FR2814330A1 - Mower incorporates grass collector with container with inlet at one end, supporting mechanism, mounting frame, support, slide surface on guide mechanism, with connecting mechanism. - Google Patents

Abstract

The rear end of the bodywork has a grass-collector comprising a grass-container (8) with inlet at one end and held by a supporting mechanism (50). the supporting mechanism is fixed to the bodywork by a mounting-frame (9) consisting of a support (9a) supporting the inlet end of the grass-container. A guide mechanism between the grass-container and the support mechanism comprises a slide-surface (101) and guide-pin. The supporting mechanism consists of a parallelogram-connecting mechanism (30) fixed to the mounting-frame.

Description

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 The present invention relates to a mower having a vehicle chassis which has a grass cutting device, and a grass collecting device attached to a rear end of the vehicle chassis, the collecting device comprising a grass retaining member which defines a grass inlet opening at a first end, and a support mechanism for the grass retaining member.

 This type of mower requires several operators to attach the grass retaining member to the support mechanism and to separate the member from this mechanism during the manufacture or maintenance of the retaining member. For example, one operator must lift and hold the grass retaining member while another secures the member to the support mechanism with a fixing tool.

 In particular, the support mechanism may be in the form of a mechanism formed of rods in parallelogram, capable of moving the retaining member obliquely backwards and upwards, remaining practically parallel to an attitude of collecting grass, the grass inlet opening facing the front of the vehicle chassis. In this case, the operations of fixing the retaining member and of separating it are accompanied by various restrictions. A construction which simplifies the fixing and separation operations would have significant advantages.

tondeuse ayant un mécanisme simple ajouté à un mécanisme de support et à un organe de retenue d'herbe pour permettre des économies de main-d'oeuvre lors de la fixation de l'organe de retenue d'herbe au mécanisme de support et de sa séparation de celui-ci. The subject of the invention is the provision of a

mower having a simple mechanism added to a support mechanism and a grass retaining member to allow labor savings when attaching the grass retaining member to the support mechanism and its separation from it.

 This object is achieved according to the invention thanks to a mower of the aforementioned type which is characterized in that the support mechanism is fixed to the vehicle chassis by a mounting frame, the mounting frame has a support bracket for the first end which delimits the entry opening of the grass retaining member during fixing

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 from the grass retaining member to the support mechanism, and a guide mechanism is placed between the grass retaining member and the support mechanism to guide the grass retaining member, the first end being temporarily placed on the bracket, towards a position for connection to the support mechanism.

 In this construction, when the grass retaining member is attached to the support mechanism, a first end of the retaining member is placed on the bracket which supports it. The operator can then lift the assembly of the retaining member which is relatively light. Then, from the state of temporary arrangement on the support of the first end of the retaining member, the operator moves the assembly of the retaining member to a position for connection to the support mechanism using the guide mechanism. The grass retaining member is then connected to the support mechanism by a connection tool. Thus, a simple modification of the bracket and of the support mechanism allows the fastening operation to be carried out successively, by the above-mentioned steps, with little effort and with savings in manpower.

 A particular construction of the proposed guide mechanism comprises a sliding base arranged on the grass retaining member, and a guide pin arranged on the support mechanism so that the base can slide. Alternatively, the guide mechanism may include a sliding base placed on the support mechanism and a guide pin disposed on the retaining member so that the base can slide.

 In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the support mechanism is a parallelogram link mechanism for moving the grass retaining member obliquely backwards and upwards, when it is held with a attitude practically parallel to its grass collection attitude, the entry opening being turned towards the front of the vehicle chassis, the parallelogram link mechanism being fixed to a mounting frame. When the support mechanism is formed of a mechanism

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 relatively large connecting rods in particular, the bracket and the guide mechanism are effective for the support of a grass retaining member in a fixing operation. Thus, since, during the connection of the grass retaining member to the parallelogram connecting rod mechanism, the retaining member can occupy an attitude of fixing to the square and to the guiding mechanism, the operator can focus on the operation of connecting the retaining member to the parallelogram linkage mechanism.

 For easy removal of the cut grass from the retaining member, the mower may be of a type in which the grass retaining member defines an outlet opening opposite the inlet opening , and comprises an opening-closing cover of the outlet opening, and the support mechanism comprises a discharge mechanism intended to switch the grass retaining member towards a discharge position such as the opening of outlet is turned downwards, by pivoting of the grass retaining member around a connection point between a vertical connecting rod of the connecting rod mechanism in parallelogram and the grass retaining member. In this type of mower, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pivot axis of the grass retaining member occupies a connection point between an upper connecting rod and a vertical connecting rod of the connecting rod mechanism in parallelogram , the sliding base being on the grass retaining member and the guide pin also playing the role of a connecting pin of the vertical connecting rod to a lower connecting rod.

In this construction, the connecting pin of the grass retaining member to the parallelogram link mechanism is used as the guide pin of the guide mechanism. Thus, a special guide pin, separate from the connection pin, is not necessary.

 Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be better understood on reading the description which will follow of exemplary embodiments, made with reference to the appended drawings in which:

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la figure 1 est une vue en élévation latérale d'une tondeuse autoportée selon l'invention ; la figure 2 est une vue de l'arrière, en coupe partielle, représentant les roues arrière et les éléments adjacents de la tondeuse ; la figure 3 est une vue en élévation latérale d'un dispositif collecteur d'herbe ; la figure 4 est une vue en perspective d'un organe de retenue d'herbe ; la figure 5 est une vue en plan d'une partie arrière du dispositif collecteur d'herbe, la figure 6 est un schéma explicatif du fonctionnement du dispositif collecteur d'herbe i la figure 7 est un schéma explicatif d'une opération de fixation du dispositif collecteur d'herbe ; la figure 8A est une vue en élévation frontale représentant une construction d'ouverture et de fermeture automatiques d'un obturateur d'entrée ; et la figure 8B est une vue en plan représentant la construction d'ouverture et de fermeture automatiques de l'obturateur d'entrée.

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a ride-on mower according to the invention; Figure 2 is a rear view, in partial section, showing the rear wheels and adjacent elements of the mower; Figure 3 is a side elevational view of a grass collecting device; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a grass retaining member; Figure 5 is a plan view of a rear part of the grass collecting device, Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the grass collecting device i Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram of a fixing operation of the grass collecting device; Figure 8A is a front elevational view showing an automatic opening and closing construction of an inlet shutter; and Fig. 8B is a plan view showing the construction of automatic opening and closing of the inlet shutter.

General construction
Figure 1 shows a self-propelled mower with a driver's seat in the middle.

 This mower comprises a chassis A of a vehicle having an internal combustion engine 2 mounted in a front part, a driver's seat 4 placed towards a rear part, and a steering wheel 3 disposed in front of the seat 4. A well-known mowing unit B is placed under the frame elements 1 to constitute a grass cutting device.

A conduit 10 transmits the cut grass from the mowing unit B to a grass collecting device C placed behind the chassis A of the vehicle. In FIG. 1, the reference 5 designates steered front wheels. The reference 6 designates rear driving wheels. The reference 7 designates a mechanism for lifting and lowering rods intended to vertically move the mowing unit B suspended under

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 the chassis A of the vehicle between the front wheels 5 and the rear wheels 6.

 The conduit 6 extends longitudinally with respect to the chassis A from the mowing unit B placed in front of the rear drive wheels 6 towards the grass collecting device C placed behind the chassis A. As shown in FIG. 2, the conduit 10 passes through a space formed between the driver's seat 4 and the differential shafts 6B connected under the axles 6A of the right and left driving rear wheels 6, and between the right and left frames 1 of the chassis.

 The grass collecting device C is fixed to a mounting frame 9 permanently connected to the frame elements 1.

Grass catcher
We now describe the construction of the collecting device C.

 As shown in FIG. 3, the grass collecting device C comprises a grass retaining member 8 and a mechanism 50 for supporting the retaining member 8.

 The duct 10 has a U-shaped section opening downwards and extends towards the rear of the chassis 3, the rear end temporarily penetrating into an inlet opening 17 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) formed on a surface. front 8a of the grass retaining member 8. The cut grass removed by the blades of the mowing unit B is transported by the air currents created by the rotation of the blades, backwards and along the conduit 10 to be collected in the retaining member 8 grass. To this end, the grass retaining member 8 delimits numerous ventilation holes intended for the evacuation of the air currents which transport the grass, outside of the retaining member 8.

 More specifically, the grass retaining member 8 is formed from a metal sheet with a practically box shape, having thin metal walls 8a, 8b and 8c bolted to metal frames of L-shaped section 15 (Figure 3) . The inlet opening 17 is formed in the front wall 8a, while the rear plane is open to form an outlet opening 17a. A cover 14 formed of

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 metal sheet is pivotally attached to the grass retaining member 8 to close the outlet opening 17a as described in detail below.

 As shown in FIG. 4, the front surface 8a of the grass retaining member 8 has openings on opposite sides of the inlet opening 17. These opposite openings are closed by grids of perforated metal 19.

Numerous holes in the perforated metal grids 19 constitute front ventilation holes 19a
Likewise, the upper surface ab of the member 8 has a perforated metal element 20 which extends practically over its entire surface and delimits numerous upper ventilation holes 20a. Each of the right and left surfaces 8c of the grass retaining member 8 has a perforated metal element 21 which extends practically over its entire surface and which delimits numerous holes 21a for lateral ventilation.

Support mechanism
The grass retaining member 8 having this construction can be subjected to a change of attitude by the support mechanism 50. As shown in FIG. 3, the support mechanism 50 has two upper right and left connecting rods 31 and two lower right and left connecting rods 32 which are fixed, so as to be able to pivot vertically about transverse axes, to mounting frames 9 fixed to the rear ends of the frames 1 of the chassis behind the chassis A of the vehicle. Each upper connecting rod 31 and lower connecting rod 32 is pivotally connected at its rear end to a vertical connecting rod 33. The support mechanism 50 comprises a mechanism 30 with parallelogram connecting rods intended to ensure an oblique parallel movement backwards and towards the top of the grass retaining member 8 which maintains an attitude practically parallel to its attitude of collecting grass, and a discharge mechanism 40 described below.

 The mechanism 30 with parallelogram connecting rods has fixed parts constituted by the upper parts of the mounting frames 9 at the places where the upper connecting rods 31 and the lower connecting rods 32 are fixed,

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 leading parts formed by the lower connecting rods 32 driven by hydraulic jacks 34 for raising and lowering, driven parts formed by the upper connecting rods 31, and parts with integral action formed by the vertical connecting rods 33.

 As indicated in FIGS. 3,5 and 6, the mechanism 30 with parallelogram connecting rods causes a parallel displacement obliquely backwards and upwards with the preservation of an attitude practically parallel to the attitude of collecting grass from the retaining member 8 under the control of the hydraulic lifting and lowering cylinders 34 placed between the mounting frames 9 and the lower connecting rods 32.

 The evacuation mechanism 40 causes the grass retaining member 8 to pivot about a transverse axis P1 with respect to the vertical connecting rods 33. The grass retaining member 8 is thus switched from the position parallel to her grass collection attitude to a lifted evacuation position.

 The evacuation mechanism 40 comprises pivoting control elements 41 fixed at lateral positions of the grass retaining member 8, and a hydraulic evacuation cylinder 42 for forcibly pivoting the control elements 41 around of the transverse axis Pl with respect to the vertical connecting rods 33.

 The relative pivoting of the vertical connecting rods 33 and the control elements 41 causes the following operations.

 As shown in Figures 3,5 and 6, each vertical link 33 has a curved plate like a bent lever and supporting the upper link 31 and the lower link 32. The plate is connected to a pivot pin 35 also forming a pin for connection to the upper connecting rod 31 and a pin 36 for connection to the lower connecting rod 32.

 The pivot control element 41 fixed to the grass retaining member 8 has a support shaft which is integral with it and which supports the hydraulic cylinder 42

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 discharge which extends towards the upper end of the vertical connecting rod 33.

 An evacuation operation is carried out after the grass retaining member 8 has been moved obliquely backwards and upwards while maintaining an attitude practically parallel to its attitude of collecting grass. For the operation of evacuating the retaining member 8, the hydraulic jack 42 which pivots lengthens from the position indicated in FIGS. 1 and 3. Then, as indicated in FIG. 6, all of the grass retaining member 8 pivots clockwise around pin 35 as indicated by the arrow X in FIG. 6. Grass retaining member 8 assumes a raised attitude of evacuation in which the outlet opening 17a is turned downwards as indicated in phantom in FIG. 6.

 A construction will now be described for opening and closing the cover 14 in the evacuation attitude.

This opening and closing construction does not use an operating member such as a hydraulic jack, but uses the extension and shortening of the connecting rod mechanism associated with the action of removing the member. 8 grass retainer. As shown in FIG. 6, a first arm 51 is fixed at an intermediate location of each vertical link 33, and a rod 52 with integral action is pivotally connected to a free end of the first arm 51. A second arm 53 is attached to the grass retaining member 8 near the free end of the rod 52, and an internal end of a third arm 54 is pivotally connected to a free end of the second arm 53. The third arm 54 is forked from an intermediate part, the forked end being fixedly connected to the opening-closing cover 14, so that the cover 14 does not pivot relative to the third arm 54.

In addition, a free end of the integral action rod 52 is pivotally connected to an intermediate location of the third arm 54.

 We will now describe an operation for controlling the opening-closing cover 14. As shown in the figure

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 6, when the hydraulic evacuation cylinder 42 is elongated, the grass retaining member 8 pivots around the spindle 35. At this time, the first arm 51 fixed to the vertical connecting rod 33 does not pivot. On the other hand, the second arm 53 fixed to the member 8 for retaining grass pivots with the latter. The distance between the free end of the first arm 51 and the intermediate part of the third arm 54, which form opposite points of connection of the rod 52 with integral action, is such that these parts approach before the pivoting of the member 8 grass retainer. Then, the integral action rod 52, to keep its length, pivots the third arm 54. The pivoting of the third arm 54 causes the lid 14 to open.

 We will now describe a mechanism for manually attaching the member 8 for retaining grass to the mechanism 50 for manually supporting and separating this member. As shown in Figure 7, each mounting frame 9 has a bracket 9a which protrudes behind at its lower end. The grass retainer 8 has an inclined sliding base 101 attached to each side surface. A pin 36 for temporary connection of the rear end of each lower link 32 and of the lower end of the vertical link 33 projects towards the grass retaining member 8 with a projecting end which cooperates with the sliding base 101 The connecting pin 36 supports the sliding base 101 and, consequently, the grass retaining member 8 to which the sliding base 101 is fixed. Thus, the pin 36 also constitutes a guide pin 102 of the guide mechanism 100 .

 A method of fixing the retaining member 8 will now be described. As shown in FIG. 7, when the parallelogram link mechanism 30 is assembled and each hydraulic jack 34 for lifting and lowering is connected to the lower link 32, the front end of the grass retaining member 8 is located on the support 9a as shown in phantom. In this temporary state, as indicated by a two-dot dashed line, the grass retaining member 8 is raised at its rear end having the

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 cover and is pushed slightly forward so that the guide pin 102 (connecting pin 36) cooperates with the sliding base 101. When the front end of the grass retaining member 8 is placed on the bracket 9a and when the sliding base 101 has been engaged with and supported by the guide pin 102 (connecting pin 36), the grass retaining member 8 is pushed forward in the position of connection to the support mechanism 50. When the grass retaining member 8 is placed in the connection position, the pin 35 which temporarily connects the upper connecting rod 32 and the vertical connecting rod 33 is pushed deeper to reach the internal end of the pivot control element 41 fixed to the grass retaining member 8, so that this pin 35 pivotally supports the grass retaining member 8. In this embodiment, the sliding base 101 and the guide pin 102 (connecting pin 36) thus constitute the guide mechanism 100.

 After the grass retaining member 8 and the support mechanism 50 have been connected, the hydraulic jack 42 for evacuation, etc. are fixed so that the assembly operation is completed.

 We will now describe a shutter 18 intended for the conduit 10 and the inlet opening 17 of the member 8 for retaining grass. As shown in Figures 8A and 8B, the shutter 18 is located on the outer surface of the grass retaining member 8 so that it covers the inlet opening 17. The shutter 18 has two members right and left shutters 18A and 18B. These shutter members 18A and 18B are symmetrical with respect to a plane, and they each have a wide lower half intended to cover the lower half of the inlet opening 17 in the closed position. Each of the shutter members 18A and 18B has a narrow upper half supported at an upper end so that it can pivot right and left around a front-rear axis P2. Return springs 18a are intended to return the right shutter members and

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 left 18A and 18B towards each other, that is to say in the closing direction of the inlet opening 17.

 On the other hand, the mounting frame 9 has cam pins II protruding behind the right and left locations and intended to be opposite the inlet opening 17 when the grass retaining member 8 is fixed to the support mechanism 50. These cam pins II protrude obliquely so that their ends are close and play the role of cams for the opening of the right and left shutter members 18A and 18B.

 Thus, when the grass retaining member 8 is lowered from the evacuation position to its grass collection attitude, the cam pins 11 sink deeper into the inlet opening 17 when the member 8 for retaining grass approaches the mounting frame 9. Consequently, the cam pins 11 are in contact with internal parts of the narrow halves of the shutter members 18A and 18B and open these members 18A and 18B by spreading them apart.

Other embodiments (1) The mower may be of the type having a mowing unit mounted at the front.

 (2) Like the guide mechanism 100, the sliding base 101 can be fixed to the vertical rod 33, and the guide pin 102 to the member 8 for retaining grass. Even when the sliding base 101 is fixed to the member 8 for retaining grass, a guide pin 102 can be formed on the vertical connecting rod 33 or the like exclusively for guiding, separately from the connecting pin 36.

 (3) The mechanism for opening the outlet opening 17a when the grass retaining member 8 is lifted towards its evacuation attitude is not limited to the use of a drive which occurs during pivoting of the grass retaining member 8. A locking and unlocking operation can be performed manually for the opening of the outlet opening 17a independently of the pivoting.

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 (4) The mechanism 30 with parallelogram connecting rods is not necessarily a perfect parallelogram. Various constructions can be used. For example, the individual connecting rods may have slightly different lengths so that the raised grass retaining member 8 takes on a slightly lowered attitude towards the rear. According to the invention, these various constructions are considered as collectively causing a substantially parallel displacement.

 (5) The movement mechanism which causes an essentially parallel movement obliquely backwards and upwards can use sliding rails. In this case, the hydraulic cylinders can be replaced by a winch mechanism or the like having an electric motor for raising and lowering the grass retaining member and intended to rotate this member for its evacuation.

 (6) The hydraulic jack 34 for lifting and lowering and the hydraulic jack 42 for evacuation are not necessarily ordered separately. For example, the two jacks 34 and 42 may have solenoid valves controlled sequentially by a series of operations using a common control member following an opening-closing operation of a single switch of control (not shown).

 Of course, various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to mowers which have just been described solely by way of non-limiting example without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (5)

 CLAIMS 1. Mower having a vehicle chassis having a grass cutting device and a grass collecting device attached to a rear end of the vehicle chassis, the grass collecting device comprising a grass retaining member (8) which delimits a grass entry opening at a first end, and a support mechanism (50) of the grass retaining member, characterized in that the support mechanism (50) is fixed to the chassis (A) of the vehicle by a mounting frame (9), the mounting frame has a bracket (9a) for supporting the first end which delimits the entry opening of the grass retaining member when fixing the grass retaining member (8) to the support mechanism, and a guide mechanism (100) is placed between the grass retaining member and the support mechanism so that it guides the grass retaining member, the first end being temporarily placed on the square, worm s a position for connection to the support mechanism.  2. Mower according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide mechanism (100) comprises a sliding base (101) disposed on the grass retaining member or the support mechanism, and a guide pin (102) disposed on the support mechanism or the grass retaining member respectively to ensure the sliding of the sliding base (101).  3. Mower according to claim 2, characterized in that the support mechanism (50) is formed by a parallelogram link mechanism (30) intended to move the grass retaining member obliquely backwards and towards the high when it maintains an attitude practically parallel to its attitude of collecting grass, the entry opening being turned towards the front of the chassis of the vehicle, the mechanism with connecting rods in parallelogram being fixed to the mounting frame.  4. Mower according to claim 3, characterized in that the grass retaining member (8) delimits an outlet opening (17a) opposite the inlet opening (101), <Desc / Clms Page number 14>  and has a cover (14) for opening and closing the outlet opening, and the support mechanism has a discharge mechanism (40) for moving the grass retainer to a position d evacuation in which the outlet opening faces downwards, by pivoting of the grass retaining member around a connection point (pol) between a vertical connecting rod of the parallelogram connecting rod mechanism (33) and the grass retaining member.  5. Mower according to claim 3, characterized in that the pivot axis (pol) of the grass retaining member is placed at a connection point between an upper connecting rod (31) and a vertical connecting rod (33) of the connecting rod mechanism in parallelogram, the sliding base (101) being arranged on the grass retaining member, and the guide pin (102) also acting as a connecting pin (36) of the vertical rod (33) and of the lower link (32).