JP2006345822A - Grass mower - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a grass mower that can dramatically improve the maintenance of an engine, mowing blades and the like covered with a body cover. <P>SOLUTION: This grass mower 1 adopts a body cover 20 integrally formed to cover the whole vehicle body 10 and having a steering cover 23 for covering the steering shaft 16 connected to a steering wheel 17, and the steering shaft 16 inserted into the steering cover 23 is disposed in a tiltable state. Since the body cover 20 can be tilted up together with the steering shaft 16 to largely open the upper side of the vehicle body 10, the cleaning of mown grass and the like accumulated on the peripheries of a pulley and a belt, the check and maintenance of an engine, and the like can be performed in easy posture from above the vehicle body 10. Thus, the maintainability can dramatically be improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mower.

Conventionally, in order to cut weeds, undergrowths, turf, etc. in orchards, mountain forests, gardens, parks, etc., equipped with cutting blades, engines, seats, handles, etc., wheels can be driven while driving the cutting blades with the engine. Riding lawn mowers (including lawn mowers) are used.
Some of these mowers are covered with an integrally molded body cover around the engine, around the seat, and around the handle shaft (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-76228 (FIGS. 1 and 3)

However, in the above-described mower, a part of the cut grass tends to collect between the deck covering the cutting blade and the body cover, and it is necessary to remove the body cover and clean them. Since the body cover is fixed to the body frame with bolts or the like, it takes time to remove the body cover.
The removal of the body cover is also necessary for engine inspection and maintenance, and the frequency of removing the body cover is considerably high, which makes it even more inconvenient.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a mower capable of dramatically improving maintainability of an engine, a cutting blade and the like covered with a body cover.

  A mower according to a first aspect of the present invention is a riding mower whose traveling direction is variable by a handle operation, and has a handle cover that covers a handle shaft connected to the handle and covers the entire vehicle body. The body cover is formed so as to be openable and closable around a rotation shaft provided in the vicinity of the handle shaft, and the handle shaft is disposed on an end side opposite to the handle. A bendable portion is provided by a provided universal joint, and a bearing for slidably and swingably holding the handle shaft is provided in an insertion portion through which the handle shaft is inserted into the handle cover. To do.

  The mower according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that the bearing is a spherical bearing.

  According to the mower according to the first aspect, since the handle shaft can be bent by the universal joint, it is possible to open and close the body cover together with the handle shaft. Since it is opened, it is easy to clean the mowing grass collected between the deck that covers the cutting blade and the body cover, and to check and maintain the engine, which can greatly improve the maintainability.

Here, since the position of the rotation axis of the body cover does not coincide with the position of the universal joint provided on the handle shaft, when the body cover is opened and closed, the position between the rotation track of the handle shaft and the rotation track of the body cover When the displacement occurs, the handle shaft is guided while sliding and swinging on a bearing provided in the handle shaft insertion portion of the handle cover, and thus the handle shaft can be prevented from being restrained by the handle cover.
As described above, since the handle shaft can be prevented from being restrained when the body cover is opened and closed together with the handle shaft by a simple structure in which a bearing is provided, restraint / interference such as a telescopic slider mechanism is separately provided on the handle shaft. A prevention mechanism can be made unnecessary.

When the seat is provided above the engine, the seat may be formed on the upper side of the body cover or the seat may be formed integrally with the body cover. Thereby, since the body cover is opened and closed together with the seat, the engine can be inspected, maintained, and the cut grass can be easily cleaned.
Further, the body cover only needs to be formed integrally with the handle cover, and the whole body including the handle cover part is not limited to the structure integrally formed by injection molding or the like, but the separately formed handle cover is the main body of the body cover. Further, it may be a structure that is assembled by bolting, riveting, or the like.

  According to the mower according to claim 2, in addition to the sliding of the handle shaft and the bearing in the axial direction, the tilt of the handle shaft with respect to the handle cover is caused by the slip between the inner guide and the outer guide in the spherical bearing. Since the handle shaft can be stably held, the body cover can be opened and closed more smoothly.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Appearance structure of mower]
FIG. 1 is an external view of a mower 1.
The mower 1 includes a vehicle body 10 on which an engine and a cutting blade are mounted, and a body cover 20 that covers substantially the entire vehicle body 10, and is configured to be able to travel with a pair of front wheels 110 and a pair of rear wheels 120. It is. That is, it is possible to run by sitting on a seat seat 21 integrally assembled in the approximate center of the body cover 20 and depressing the travel pedal 18 and to change the direction by operating the handle 17.

[Description of the car body]
First, the internal structure of the vehicle body 10 will be briefly described.
FIG. 2 shows the vehicle body 10 with the body cover 20 removed.
The vehicle body 10 includes a vehicle body frame 13, an engine 15 provided behind the vehicle body frame 13 (on the right side in FIG. 2), and a rotary cutting blade driven by the engine 15 while being covered with the cutting blade deck 19. A hydraulic transmission (HST: Hydrostatic transmission) (not shown) provided below the engine 15 is provided.

The body frame 13 is formed by bending a pipe member 131. A plate 133 provided in front of the body frame 13 is provided with a bracket 133 having a hole 133A penetrating in the vehicle width direction.
A cutting blade raising / lowering lever 156 for raising and lowering the cutting blade is provided on the right side of the vehicle body frame 13, and a traveling transmission lever 157 relating to a shift operation of the transmission is provided on the left side.
In addition, a plate-like member 137 is installed on the vehicle body frames 13 on both sides, and bushes 138 as hard rubbers or metal projections are disposed at both ends of the plate-like member 137, respectively.

The engine 15 is an air-cooled single-cylinder two-cycle or four-cycle engine, and a fuel tank 153, an engine starter battery 154, and the like are provided around the engine 15.
The output shaft of the engine 15 projects downward. The output shaft is provided with two pulleys (not shown), and is arranged on one pulley and the cutting blade deck 19 and fixed to the rotating shaft of the cutting blade. A belt 152 is wound around the pulley 151, and a belt is also wound around the other pulley and a pulley fixed to an input shaft of a transmission (not shown). As a result, the driving force of the engine 15 is transmitted to both the cutting blade and the transmission.

[Description of body cover]
Returning to FIG. 1, the body cover 20 will be described.
The body cover 20 is an integrally formed product of a cover body 22 and a handle cover 23, and is formed so as to protrude from the small-diameter front wheel 110 side to the large-diameter rear wheel 120 side.
In the cover main body 22 of the body cover 20, a floor 25 is configured up to the front side of the seat 21 and the portion provided with the bumper portion 24. A pair of footrests for occupants are placed on the front side of the floor 25. A foot portion 251 is formed. Further, the both sides of the floor 25 are flat steps 254 for putting a foot on when getting on the seat 21.

A recess 26 (see also FIG. 3) in which the seat 21 is disposed is formed in the approximate center of the cover body 22, and the cover body 22 is formed on the backrest 212 of the seat 21 at the rear side of the recess 26. It is formed to follow the curve.
A fuel supply opening 27 for supplying fuel oil to the fuel tank 153 is formed at the rear end of the cover body 22.

The handle cover 23 is attached to the cover body 22 in front of the floor 25 on the front side of the handle shaft 16 provided on the handle 17. An insertion hole 253 through which the handle shaft 16 is inserted is formed at the upper end of the handle cover 23.
The handle cover 23 is provided with an adjustment dial 155 for adjusting the rotational speed of the engine 15.

  The cover main body 22 and the handle cover 23 have a metal frame 40 extending from the front to the rear following the curved shape of the cover main body 22 and the handle shaft 16 as shown by a solid line in FIG. A handle frame 48 extending in the direction is provided.

  The handle frame 48 is a pipe member that is bent at the upper end side of the handle cover 23 and extends along both sides in front of the handle shaft 16, and is bolted to the frame 40 at a base end portion 481 that is bent along the frame 40. Yes. Further, stays 482 having bolt insertion holes are installed at two locations on the front side of the handle frame 48, and the handle cover 23 is bolted to the stays 482.

The frame 40 is bent at the front side and extends along both sides of the seat seat 21, a plate 44 that extends outward in the vehicle width direction and supports the step 254 of the body cover 20, and the seat seat 21. The seat plate portion 45 that supports the seat surface portion 211 and the back plate portion 46 that is installed on both ends of the pipe member 43 at the position of the backrest portion 212 are configured. The frame 40 is bolted to the back side of the cover body 22 at an appropriate position.
In the frame 40, a pair of U-shaped attachment portions 41 are attached to positions corresponding to both sides of the rising portion of the handle cover 23, and a latch mechanism 47 is provided on the front side of the seat plate portion 45. It has been.

The attachment portion 41 is rotatably attached to a bracket 133 (FIG. 2) provided on the vehicle body frame 13.
That is, when a shaft-like member 411 such as a bolt or a pin is inserted into the hole 133A of the bracket 133 and the mounting portion 41, the body cover is used as shown in FIGS. It is possible to tilt up (open and close) 20 to the front side with respect to the vehicle body 10. By tilting up the body cover 20, the cutting blade drive part and the engine 15 mount part are largely opened.

  On the other hand, the latch mechanism 47 includes a shaft 471 installed on the pipe member 43, a shaft support portion 472 that rotatably supports both ends of the shaft 471, and a hook-like portion 473 bent at one end side into a substantially L shape. And a lever 474 protruding from the opening 29 formed in the body cover 20.

FIG. 6 shows the latch mechanism 47 and the plate member 137 installed on the frame 40. As shown in the figure, the body cover 20 is locked to the vehicle body 10 by engaging the hook-shaped portion 473 with the C-shaped member 136 provided on the plate-like member 137.
When the body cover 20 is tilted, the hook-shaped portion 473 may be removed from the C-shaped member 136 by pulling up the lever 474.

  Here, in a state where the body cover 20 is locked to the vehicle body 10, as schematically shown in FIG. 7, the bush 138 provided on the plate-like member 137 serves as a fulcrum for supporting the plate 44. The bush 138 supports the plate 44 outside the center of the plate 44 (FIG. 6), and the distance D1 from the bush 138 to the C-shaped member 136 with which the hook-shaped portion 473 is engaged is from the bush 138 to the plate 44. It is larger than the distance D2 to the edge. For this reason, even when the step 254 (FIG. 1) on one side is stepped on and the plate 44 tilts when getting on from the side of the vehicle body 10, the C is compared with the load applied to the end portion outside the plate 44 in the moment of force. The load applied to the character-shaped member 136 and the hook-shaped portion 473 is small. Accordingly, even when a heavy load is applied when the vehicle is ridden vigorously, the hook-shaped portion 473 and the C-shaped member 136 do not come off, and the bending of the body cover 20 is prevented by the hook-shaped portion 473 and the C-shaped member 136. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the body cover 20 from being lifted at step 254 on the side opposite to the boarding side.

By the way, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the handle shaft 16 is bent (broken) as the body cover 20 is tilted.
Here, the handle shaft 16 is attached to the gear box 119 via a universal joint 161, as shown in FIG.
The universal joint 161 has a rotation shaft 161A along the vehicle width direction, and the handle shaft 16 is refracted around the rotation shaft 161A.

  Then, inside the insertion hole 253 through which the handle shaft 16 is inserted into the body cover 20, as shown in FIG. 8, a spherical bearing (shelical bush) 255 is provided with a cylindrical body 253A interposed therebetween. When the 16 is refracted, the handle shaft 16 is slidably and swingably held by the spherical bearing 255.

The spherical bearing 255 has an inner guide 255A whose outer peripheral surface is a convex spherical surface, and an outer guide 255B in which the inner peripheral surface of the concave spherical surface faces and contacts the outer peripheral surface of the inner guide 255A. Is held between the bottom 253B and the ring 253C.
Since such a spherical bearing 255 follows the attitude of the handle shaft 16 and stably holds the handle shaft 16 so as to be slidable and swingable, when the body cover 20 is tilted, Even if the rotation trajectory of the body cover 20 is deviated, this deviation can be absorbed by the movement between the guides 255A and 255B of the spherical bearing and the sliding and swinging of the handle shaft 16 with respect to the inner guide 255A. The handle shaft 16 can be opened and closed without being restricted.
Since the handle cover 23 is reinforced by the handle frame 48, rattling when the body cover 20 is tilted can be prevented.

According to the mower 1 of this embodiment demonstrated above, there exist the following effects.
An integrally formed body cover 20 that covers substantially the entire vehicle body 10 is employed, and the body cover 20 that is rotatably attached to the end of the vehicle body 10 is tilted up so that the upper surface of the vehicle body 10 is largely opened. In addition, cleaning of mowing grass and the like collected around the pulley 151 and the belt 152, and inspection and maintenance of the engine 15 can be performed from above the vehicle body 10 in an easy posture, so that the maintainability can be dramatically improved.

  Further, the handle shaft 16 is jointed by a universal joint 161, and the handle shaft 16 follows the tilting operation of the body cover 20. At this time, the handle shaft 16 is supported by the spherical bearing 255 provided in the insertion hole 253 of the body cover 20. Since it is guided smoothly, the body cover 20 can be smoothly tilted up and down.

Although the best configuration for carrying out the present invention has been disclosed in the above description, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the invention has been illustrated and described primarily with respect to particular embodiments, but may be configured for the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Various modifications and improvements can be made by those skilled in the art in terms of materials, quantity, and other detailed configurations.
The description limiting the shape, material, etc. disclosed above is an example for easy understanding of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention. The description by the name of the member which removes a part or all of the limitation is included in the present invention.

For example, by providing a counterweight in front of the vehicle body, the opening / closing operation of the body cover can be further facilitated. In particular, the body cover is integrally formed from the front side to the rear side of the vehicle body, and since the weight of such a body cover becomes large, it is possible to easily tilt up the body cover with such a counterweight, Here, the effect of the present invention can be highlighted.
At this time, the counterweight may be formed integrally with the vehicle body frame 13 as shown in the above embodiment, and may further be used as a bumper provided in the bumper portion 24.

  In the above embodiment, the rotation shaft (shaft-shaped member 411) of the body cover 20 is provided on the front side of the vehicle body 10. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the rotation shaft of the body cover is provided on the side of the vehicle body. Is also possible. In this case, the universal joint may be attached in such a direction that the handle shaft is bent sideways.

  Furthermore, although the insertion part of the handle shaft 16 in the body cover 20 is the insertion hole 253 in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the handle shaft may be inserted into a notch or the like formed in the body cover.

And FIG. 9 has shown the mower 2 in the modification of this invention.
In the mower 1 (FIG. 1) in the above-described embodiment, the body cover 20 includes the cover body 22 and the handle cover 23. However, as in the present modification, the handle cover 252 and the cover body 22 are integrated. A molded body cover 28 can also be employed.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used as a mower and can be configured as various work vehicles by transshipping a cutting blade to another work machine.

The perspective view of the mower in the embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the vehicle body in the said embodiment. The perspective view of the body cover in the said embodiment. The figure which shows the state which tilted up the body cover in the said embodiment. The side view which shows the tilting operation | movement of the body cover in the said embodiment. The perspective view which shows the structure which aims at prevention of the bending of the body cover in the said embodiment. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the effect | action about prevention of bending of the body cover in the said embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the spherical bearing in the said embodiment. The perspective view of the mower in the modification of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 2 ... lawn mower, 10 ... car body, 16 ... handle shaft, 17 ... handle, 20, 28 ... body cover, 23 ... handle cover, 161 ... universal joint, 253 ... Insertion hole (insertion part), 255 ... Spherical bearing, 411 ... Shaft-shaped member (rotating shaft).

Claims (2)

A riding-type mower whose traveling direction can be changed by operating the steering wheel,
A body cover integrally formed so as to cover the entire vehicle body having a handle cover that covers the handle shaft connected to the handle;
The body cover is freely openable and closable around a rotation shaft provided in the vicinity of the handle shaft,
The handle shaft can be refracted by a universal joint provided on an end side opposite to the handle,
A mowing machine characterized in that a bearing for slidably and swingably holding the handle shaft is provided in an insertion portion through which the handle shaft is inserted into the handle cover. The mower according to claim 1,
The mower is characterized in that the bearing is a spherical bearing.

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