Patent 7617665 was granted and assigned to Kubota Corporation on November, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A mower includes a mower deck that opens downward; a plurality of vertical shafts rotatably supported by the mower deck; a plurality of cutting blades driven by the vertical shafts inside the mower deck; a cutting chamber formed inside the mower deck and provided for each cutting blade; and an opening formed between the cutting chambers for adjacent cutting blades. The cutting blades are arranged generally in a lateral direction with an adjacent pair of cutting blades being rotatably driven in opposite directions from each other. The opening allows for flow passage of cut grass at least from one of the cutting chambers to the other cutting chamber.