Abstract: A soil opening implement comprising a frame (5) adapted to be moved across a ground surface to be opened, a soil opener (1) mounted on the frame for a repetitive cyclic movement to case the soil opener to penetrate the ground at a plurality of spaced positions to form a line of holes in the soil, and adjustment for varying the pitch of the holes, that is the spacing between adjacent holes in the direction of movement of the implement. The implement has the facility to deliver objects, such as seeds to fertilizer granules in the holes, either one object per hole or multiple objects per hole. The implement includes a hopper (11) for holding a supply of objects and for delivering the objects to the soil opener which is in the form of a substantially vertical hollow tube (11b) through which the objects are fed and delivered to the holes.

Abstract: A walk aerator comprises a frame supported by a plurality of ground engaging wheels, the frame carrying a coring head having a plurality of side-by-side tine assemblies. The wheels define a wheelbase which is substantially equal to or less than the width of a coring swath and the wheels are located in advance of the coring head to keep the wheels from passing over the holes or soil cores left in any preceding coring swathes formed by the aerator. The vertical position of the coring head is adjustable up and down as the ground contour changes to keep hole depth substantially constant. The tine assemblies are reciprocated by a single crankshaft driven by a single pulley, the crankshaft being assembled from multiple crank arms that are splined and bolted together. Sealed bearings connect drive arms that drive the tine assemblies to the crankshaft. The crankshaft can be disassembled to allow the sealed drive arm bearings to be replaced. Integral core deflectors are used on the drive arms.

Abstract: A walk aerator comprises a frame supported by a plurality of ground engaging wheels, the frame carrying a coring head having a plurality of side-by-side tine assemblies. The wheels define a wheelbase which is substantially equal to or less than the width of a coring swath and the wheels are located in advance of the coring head to keep the wheels from passing over the holes or soil cores left in any preceding coring swathes formed by the aerator. The vertical position of the coring head is adjustable up and down as the ground contour changes to keep hole depth substantially constant. The tine assemblies are reciprocated by a single crankshaft driven by a single pulley, the crankshaft being assembled from multiple crank arms that are splined and bolted together. Sealed bearings connect drive arms that drive the tine assemblies to the crankshaft. The crankshaft can be disassembled to allow the sealed drive arm bearings to be replaced. Integral core deflectors are used on the drive arms.

Abstract: A walk aerator comprises a frame supported by a plurality of ground engaging wheels, the frame carrying a coring head having a plurality of side-by-side tine assemblies. The wheels define a wheelbase which is substantially equal to or less than the width of a coring swath and the wheels are located in advance of the coring head to keep the wheels from passing over the holes or soil cores left in any preceding coring swathes formed by the aerator. The vertical position of the coring head is adjustable up and down as the ground contour changes to keep hole depth substantially constant. The tine assemblies are reciprocated by a single crankshaft driven by a single pulley, the crankshaft being assembled from multiple crank arms that are splined and bolted together. Sealed bearings connect drive arms that drive the tine assemblies to the crankshaft. The crankshaft can be disassembled to allow the sealed drive arm bearings to be replaced. Integral core deflectors are used on the drive arms.

Abstract: A walk aerator comprises a frame supported by a plurality of ground engaging wheels, the frame carrying a coring head having a plurality of side-by-side tine assemblies. The wheels define a wheelbase which is substantially equal to or less than the width of a coring swath and the wheels are located in advance of the coring head to keep the wheels from passing over the holes or soil cores left in any preceding coring swathes formed by the aerator. The vertical position of the coring head is adjustable up and down as the ground contour changes to keep hole depth substantially constant. The tine assemblies are reciprocated by a single crankshaft driven by a single pulley, the crankshaft being assembled from multiple crank arms that are splined and bolted together. Sealed bearings connect drive arms that drive the tine assemblies to the crankshaft. The crankshaft can be disassembled to allow the sealed drive arm bearings to be replaced. Integral core deflectors are used on the drive arms.

Abstract: An aeration machine 10 comprising a drive mechanism 16 connected to sets of tines 18 by a vibration absorbing linkage arrangement 34. The arrangement 34 enables the tines 18 to remain vertical when extending into the ground thereby avoiding elongation of the holes formed thereby. The aeration machine includes a linkage arrangement including a vibration absorbing member. The vibration absorbing member comprises a first part located at least partially within a hollow housing and is held within the hollow housing by a plurality of resilient members.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the field of arrangements at cable branchings and methods for manufacturing cable branches. One or more main conductors in the main cable are cut and released from the main cable. The cut and released main conductors are spliced with branch conductors extending from and end of a branch cable. A section of the main cable is arranged at a rail. A section of the branch cable, including the end, is also arranged at the rail. The tension reliever of the branch cable is fixed to the rail using a fixing device. A protective casing encloses the rail, the main cable section, the branch cable section, the spliced conductors and the fixing device.

Abstract: Turf aerator having a crank and crank arms which present a parallelogram for supporting the aerator assembly, including the aerating tines.

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for aerating a ground layer including a frame movable along a ground surface and a number of substantially vertically placed aerating pins movable in and out of the ground layer. Each pin is engaged by a pivot arm mounted on the frame for pivoting, and a guide arm is connected to the frame at a distance from the position where the pivot arm engages the frame. A drive element is provided for causing reciprocal pivoting of the pivot arm during the movement of the apparatus along the ground layer. The connections of the pivot arm to the frame and the aerating pin and the connections of the guide arm to the frame and the aerating pin substantially form corners of a parallelogram in the non-loaded state of the aerating pin. At least one of the sides of this parallelogram is changeable in length such that the bottom part of the pin is displaced relative to the top part of the pin in a direction opposed to the direction of movement of the frame.

Abstract: A cultivating machine has a structure arranged to be mounted on ground engaging wheels for movement in a line of travel. At least one tool support is mounted on the structure so as to be moveable with respect thereto, and a drive is also mounted on the structure for driving the tool support. The tool support has a body having two end portions, the first end portion being driven in use in a circular path by the drive. The second end portion is connected to the structure through a link arm pivotably attached to the tool support and to a swing arm, which in turn is pivotably attached to the structure, the swing arm being biased toward a median position and the second end of the tool support carrying at least one cultivating tool.

Abstract: A sod cutting machine in combination with turf cutting mechanism for cutting a longitudinally elongated trench in turf that has a trench bottom transversely inclined relative to the slope of the soil transverse to the direction of the trench elongation. The sod cutting machine has mounting arms mounted to the machine frame to extend vertically downwardly in a turf cutting position the same distance. The turf cutting mechanism includes first and second vertical knives that each has a rear shank portion joined to the lower end of the respective arm, a generally horizontal bottom edge portion and a front inclined sharpened edge that intersects with the bottom edge portion. A transverse bottom cutting knife extends between and is joined to the first and second vertical knives with one end portion vertically more remote from one of the arms than the other cutting knife end portion from the other one of the arms.

Abstract: A power cultivator including a power source, a shaft and a cultivating head having a pair of cultivating blades is described. The cultivating head includes an assembly that opens and closes the blades using a mirrored arcuate motion. The cultivating head itself is also part of the invention in that it can be attached to a standard string trimmer in place of the standard string trimming assembly. The power cultivator is effective at cultivating small areas of soil, in which a gardener usually uses a common goose-neck garden hoe.

Abstract: A subsurface weed tool which makes use of a variety of different detachable blade attachments to cut the roots of and other plants. The tool can be provided with a variety of different attachments, permitting it to be used for other purposes such as aeration of the soil, removal of sod strips and lawn and garden edging. The tool comprises an elongate hollow supporting member having an upper end on which is mounted a motor. An elongate drive shaft or rod is operatively connected to the motor and extends through the supporting member to the latter's lower end. A reciprocating drive unit is mounted on this lower end and includes a drive conversion mechanism connected to the bottom end of the drive shaft and capable of converting rotary motion to a reciprocating linear motion in a certain direction. A blade attachment is connectible to the conversion mechanism and can include a planar blade member with a forward cutting edge.

Abstract: A lawn treatment apparatus includes an open-bottomed support body having three treatment implements in the form of spiking devices or brushing/sweeping devices adapted to move through the open bottom. The support body carries a driving mechanism to drive the treatment implements with a combination of vertical and horizontal oscillations. A biasing mechanism is provided normally to hold the implement in a vertical attitude or substantially so when stationary.

Abstract: A hand-held tiller is adapted for use in loosening and breaking up the soil and is made up of a skid, an elongated handle extending forwardly of the skid with a drill motor at one end of the handle which is drivingly connected into a power transmission drive for operating a crank having a plurality of crank arms and vertically extending tines, the tines being sequentially driven by reciprocation of the crank arms into and out of the soil as the machine is drawn behind the operator.

Abstract: An actuating mechanism (20) for a ground-engaging tool is arranged as a swinging parallelogram such that the tool has varying components of velocity in the horizontal and vertical directions. The mechanism is synchronized such that the tool has a rearwardly-directed velocity component substantially equal to the forward ground speed of the frame, when the tool is in the vicinity of its bottom dead center position. Hence, the tool has a substantially-zero net horizontal velocity as it engages the ground. The tool may include a burner head (25) and/or an injector mechanism (26) for planting a pneumatically-delivered seed-vermiculite mixture through a sheet of imperforate plastic mulch.

Abstract: A soil tiller or cultivator adapted to till the surface soil covered with a lawn by plural cutters to cure the compaction of the soil below the lawn surface. The till is provided with a motion transmission unit for transmitting the motive power of a driving prime mover to the cutters in the form of at least two vibrations dephased with respect to one another.

Abstract: A special cultivating machine, lawn care apparatus and process are provided to properly prepare, efficiently condition, and gently cultivate the soil, turf and lawn in a uniform manner without uprooting, ruining, or damaging existing healthy plants and grass and without substantial thatching. The special cultivating machine, lawn care apparatus and process attain excellent seed and soil contact for virtually all soil compositions, textures, and conditions, and accurately follow the contour of the ground soil, turf, or lawn, regardless of mounds, hills, valleys, irregularities, clumps, and other soil conditions. The cultivating machine and lawn care apparatus has spring biased, rearwardly facing, scratching arms (cultivation fingers) which are reciprocatingly driven by a crankshaft. The crankshaft is smoothly rotated by a chain and sprocket arrangement. Desirably, the crankshaft and scratching arms can be raised or lowered by a height adjustment assembly to vary the depth and angle of soil penetration.

Abstract: An apparatus which can cultivate rice and other crops, comprising a frame having a plurality of transversely extending spaced cultivator bars, each of the bars having a plurality of spaced elongated soil working members extending generally vertically downward of said bars. The apparatus is pulled over the planted area to remove the weed plants.

Abstract: A turf aerating machine including a plurality of tyne arms, having tynes attached to their lower ends, and extending substantially vertically downwardly from the cranks of a crankshaft located transversely of the direction of travel of the aerator. A drive linkage connects the crankshaft to the power take-off of the tractor or other power source and is driven such that, as the aerator is moved forward, the crankshaft moves with the lower arc of its rotation in the rearward direction. The tyne arms are projected into the ground as the respective crank moves through its lower arc and they are lifted clear of the ground as the crank moves through the upper arc of its travel. While the tynes are engaged with the ground, the tyne arm is maintained in a substantially vertical orientation by the rearward motion of the respective crank through the lower arc of its rotation.

Abstract: A self-propelled lawn aerating machine includes a plurality of generally vertically reciprocally movable tines operated by a cam shaft for removing plugs of soil from a lawn. The tines are spring biased upwardly and in forward direction toward a bumper board located forward of the tines. When withdrawn from the lawn the tines strike the bumper board with sufficient force to break the soil plugs and cause the resulting loose soil to be scattered over the surface of the lawn as the machine moves along an aerating path. The bumper board has a raised position wherein it supports the tines in an idling position above the surface of the ground while the machine is moved across walkways, driveway, and the like.

Abstract: A tiller head for a soil tilling device including a shaft which carries a number of blades which rotate with the shaft, and a drive for causing rotation of the shaft. A housing surrounds the drive. At least one of the blades is mounted for oscillatory movement where its ends shift laterally relative to the shaft. A camming device is carried by the housing and protrudes into the plane of rotation of the blade. The blade contacts the cam upon rotation of the shaft to urge the ends of the blade sequentially under the housing, thus tilling the soil under the housing.