By Controlling Plural Drive Trains Patents (Class 56/11.4)
  • Patent number: 11370289
    Abstract: Provided is a work vehicle in which components such as a headlamp are less likely to be affected by heat. The work vehicle includes a running vehicle body which includes running devices and to which a work machine can be replaceably connected; an engine mounted on the running vehicle body and serving as a drive source for the running devices and the work machine; a bonnet covering the engine; a headlamp attached to a front portion of the bonnet; a muffler arranged below the headlamp in an internal space of the bonnet; and a heat shield member arranged between the headlamp and the muffler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: ISEKI & CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yasuhiro Hisaoka
  • Patent number: 10485175
    Abstract: A grass mower is provided with a plurality of rotating shafts passing through a ceiling wall of a mower deck and extending upward, disposed in a side-by-side state; cutting blades respectively linked to the rotating shafts in an internal space of the mower deck; an electric motor mounted at a location to the lateral outside relative to a rotation path of the cutting blades within the mower deck, and having an output shaft extending upward; and a power transmission mechanism positioned above the ceiling wall of the mower deck, and configured to transmit power from the output shaft to the rotating shafts of the cutting blades.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Kubota Corporation
    Inventors: Hirokazu Ito, Kazuo Koike
  • Patent number: 9622409
    Abstract: A reciprocating knife assembly of an agricultural implement includes first and second elongate reciprocating knives disposed along a leading edge of an agricultural implement, the reciprocating knives being disposed end to end and extending colinearly for simultaneous reciprocation in opposite directions, the first and second reciprocating knives being supported for sliding movement on the agricultural implement in a lateral direction generally perpendicular to the direction of travel of the agricultural implement as it travels through an agricultural field harvesting crop, a first bell crank coupled to the first reciprocating knife to reciprocate said knife, a second bell crank coupled to the second reciprocating knife to reciprocate the second reciprocating knife, and a common drive coupled to the first and second bell cranks to drive both the first and second bell cranks in opposite directions simultaneously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Bruce Alan Coers, Daniel James Burke, Ryan Patrick Mackin, James Kelley Adamson, Mark L. Pearson
  • Publication number: 20140345240
    Abstract: A lawnmower includes a chassis; a seat supported on the chassis for permitting an operator to sit or stand on the chassis; a pair of drive wheels for supporting the chassis above a ground surface; an engine and a pair of transmissions for driving the drive wheels; and a pair of manually-moveable handle assemblies for controlling the transmissions. Each handle assembly includes a substantially vertically-extending control handle, wherein the control handles are mounted outboard of opposite sides of the seat so as not to block the operator's ingress or egress from the seat.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 13, 2014
    Publication date: November 27, 2014
    Inventor: Aaron Samuel Poe
  • Patent number: 8813882
    Abstract: A forage transporter allowing both front and rear unloading using an apron conveyor passing along the floor of the forage transporter provides a single control lever selectively enabling a forward drive for forward unloading and a rear drive for rear unloading while providing a mechanical lockout preventing simultaneous activation of the front and rear drives.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Meyer Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Chris Albright, Dan Decker
  • Publication number: 20130074464
    Abstract: A standing lawn mower includes right and left side integrated transaxles for operating the right and left drive wheels independently. The integrated transaxles may include independent hydraulic systems and hydraulic fluid for modularity and reduced risk of cross contamination. The operator support platform is at least partially behind the right and left integrated transaxles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2012
    Publication date: March 28, 2013
    Applicant: ARIENS COMPANY
    Inventor: Ariens Company
  • Publication number: 20100199623
    Abstract: In a walk behind lawnmower 1 for mowing lawns that bifurcates a power from an engine 5 and transmits it to drum-type wheels 7L, 7R and a reel cutter 12, each of the first power transmission passage 35 for transmitting the power from the engine 5 to the drum-type wheels 7L, 7R and the second power transmission passage 36 for transmitting the power from the engine 5 to the reel cutter 12 has a gear variable speed mechanism 30 and an interchange mechanism 134 as speed changing structures for changing a rotating speed of each of drum shafts 16L, 16R as driving shafts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2010
    Publication date: August 12, 2010
    Applicant: IHI Shibaura Machinery Corporation
    Inventor: Kazunari AKAHANE
  • Publication number: 20100192532
    Abstract: A grass treatment device is provided, which comprises a motor configured to provide a power, a grass treatment tool configured to interact with and treat a grass surface, a drive mechanism configured to propel the device relative to the grass surface and a transmission operably positioned between the motor, the tool and the drive mechanism. The transmission is configured to transmit power from the motor independently to the tool and to the drive mechanism. The transmission is further configured to transform a constant output from the motor into independent variable powering of the tool and the drive mechanism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2009
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Inventors: Tom Joseph Slater, John Coleman
  • Patent number: 7523795
    Abstract: A walk-behind lawn mower includes at least one of: (a) a latch assembly for receiving a folded-up sulky for storage during transport and the like; (b) inboard mounted control rods extending downwardly from a handle control assembly area of the mower, so that actuator shafts for the hydraulic pumps are located on inboard sides of the pumps so as to oppose one another; (c) a handle control assembly for allowing the mower to be operated in an efficient manner with operator comfort during turns and the like; and/or (d) a pump lock-out system including a lever(s) for actuating both a braking force to be applied to at least one wheel of the mower and a pump lock-out system for causing the pumps to be locked in a neutral position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2009
    Assignee: Wright Manufacturing Inc.
    Inventors: James D. Velke, William R. Wright
  • Patent number: 7200980
    Abstract: A self-propelled forage harvester includes front and rear sets of driven ground wheels. The front set of wheels is driven through a transmission including an input shaft driven by a variable displacement motor and coupled to the front set of wheels by a gear train including one planetary gear set, (in one embodiment), and two planetary gear sets, (in a second embodiment). In both cases, the transmission is shiftable so as to establish at least first and second gear ratios. The shifting of the transmission is accomplished automatically by a control arrangement which takes into account the operating mode of the harvester so that a ratio for producing the correct velocity range for harvesting is established when the harvester is in a working operating mode, and a higher velocity range is established when the harvester is in a transport operating mode. Other operating parameters are sensed and used to automatically control hydraulic pump and/or motor displacement, and for controlling engine speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2007
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventor: Bernd Kempf
  • Patent number: 7107744
    Abstract: A running mower of the present invention comprises a traveling body 1 provided, between the front wheels 2 and the rear wheels 3, with a rotary mowing unit 12 which includes a laterally spaced pair of mowing blades 16a, 16b. The traveling body is also provided with an outlet duct 26 extending backward from between the mowing blades past a position between the rear wheels for discharging grass mown by the mowing blades. The rotary mowing unit 12 is provided with a forwardly extending mower input shaft 22 disposed offset from the center of the mowing blades toward one mowing blade 16b by an appropriate amount L1. A front part of the traveling body 1 is provided with an engine 4 whose power is transmitted to the input shaft via a mower transmission shaft 23 having a respective end provided with a universal joint 23a, 23b. As a result, the power transmission from the engine to the rotary mowing unit is simplified while the mown grass is disposed smoothly from the outlet duct 26.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2006
    Assignee: Yanmar Agricultural Equipment Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasuyuki Suhara
  • Patent number: 6705961
    Abstract: A variable speed transmission including a housing, a drive shaft having an axis of rotation and rotatably supported in the housing, an output shaft having an axis of rotation and rotatably supported in the housing, a first pulley and a second pulley both having a common axis of rotation, a third pulley having an axis of rotation and rotatably attached to the drive shaft, and a belt. The output shaft is operatively connected to the drive shaft. The first pulley and the second pulley each have a variable pitch diameter and changes in the first and second pulley variable pitch diameters being inversely proportional. The third pulley and one of the first and the second pulleys are in engagement though the belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2004
    Assignee: Tecumseh Products Company
    Inventors: Kevin L. Johnson, Richard T. Ruebusch, Jason D. Voyles
  • Patent number: 6679036
    Abstract: A drive gear shaft structure of a self-moving type mower is provided adjacent to a wheel unit disposed at the bottom portion of a mower, and includes upper and lower housings which co-define a receiving space after assembly thereof; a shaft, a gear, two transmission taper blocks, two securing plates, two securing oil seals, a worm and a trigger rod disposed in the receiving space; and a transmission structure connected to the worm and a transmission spindle of a drive motor of the mower. The structure utilizes motor output power of the cutter of the mower to enable the wheels of the mower to automatically rotate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2004
    Assignee: Shunchi Crankshaft Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yu-Nan Hung
  • Patent number: 6651413
    Abstract: Multiple belt mule drive apparatus and systems for use with ground maintenance vehicles are provided. The apparatus may include two endless belts each engageable with a drive sheave of a prime mover and a driven sheave of a cutting deck. Each drive belt may further contact a guide pulley and an idler pulley on a tension side and a slack side of the belt, respectively. In one embodiment, the drive sheave has an axis generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Preferably, the guide pulley and the idler pulley associated with the first endless belt are, when the vehicle is in an operating configuration, located on a first side of a vertical plane passing through the drive sheave axis, while the guide pulley and idler pulley associated with the second endless belt are located on a second side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2003
    Assignee: Exmark Manufacturing Company, Incorporated
    Inventor: Clark S. Papke
  • Patent number: 6625966
    Abstract: A mowing machine having a four-wheel drive mechanism, together with a mowing unit below the machine body. The mowing machine has an engine in front or at the rear of the traveling machine body, a transmission case close to the engine, and the four-wheel drive mechanism for allowing driving front and rear wheels by transmitting drive force from the transmission case to rear and front axle cases, wherein a remote transmission part for transmitting the drive force to the axle case located more remote from the transmission case in the four-wheel drive mechanism is formed in an upwardly bent or curved shape, and a space for placing the mowing unit is provided below the remote transmission part. The mowing unit is provided below the traveling machine body movably upwards or downwards, and an expansion shaft expansible in an axial core direction is used to transmit the drive force from the engine to the mowing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2003
    Assignee: Chikusui Canycom, Inc.
    Inventors: Hitoshi Kaneyuki, Hideo Saneshige
  • Patent number: 6622464
    Abstract: A walk reel mower includes a pair of inclined rigid links for mounting the reel cutting unit to the reel mower frame for rolling about a longitudinal axis, and a pair of vertical support arms for mounting the reel cutting unit to the reel mower frame for pitching about a transverse axis. An integrated gearbox houses both the traction and reel drives, including the differential that is part of the traction drive, as well as a parking brake. A flexible drive shaft powers the cutting reel from the gearbox and is made from materials that do not require petroleum based lubricants. A single control handle located on the handle of the mower actuates both the reel and traction drives. The reel cutting unit includes a back plate which has a portion formed as a hollow beam for strength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2003
    Assignee: The Toro Company
    Inventors: Gerald E. Goman, Christopher C. Dickey, Robert D. Patton, Donald B. Schnotala
  • Patent number: 6470603
    Abstract: A walk behind self-propelled crawler snowplow includes a snowplow mechanism driven by an engine via a belt drive power transmission mechanism, and an overload protection device associated with the belt drive power transmission mechanism for protecting the engine against overload. The overload protection device comprises a tension sensor for detecting the tension in an endless belt and generating an electric overload signal to disengage an electromagnetic clutch in the belt drive power transmission mechanism when a belt tension greater than a predetermined value is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2002
    Assignee: Honda Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Jitsumi Hanafusa, Masanori Takeishi, Kenji Kuroiwa
  • Patent number: 6199354
    Abstract: An improved, large capacity, self-propelled, walk-behind power tool, such as a lawn mower, employs a parking brake apparatus which is operative to effectively brake the drive wheels of the tool. The described apparatus is activated by a foot pedal and employs locking fingers having a cooperating lost motion coupling which relieves having to maintain close tolerances for the apparatus during manufacture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kevin D. King, Daniel J. Turk, Tony W. Ross