ELIMINATION OF UNWANTED PLANTS, AND APPARATUS THEREFOR

ELIMINATION OF UNWANTED PLANTS. AND APPARATUS THEREFOR

This invention relates to the elimination of unwanted plants. More particularly, it relates to a method of removing a plant from the soil, and to apparatus for use in such method.

The applicant has found the use of hoes and herbicides in order to eliminate unwanted plants to be not completely effective due to regrowth from the underground root system which is not destroyed. The invention accordingly provides a method of removing a plant from the soil, the method including the steps of gripping the plant stem above the soil surface by means of an elongate lever extending upwardly from the soil surface, and pulling the upper end of the lever, to pivot the lever about a fulcrum on the soil surface, thereby causing the plant to be lifted roots and all from the soil.

The invention extends to a device for uprooting a plant, which includes an elongate lever having a handle at what in use will be its upper end, plant stem gripping means at the other end of the lever, and a foot formation adjacent and spaced transversely from the gripping means.

The foot formation may have an arcuate ground- contacting surface extending transversely from the lever.

The gripping means may include a pair of laterally open jaws, the lever being mounted on the foot formation so as to be pivotally displaceable with respect to the foot formation about a laterally extending pivot axis.

One of said jaws may be fixed to the lever, at the lower end thereof, and the other jaw may be fixed to the foot formation. The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a broken side elevation of a device in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a section on ll-ll in Figure 1 ; and

Figures 3 to 5 illustrate the device when in use.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, reference numeral 10 generally indicates a device for uprooting a plant, the device comprising an elongate, upwardly extending lever 12, a foot 14 at the lower end of the lever, and a pair of opposed jaws 16, 18. The upper end of the lever 1 2 forms a handle whereby the lever can be gripped and pulled.

The lever 12 comprises a steel tube 12.1 of rectangular cross-section, a flat bar 1 2.2 whose one end is entered in the lower end of the steel tube, and a pivot pin 12.3 which is fixed to, and extends laterally from, the bar 12.2.

The foot 14 comprises a vertical plate 14.1 which has a bushing 14.2 and a curved tread plate 14.3 welded thereto.

The pivot pin 12.3 passes through the bushing 14.2, and is held in place by means of a circlip. The lever 12 and the foot 14 are thus pivotally displaceable with respect to one another about a pivot axis 20. The inside of the bushing 14.2 can, if desired, be lined by a neoprene sleeve, to serve as a bearing.

The jaw 1 6 is welded to the vertical plate 14.1 and reinforced by a reinforcing plate 22. That part of the vertical plate 14.1 which is between the bushing 14.2 and the jaw 16 is reinforced by a reinforcing plate 14.4.

The jaw 18 is welded to the lower end of the bar 12.2. The arrangement of the jaws 16, 18 is such that pivoting of the lever 12 with respect to the foot 14 causes the jaws to open or close. The tube 12.1 is reinforced by a bar 24 which is T- shaped in cross-section.

The device 10 can be used to uproot a plant P from the soil, as illustrated in Figures 3 to 5. To do so the lever 12 is pivoted to open the jaws 16, 18 and the jaws then placed on opposite sides of the stem of the plant P, at the base of the stem as shown in Figure 3. At this stage that part of the tread plate 14.3 which is closest to the jaw 1 6 contacts the soil surface.

The lever 12 is then pulled in the direction of the arrow in Figure 4, which causes the jaws 16, 18 to close onto the stem of the plant.

As the lever 12 is pulled over further, and as shown in Figure 5, the entire device 10 rocks on the tread plate 14.3, and in so doing pulls the plant from the soil, roots and all, with a minimum of effort. The fulcrum about which the lever 12 pivots during this movement, is formed at the point where the tread plate 14.3 contacts the soil surface. When in the position shown in Figure 4, the fulcrum is close to the jaws 16, 18, providing for maximum leverage at a stage when high leverage is required. As the lever moves to the position shown in Figure 5, the fulcrum gradually moves away from the jaws 16, 18 reducing the leverage but increasing the rate at which the plant is pulled from the soil.

The device can even be used on rocky and inaccessible ground, where the use of conventional hand tools and mechanical cultivation is not possible.