Leaf collecting and hauling tarpaulin

Abstract

A lawn tarpaulin of strong, flexible material for collecting and hauling leaves and lawn debris is described consisting of a rectangular tarpaulin with two or more weighted and partially stiffened edges. Both the weight and stiffening are provided by a plurality of strips of stiff dense material, such as metal strips, fastened to the tarp edges alternating with short gaps of flexible tarpaulin edge between them. This allows the tarpaulin to be folded for convenient storage. The weighted edges keep the tarpaulin from bowing in the wind and stable when raking debris onto the tarpaulin. A handle attached to one corner of the tarpaulin connects the opposite corner and to at least one central point on a front edge for hauling. The partially stiffened edges cause the tarpaulin to assume a shape while hauling that encloses the load and prevents spillage.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to material handling devices. More particularly, this invention relates to devices able to move large amounts of light, voluminous material such as lawn debris.

BACKGROUND

For as long as man has had lawns, the raking of leaves and removing debris has been an annual chore, particularly in the fall. Moving eaves and debris to the street curb for municipal pickup or to a disposal site can be a problem because the low density of the leaf litter in particular requires moving a very large volume of material. Wheelbarrows and carts are inefficient for this task because their limited volume carried requires many trips. A common solution is to use a medium size tarpaulin for the hauling lawn debris. Leaves are raked onto the tarpaulin, one end of the tarpaulin is partially gathered in one hand and lifted off the ground, then tarpaulin and contained leaves are dragged to the disposal site to be emptied. There are three problems with this solution: the tarpaulin must be constantly straightened to lie flat when there is any wind at all, when raking the leaves onto the tarpaulin some of them invariably go under the tarpaulin instead of on top, and when full the gathered tarpaulin is hard to hang on to while hauling it. Specialized tarpaulins designed to deal with these problems have fallen into two broad categories: dragging tarpaulins and carrying tarpaulins. The dragging tarpaulins in general are larger and transport much more material with each trip, but since most municipalities require the bagging of lawn debris, specialized designs have been conceived to facilitate this process at the expense of transporting efficiency. Thus the dragging tarpaulin, to which class the present invention belongs, is best suited to situations where the leaves are to be hauled to a disposal site where nature takes its course returning the elements to the soil. This invention describes a cheap, practical dragging type of lawn tarpaulin that minimizes the problems listed above. It should be noted that although the tarpaulin is characterized as a lawn tarpaulin, it would be useful for moving any light, voluminous material.

PRIOR ART

The problem of keeping a tarpaulin flat on the ground in the presence of wind has been treated by using stakes attaching the tarpaulin to the ground (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,125,060 and 5,564,232), using one or more weighted edges (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,565,101 and 5,660,402) or using a net or mesh rather than a solid film tarpaulin (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,594,754 and 6,267,504). Weighted edges also helps keep leaves from being raked under the tarpaulin However, each of these solutions introduces further inconveniences. Stakes used to flatten a tarpaulin make moving it much less convenient. Weighted edges along one or two edges of a tarpaulin either have to be removed to fold it, or if not removed, rolling the tarpaulin on an edge makes a very long package for storage. The mesh type of leaf hauler has the disadvantage of collecting debris entwined in the mesh causing problems when emptying and storing the net. Also a number of specialized handles have been described to aid in lifting or dragging a tarpaulin (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,125,060 and 5,943,831).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention describes a lawn tarpaulin made of strong, flexible material with two or more stiffened and weighted edges to prevent the tarpaulin from folding in wind and to keep leaves from going under the tarpaulin when raking leaves onto it. However, the stiffening and weighting elements are not continuous down an edge, but interrupted at periodic intervals to allow a short flexible section between stiffening elements. This allows the tarpaulin edges to better conform to the contour of the ground, and it also allows the tarpaulin to be folded into a small bundle for storage. Storage size is important because lawn tarpaulins are used infrequently, but must be conveniently available when needed. This tarpaulin requires no assembly and is ready for use simply by spreading it on the ground. The tarpaulin has a handle to facilitate hauling that is tethered to one corner of the tarpaulin. This handle has two or more connective means that can be connected to and released from the same number of connective means on one edge of the tarpaulin. Thus there are no separate parts to get lost or misplaced. When the handle is connected to opposite ends of the tarpaulin edge and one or more intermediate points, the tarpaulin with its partially stiffened edges forms an enclosure most of the way down the tarpaulin allowing a large load to be hauled without spilling its contents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the invention in use.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the preferred embodiment of the invention showing the overall placement of all elements of the lawn tarpaulin.

FIG. 3 is a detail showing the handle that is tethered to one corner of the lawn tarpaulin.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the lawn tarpaulin 1 full of leaves being transported, and showing the manner in which the partially stiffened edges enclose the load. The tarpaulin material may be made of any strong flexible material preferably having a smooth surface to facilitate dragging over the ground and emptying the contents. The size of the tarpaulin has a practical limitation based on the weight Of the contents to be hauled and emptied. For hauling leaves and other lawn debris an 8′×10′ tarpaulin is about right allowing an average person to handle it easily.

In FIG. 2 the overall placement of the parts of the preferred embodiment of lawn tarpaulin 1 is shown. The stiffening/weighting elements 2 are place along two parallel edges of the tarpaulin, leaving a short distance between them to allow limited flexibility of the edges. They may be of any composition that provides the necessary strength and weight. For the prototype they consisted of strips of sheet metal folded over the tarpaulin edge and riveted in place. This worked well and allowed a commercially available heavy duty tarpaulin to be easily modified to produce the lawn tarpaulin. Alternatively, metal stiffener/weight elements 2 could be sewn or heat sealed inside edge seams of the tarpaulin. Additional stiffener/weight elements can also be added to either or both of the front and back edges of the tarpaulin as long as they are spaced appropriately to allow folding of the tarpaulin along the direction of those edges.

The lawn tarpaulin handle 4 is tethered to one corner of the tarpaulin 1 (FIG. 3) by a rope loop 5 and handle eye 7 which connect to the tarpaulin 1 through a grommet 3. This handle 4 has two hooks 8 that connect to rope loops 6 on the tarpaulin in order to enclose the load and haul it as shown in FIG. 1. The preferred embodiment of the lawn tarpaulin has grommets spaced periodically along the perimeter of the tarpaulin, the grommets lying in the flexible interstices between stiffeners on the treated edges. Although the grommets 3 themselves can act as connective means with the handle hooks 8, the rope loops 6 are easier to access with the handle hooks 8. The shape of the handle 4 and means of attachment of the handle 4 to the tarpaulin 1 and to the tarpaulin's connective means is not meant to be exclusive. Any releasable attachment means shall suffice. Also, the number of attachment points of the handle and tarpaulin are not meant to be limiting. It is recognized that a handle with a single larger hook could be used to attach to more than one attachment loop, and a tarpaulin with more than two releasable attachments, though perhaps less convenient would still work.

When the handle is hooked to the two attachment loops, the front of the tarpaulin lifted off the ground and pulled forward, the limited flexibility and weight of the edges of the tarpaulin cause the tarpaulin to assume the shape similar to that shown in FIG. 1, effectively enclosing the load so that there is little tendency for any of the load to fall out during transportation.

At the disposal site the lawn tarpaulin 1 is easily dumped by releasing the loops 6 from the handle hooks 8 and lifting one of the weighted sides of the tarpaulin.

Claims

1. An apparatus for conveniently receiving, hauling, and dumping leaves and lawn debris comprising:

a substantially rectangular tarpaulin of strong flexible material and smooth surfaces having a front edge with a first and second end and a rear edge;

said front edge bearing a plurality of releasable connective means spaced equidistant from each other starting from the first and ending equidistant from the second end;

an elongated handle flexibly attached at the second end of the front edge, said handle bearing one or more connective means able to firmly but releasably connect with said connective means on the tarpaulin front edge;

a plurality of essentially equal length strips of stiff dense material fastened along the tarpaulin edges running from front edge to the back edge, each strip separated from the adjacent one by a short distance of flexible tarpaulin edge.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the tarpaulin has grommets spaced approximately evenly around its periphery, and the strips of stiff, dense material are sized so that the grommets fall in the space between said strips.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the stiff, dense material consists of strips of sheet metal folded over the tarpaulin edge and fastened through the tarpaulin edge.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the tarpaulin has hemmed edges and the strips of stiff dense material are sewn or heat sealed inside said hem.

5. (canceled)