Garden auger having wings and cutters

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The field of the invention pertains to augers for use in planting and methods for using them.

2. Description of the Technology

Augers for boring large holes in the ground have existed for quite some time. Traditionally they constructed in accordance with a standard helical screw type construction having a central shaft and an inclined plane wrapped around the central shaft in a spiral staircase fashion. While these “spiral staircase” types of augers have proven successful for boring holes for telephone poles, post holes and foundation piers, they are not satisfactory for boring holes for bulbs, seedlings and perennial starts.

Typically the drive motors for the “spiral staircase” types of augers are gas powered with slow rotation and high torque and connected with clutches to the auger. For large telephone pole type augers the drive motors are rendered stationary and for the two-person augers used for post holes, the two operators provide the stability. Because of the strong driving force and stability, the rotation of the auger can successfully elevate the new dirt that is captured by the auger blades up and out of the hole. However, because of the helical screw type blade, the tendency of these types of augers is to merely screw themselves into the ground, just as a screw is driven into wood or metal without creating a hole. The holes are actually created by preventing the auger from being pulled into the ground by restraining the vertical speed at which the auger penetrates the ground. To accomplish this, the user must have sufficient countering force to prevent penetrating the ground at the same rate as the rotation and pitch of the screw would normally require. For large telephone pole augers, this is no problem since they are mounted to large stationary drives which also restrict the penetration rate. When using a one or two person post hole digger, the users must provide the countervailing force, which as anyone who has used those devices knows, is the majority of the work that is required.

With known spiral staircase augers for use with electric drills for planting bulbs, the user will usually have to slow the speed of the auger down dramatically, which can result in difficulty in penetrating hard soil, or exert a great deal of energy preventing the auger from screwing itself into the ground. Thus, the known spiral staircase augers are not optimal for long periods of use and are not efficient either in speed or energy usage.

Further, since the earth is elevated along the helical blade, effort is required to lift the fully loaded spiral staircase auger out of the hole or the auger and drive motor must be held stationary for a period of time to allow the helical blade to clear itself of loosened earth. In sandy soil, typically the auger will not successfully clear the hole because the sandy soil will slide back down the helical blade and refill the hole. Finally, the traditional spiral staircase auger has a limitation on the size of the rocks that can be elevated, namely the vertical distance between the turns of the helix.

When planting bulbs, seedlings, perennial starts and other new plants in fields and yards, it is not practical or desirable to carry along a heavy powerful gasoline powered drive motor. If the area in which the plants are to be planted is not close to a continuous electrical power source, the only practical power source is battery powered devices which typically have lower power and torque than conventional gasoline powered drives or wired electrical devices.

Thus, a method and auger for planting bulbs, seedlings, perennial starts and other plants that works well with low power and low torque drive motors in remote areas and that can create holes quickly with little effort by the user is needed and desired

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONS

The present inventions comprise unique augers and methods for using them. In a preferred embodiment the auger comprises an auger blade substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation and extending substantially across the entire diameter of the bored hole. In more presently preferred embodiment, the auger blade is formed at an angle of approximately 145° from the axis of rotation and includes offset wings extending longitudinally away from the auger tip. Both of these embodiments allows the user to easily and completely control the speed at which the auger penetrates the ground while requiring minimal effort to prevent the auger from being pulled into the ground.

It is therefore an object of the present inventions to provide garden auger that generates at most a slight downward pull when operated at high speeds and quickly clears the hole for planting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1

is a side view of a garden auger in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2

is a front view of a garden auger in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3

is a side view of an auger blade of a garden auger in accordance with the present invention.

FIG.

4

. is a front view of the auger blade of FIG.

3

.

FIG. 5

is a side view of an auger shaft for use with the auger blade of FIG.

3

.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The garden auger

10

in

FIG. 1

comprises a shaft

12

. The shaft

12

is preferably ½″ in diameter. The preferred method for use of the garden auger

10

of

FIG. 1

is with a ⅜″ drill motor. As such the shaft

12

includes a step

14

and an attachment portion

16

having a diameter of ⅜″. It is to be understood that if the drill motor to be used in conjunction with the garden auger was ½″, the attachment portion

16

would be ½″ in diameter. Similarly, if the drill motor to be used was a ¼″ diameter drill motor the attachment portion

16

would be ¼″ in diameter. It is also presently preferred that the attachment portion

16

be hexagonal in cross section to prevent slippage between the drill motor and attachment portion

16

when the ground is exceptionally rocky or binding.

In the garden auger of

FIG. 1

the shaft

12

is approximately 7⅛″ long, leaving approximately 7″ extending from the drill motor in which it will be inserted. This length has proven to be useful, in that when this length garden auger is used the planter need not have to stand to create the plant hole and then bend down to place the plant in the hole. In applications where the plantings are to be made close together by one person, this has proven to be a highly efficient length.

The garden auger

10

of

FIG. 1

also includes an auger blade

20

. The auger blade

20

may be formed integrally with auger shaft

12

. However, for ease in manufacturing the auger blade

20

is attached to the shaft

12

by welding. Additionally, it is presently preferred that shaft

12

includes a slot

18

into which the auger blade

20

is inserted prior to assembly.

The auger blade

20

of the garden auger

10

of FIG.

1

and

FIG. 2

includes a body

22

, a tip

24

and cutters

26

and

28

. Preferably these are made from a single piece of material, preferably steel. The body

22

has a width approximately equal to the diameter of the hole that is to be created. The length of the body

22

is approximately equal to the depth of the hole that is to be created. In the preferred embodiment, the body

22

is 2.5″ wide and approximately 4″ in length. In the preferred embodiment, the body

22

is ⅛″ thick.

The tip

24

is aligned with the longitudinal axis

13

of the shaft

12

. In the preferred embodiment of

FIG. 1

, the tip

24

is ¾″ in length and ¼″ in width. Additionally, the tip

24

includes a point

25

which is preferably tapered to a blunt end.

The preferred garden auger

10

of

FIG. 1

includes two cutters

26

and

28

. They are preferably oriented at an angle &agr;, that is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the body

22

and at a slight angle &phgr;, preferably 7½° with respect to a plane approximately perpendicular to the plane of the body

22

. Both of the cutters

26

and

28

include bevels

27

and

29

, respectively. The presently preferred length of the cutters

26

and

28

is ¾″.

In the preferred embodiment of

FIG. 1

, the garden auger

10

was constructed from metal, specifically steel. It is contemplated that the entire garden auger

10

could be of a single piece construction and molded using a high strength non-brittle plastic material.

FIGS. 3-5

depict components of another embodiment of the garden auger of the present invention. Whereas the garden auger

10

depicted in

FIGS. 1 and 2

has proven highly effective in high loam soil, the garden auger having an auger blade as depicted in

FIGS. 3 and 4

has proven highly efficient in high clay content soil.

The auger blade

30

depicted in

FIG. 3

includes wings

32

and

34

and a central body

36

. The wings

32

and

34

extend outwardly from opposite sides of the plane of the central body

36

. Each wing

32

and

34

are preferably of an arcuate shape and have a rectangular cross section. The preferred radius of curvature of the wings

32

and

34

is approximately 2″. In the preferred embodiment, the free ends

33

and

35

of the wings

32

and

34

are a distance X from the plane of the central body

36

that is less than the maximum distance Y, the farthest distance of any portion of the wings

32

and

34

from the plane of the central body

36

forming toed-in wings.

The auger blade

30

also includes a tip

38

, preferably being substantially trapezoidal in configuration, the trapezoidal shape of said tip includes angled sides oriented at an angle greater than 135 degrees from the longitudinal axis of said central body, and cutters

40

and

42

. The cutters

40

and

42

preferably have a taper and extend outward from the plane of the tip

38

and central body

36

in opposite directions. Preferably the extension is only about ¼″. The angle &THgr; of the axis of the cutters is preferably approximately 142° from the longitudinal axis

39

of the auger blade

30

in a plane parallel with the plane of the tip

38

.

The overall width of the auger blade

30

preferably comprises the width of the two wings

32

and

34

and the central body

36

and is preferably substantially equal to the diameter of the hole that is to be created. In the preferred embodiment depicted in

FIG. 4

, this width is approximately 4½″.

The auger blade

30

is preferably secured to a shaft

50

by means of welding. In the preferred shaft

50

depicted in

FIG. 5

, the shaft includes a point

52

and a channel

54

. Preferably the channel

54

is the length of the auger blade

30

. The shaft

50

is preferably ½″ in diameter and includes an attachment portion

56

that can be fabricated with the same configurations as described with attachment portion

16

of the embodiment in

FIGS. 1 and 2

.

The shafts

12

and

50

can be made any length. A length of approximately 27″ has proven convenient for applications in which the planter does not wish to bend to create the holes for planting.

In practice, an efficient method for planting perennial start, bulbs, seedlings or cuttings in small patches by a single person is to insert the garden auger having a shaft less than one foot in length and a width substantially equal to the diameter of the hole to be created in a drill motor

60

; rotating the garden auger at a very high rate of rotation, preferably approximately the highest RPM of conventional ⅜″ drill motors

60

; kneeling or bending to create the holes for planting by penetrating the ground until the top of the auger blade is below ground level and, while still kneeling or bending, inserting the plants in the created holes and, while still kneeling or bending, finishing the area around the plants.

In practice, an efficient method for planting perennial starts, bulbs, seedlings or cuttings over a wide area is to insert a garden auger having a length of greater than two feet and a width approximately equal to the width of the desired hole in a drill motor

60

, rotating the garden auger at a very high rate of rotation, preferably approximately the highest RPM of conventional ⅜″ drill motors

60

, creating the holes for planting without bending or kneeling by penetrating the ground until the top of the auger blade is below ground level, inserting the bulbs, perennial starts, seedlings or cuttings into the holes and finishing the area around the plants.

While the invention has been described with regard to presently known and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to those embodiments and not restricted except within the scope and spirit of the claims appended hereto.