions are axially aligned. Then, the handle portions are slid into engagement and, typically, a threaded connector is used to lock the handle portions together. FIG. 2 illustrates the assembled state of the prior art unit of FIG. 1. The extra long loop of wire can potentially interfere with this assembly procedure. If the handle portions are carefully and properly slid together in a controlled fashion the insulated wire will simply coil or buckle within the handle to form one or more "S-loops" therein and the assembly procedure will proceed normally. However, if the consumer assembles the handle portions in a rough manner or inappropriately forces the extra wire into one or both of the handle portions, problems can result.
The present invention addresses the problems associated with split handle prewired electrical appliances. In particular, the invention is directed toward a two piece handle which accommodates prewiring but which eliminates the need for superfluous wire.