AU2003213471A1 - Utility vehicle - Google Patents

Description

Our Ref:7813733 P/00/011 Regulation 3:2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Deere Company One John Deere Place Moline Illinois 61265 United States of America DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Level 10, 10 Barrack Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Utility vehicle The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- 5020 UTILITY VEHICLE Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a utility vehicle that includes a cargo box and structure permitting a mower deck to be removably mounted there beneath and also be powered by the vehicle power source.

Back.ground of the Invention [0002] It is known to provide utility vehicles with a cargo box and the capability of carrying one or two passengers, including an operator. It is also known to provide trailed attachments such as sprayers, trailers and ball field finishers. Additionally, it is known to provide front attachments such as blades.

[0003] It is also known to provide lawn and garden tractors with a single passenger seat and a mower deck mounted between the front and rear wheels. On equipment such as lawn and garden tractors and ATVs, it is known to provide either trailed or pushed attachments such as mowers, tillers, blades and miscellaneous tools.

Summary of the Invention [0004] It would be desirable to provide a utility vehicle with its cargo and/or load carrying capability with grounds mowing ability. Such vehicles could be of particular use for homeowner, nursery and similar grounds care types of applications.

[0005] It would also be desirable to provide such a vehicle with a linkage on its lower frame portion that would permit quick and easy mounting or dismounting of the mower unit to a vehicle. Further it would be desirable to provide a deck mounting linkage that permits selective vertical adjustment of the deck for different heights of cut. Additionally it would be desirable to provide the capability of powering a mower deck through use of the same power source that provides propulsion for the vehicle.

[0006] It would further be desirable to provide a utility vehicle mower combination with a tight turning circle that allows easy maneuvering around trees, shrubs and bushes as well as the capability of carrying tools, sand, gravel, mulch and similar types of items or materials in the cargo box. It would also be desirable to provide the vehicle with a two person carrying capability as well as the ability to utilize attachments at the front or rear thereof.

[0007] With such a combination, there would be provided a utility vehicle that could be of versatile use in homeowner, nursery and similar types of ground care applications.

Brief Description of the Drawings [0008] Figure 1 is an elevated front left perspective view of a utility vehicle having cargo carrying capability as well as a mower deck mounted between the front and rear wheels.

[0009] Figure 2 is an enlarged left side view of the deck and its mounting structure beneath the vehicle.

[0010] Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the deck and drive and driven pulleys that provide for transmitting power to the deck from the power source of the vehicle.

[0011] Figure 4 is an underside view of the vehicle illustrating the drive pulley coupled with the engine that transmits power to the deck, as well as the rear mounting brackets for supporting the deck from the vehicle.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment [0012] Looking first to Figure 1, there is illustrated an elevated front left perspective view of a utility vehicle 10 equipped with a mower deck 12. The vehicle 10 includes a frame 14 carried by front and rear wheels 16 and 18 with an operator station 20 in the center portion thereof. The operator station 20 includes an operator seat 22 as well as a passenger seat 24. Behind the operator station 20 is a cargo box 26 for carrying various loads such as tools, shrubbery, lumber, sand, gravel, mulch and so forth. A steering wheel 28 is provided in front of the operator seat 22 and an engine see Figure 4, is provided in the mid-portion of the vehicle 10 beneath and behind the operator station [0013] The vehicle 10 is equipped with a linkage supported by the frame 14 to removably mount the mower deck 12 between the front and rear wheels 16 and 18.

The linkage, as is best illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, includes support for the deck 12 at its rear and its front portions. At the rear portion of the deck 12, there is provided a pair of rear support links 32 that are attachable to laterally spaced apart brackets 34 carried on the deck 12.

[0014] Spring loaded j-pins 36 are provided to permit the support links 32 to be quickly and easily attached to or removed from the brackets 34. Separate laterally spaced apart lift linkage arrangements, including pivotally mounted lift links 38 and lost motion links 40 are connected to the deck mounted support links 32 for adjusting the vertical position of the rear of the deck 12. The lift links 38 would be raised and lowered through operation of a conventional lever and linkage arrangement or one powered hydraulically.

[0015] At the front of the deck 12, there is provided a quick-attach suspension mechanism 42 to suspend the front end of the deck 12 from the vehicle 10. This suspension mechanism is discussed in considerable detail in US Patent 5,025,617 and its teachings are intended to be incorporated by reference herein. As shown in Figure 3, the suspension mechanism 42 includes a pair of spaced apart depending brackets 44, each having a jaw or hook 46, and a hanger means 48. The hanger means 48 includes fore and aft spaced apart front and rear cross bars 50 and 52 interconnected by fore and aft extending draft links 54. The rear cross bar 52 is removably received in a pair of upwardly opening hooks 56 provided at the front end of the deck 12. Attached to the ends of the front cross bar 50 are offsets or cam means 58 that are receivable in the jaws 46 of the depending brackets 44 at the front of the vehicle 10. While not illustrated herein, a handle constructed of a resilient material is connected to one cam means and a latching means is provided in the form of a tab on the handle and opening in one depending bracket. The cam means 58 attached to the ends of the front cross bar 50 are removably receivable in the jaws 46 provided in the depending brackets 44.

[0016] The deck 12 is conventional and in the preferred embodiment includes three separate spindles 60 supporting respective blades 62 (see Figure The deck 12 includes a centrally positioned pulley 64 which is drivingly connected with the three spindles 60 through a conventional belt drive arrangement, not shown. The deck 12 is also equipped with front and rear wheels 66 which can function as anti-scalp wheels to prevent the blades 62 from scalping the ground in uneven ground conditions.

[0017] Looking now to Figures 2, 3 and 4, it can be seen that the vehicle engine has a vertically oriented crankshaft 68 on which a jackshaft arrangement 70 is provided. The lower pulley 72 of the jackshaft 70 serves as a drive pulley. This can be seen best in Figure 4.

[0018] The drive pulley 72 receives a belt 74 that is entrained around it and the driven pulley 64 carried on the deck 12 to thereby power the blades 62 through use of the power source or engine 30 provided on the vehicle [0019] In operation, the utility vehicle 10 could be utilized either with or without the mower deck 12. The cargo box 26 permits the transport of small tools, lumber, sheeting, gravel, sand, mulch and similar types of materials that would be used around the home, in a nursery or in grounds care types of applications. With the second seat 24, the vehicle 10 allows an operator and an assistant to be transported with the cargo between job sites or locations.

[0020] When the vehicle 10 is to be used to mow lawns, the mower deck 12 can be quickly and easily mounted to the front and rear linkage supports carried by the vehicle frame 12. To mount the deck 12, an operator slides it beneath the vehicle between the front and rear wheels 16 and 18. The vehicle's rear links 32 are first connected to the rear deck brackets 34 by the spring loaded j-pins 36, see Figure Then the hanger means 48 of the suspension mechanism 42 is connected with the hooks 56 on the deck 12 and hooks 46 of brackets 44. After the rear cross bar 52 has been inserted into the hooks 56 at the front of the deck 12, the offsets 58 at the ends of the front cross bar 50 are placed into the hooks 46 in the depending brackets 44 at the front of the vehicle 10. To tension the draft links 54, the handle which is connected to the front cross bar 50 through the offsets 58, is rotated and the offsets or cam means 58 attached to the front cross bar 50 convert that rotational motion to linear motion, swinging the front cross bar 50 forwardly and pulling the draft links 54 forwardly. Since the handle is preferably made of a resilient material, it can be pulled away from the bracket to allow the tab to be seated in the opening and secure the handle in a latched position. For a detailed illustration of the handle, tab and latch opening in the depending brackets 44, reference is made to the 5,025,617 patent mentioned above. With the front of the deck 12 now suspended, the operator is ready to mow. When the operator is ready to remove the deck, the process is simply reversed.

[0021] With the present invention, there is provided a utility vehicle that can be used by a homeowner for a variety of purposes including carrying and transporting of materials or a passenger and mowing of lawns and grounds. With the mower deck mounting capability, the versatility and capabilities of the utility vehicle are thus greatly expanded.

[0022] Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent thatvarious modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that, that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge of Australia.

Claims (12)

1. A utility vehicle comprising a frame carried on ground engaging front and rear wheels; a power source carried by the frame to propel the vehicle; an operator station carried by the frame and including at least one operator seat; a cargo box carried by the frame rearwardly of the operator station; and structure carried by the frame to removably mount a mower deck beneath the vehicle and between the front and rear wheels.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the blade is carried on a spindle that is driven by the power source.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 wherein the power source is operatively connected to a drive belt and the spindle is coupled to a pulley that is powered by the belt.

4. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the mower deck includes at least one blade carried on a spindle having a pulley that is adapted to be driven by a belt.

The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the structure includes linkage suspending the deck from the vehicle.

6. The invention defined in claim 5 wherein the linkage is adapted to permit the deck to be vertically adjusted.

7. The invention defined in claim 6 wherein control means is provided adjacent the operator station to permit the operator to vertically adjust the deck.

8. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the cargo box is upwardly pivotable about laterally extending pivot structures that connect it with a rear portion thereof.

9. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein there is provided a passenger seat adjacent the operator seat.

A utility vehicle comprising a frame carried on ground engaging front and rear wheels; a power source carried by the frame to propel the vehicle; an operator station carried by the frame and including at least one operator seat; a cargo box carried by the frame rearwardly of the operator station; and a mower deck removably mounted beneath the vehicle between the front and rear wheels.

11. A utility vehicle comprising a frame carried on ground engaging front and rear wheels; a power source carried by the frame to propel the vehicle, said power source operatively coupled to a drive pulley; an operator station carried by the frame and including at least one operator seat; a cargo box carried by the frame rearwardly of the operator station; a mower deck removably mounted beneath the vehicle between the front and rear wheels, said deck including at least one blade operatively coupled to a driven pulley; and drive means extending between the drive and driven pulleys to rotate the blade.

12. A utility vehicle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings. DATED this 12t h day of July, 2003 DEERE COMPANY By Their Patent Attorneys 7DAVIES COISON CAVE DAVIES COLLISON CAVE