Blade balancer
US5503015A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 7, 1994 |
| Grant date | Apr 2, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 7, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01M1/12
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A blade balancer qualitatively determines imbalance of a lawn mower blade. The blade balancer comprises a tube that rotates on precision bearings about a horizontal axis. A sphere is slidingly captured in one end of the tube concentric with the axis of rotation. A spring biases the sphere partially out of the tube. The mounting hole of a lawn mower blade is placed over the sphere, and the lawn mower blade is pushed against the sphere to slide the sphere into the tube inner diameter until the blade contacts an annular magnet secured to the tube and surrounding the sphere. The blade is thus accurately located for rotation about the horizontal axis. Gravity rotates the lawn mower blade, tube, and sphere together to place any unbalanced mass of the blade at a lowermost point under the horizontal axis. In a modified embodiment of the invention, the sphere is replaced by a plug having a cylindrical section that is slidably captured in the tube inner diameter and a conical section. The conical section projects out of the tube to enter the mounting hole of the lawn mower blade.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.