JP2023005012A - Sulky lawn mower - Google Patents

Abstract

To address the difficulty of performing maintenance all by oneself, while holding a heavy lawn mower in a flip-up attitude.SOLUTION: A sulky lawn mower includes a traveling car body, a mower unit provided on the traveling car body, a lifting/lowering arm 15 rotationally connected to the mower unit with a prescribed fulcrum shaft 22 provided on a deck 10 of the mower unit and lifting/lowering the mower unit, an actuator 17, a connecting shaft 16c provided at a front part of the deck 10 of the mower unit and rotationally turning by the actuator 17, an arm 25 provided on the connecting shaft 16c, and a connecting rod 26 connecting a tensile part at a prescribed distance apart from the support shaft 22, of the lifting/lowering arm 15. The connecting rod 26 is moved by rotationally turning the arm part 25 by rotation of the connecting rod 16c by the actuator 17, so as to set the attitude of the mower unit to the flip-up attitude, where the connecting rod 26 is configured to be attachable/detachable.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to riding lawn mowers.

In a riding lawn mower equipped with a lawn mower below the front part of a traveling vehicle body equipped with a driver's seat, in order to switch between working and non-working, a hydraulic cylinder is used to raise and lower the lawn mower separately from posture changes. For maintenance, the lawn mower is configured to be rotatable about a predetermined pivot point, and the lawn mower is largely rotated to change to a flip-up posture, and maintenance of the lawn mower is performed while holding and fixing that state. A riding lawn mower that can

Patent No. 2982257

However, in the above configuration, in order to change the lawn mower to the flip-up posture and hold that posture, it is necessary to manually flip it up and hold it in that posture and fix it in that posture. It was difficult for one person to perform maintenance while holding the heavy lawn mower in the flipped-up posture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a riding lawn mower that can be easily maintained in a flip-up position.

The first invention is
a running vehicle;
a mower unit provided on the traveling vehicle body;
an elevating arm that is rotatably connected to the mower unit by a predetermined fulcrum shaft provided on a deck portion of the mower unit and that moves the mower unit up and down;
an actuator provided in the mower unit and operated by a driver's operation;
a connecting shaft provided at the front portion of the deck portion of the mower unit and rotated by the actuator;
an arm portion provided on the connecting shaft; and a connecting rod that connects a pulling portion of the elevating arm at a predetermined distance from the fulcrum shaft,
The attitude of the mower unit is changed by rotating the connecting shaft by the actuator to rotate the arm portion to move the connecting rod and change the distance between the connecting shaft and the pulling portion of the lifting arm. It can be in a jumping posture,
The riding lawn mower is characterized in that the connecting rod is detachable.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the distance between the lifting arm and the deck can be changed by rotating the connecting shaft, so that the mower unit can be easily flipped up by operating the actuator.

A second aspect of the present invention is
The mower unit is provided with a horizontal mechanism for maintaining its horizontal state,
The elevating arm is connected to the fulcrum shaft of the mower unit and is connected to the mower unit via the horizontal mechanism,
When the connecting rod is attached to the mower unit and the connecting shaft is rotated by the actuator to set the mower unit in a flip-up posture, the lifting arm moves the mower unit through the horizontal mechanism. 1 is the riding lawn mower of the first invention, which is disconnected from the .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the distance between the elevating arm and the deck can be changed by rotating the connecting shaft, so that the mower unit can be easily flipped up by operating the actuator.

A third aspect of the present invention is
a front wheel portion having auxiliary wheels provided in front of the deck portion;
A front wheel arm portion attached to the deck portion and having a front end connected to the front wheel portion,
The connecting shaft is connected to the front wheel arm portion via a predetermined member,
When the connecting rod is detached from the mower unit and the lifting arm is connected to the mower unit via the horizontal mechanism, the front wheel arm portion can be moved by driving the actuator to rotate the connecting shaft. In the riding lawn mower according to the second aspect of the present invention, the training wheels can be moved up and down via the mower unit, and the height of the mower unit with respect to the ground can be adjusted.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the function of the actuator can be dualized and the mower unit can have two functions of changing the attitude of the mower unit and adjusting the cutting height. The operation to change to the raised posture can be motorized.

The fourth aspect of the present invention is
The riding lawn mower according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, wherein a fixture capable of fixing the connecting rod is provided on the mower unit.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since it is necessary to remove the connecting rod during work or when adjusting the cutting height, it is possible to prevent the connecting rod from being lost by providing a fixture for the connecting rod on the mower unit.

According to the present invention, the mower unit can be easily flipped up by operating the actuator.

1 is a side view of a riding lawn mower according to an embodiment of the present invention; Perspective view of a mower unit of a riding lawn mower Enlarged view of lower part of Fig. 2 Enlarged view of the upper part of Fig. 2 Perspective view of the right front part of the mower unit with the cylinder cover removed FIG. 2 is a side view of the riding lawn mower according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state in which the mower unit is flipped up; Perspective view of the mower unit when the same mower unit is flipped up. Side view of the mower unit when the same mower unit is flipped up

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a riding lawn mower according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, forward/backward, left/right, and up/down are defined based on the traveling direction of the lawnmower.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the lawn mower according to the present embodiment includes a mower unit 1 on the lower front side of a traveling vehicle body 2 . 3 is a driver's seat, 4 and 5 are front wheels and rear wheels, respectively. It also has a collector 6 for temporarily storing grass clipped to the rear. G is the ground.

The structure and the like of the mower unit 1 will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

That is, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mower unit 1 in this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged view of the lower left part of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the mower unit 1 includes a deck portion 10, a mowing mechanism 11, front wheel portions 12, 12, front wheel arm portions 13, 13, rear arm portions 14, 14, and an elevating arm. 15, 15.

The deck portion 10 accommodates the cutting blade of the mowing mechanism 11 on the lower side of the top surface, and the power portion of the mowing mechanism 11, the front wheel arm portion 13, the rear arm portion 14, and the lifting arm 15 on the upper side of the top surface. etc. are arranged in a state of being exposed to the outside.

The mowing mechanism 11 is provided with a power source such as a motor. When the motor is operated by the power source supplied from the traveling vehicle body 2, the mowing blade rotates to mow the grass.

The front wheel portion 12 is provided on the front side of the deck portion 10, and supports the front wheel arm portion 13 by bringing the auxiliary wheels 12a into contact with the ground G during mowing. Further, the front wheel portion 12 includes a rotating mechanism 12b in which a rotating shaft extending in the vertical direction is rotatably provided. The rotating mechanism 12b is connected to the auxiliary wheels 12a, and rotates as the traveling vehicle body 2 travels in the advancing direction, thereby turning the auxiliary wheels 12a in the advancing direction.

The front wheel arm portion 13 is provided above the deck portion 10 , one end on the front side (front end side) is connected to the front wheel portion 12 , and the other end on the rear side (rear end side) is connected to the rear arm portion 14 . . Further, the front wheel arm portion 13 swings with respect to the deck portion 10 by a first connecting fulcrum 18 having a swing shaft along the left-right direction of the traveling vehicle body 2 .

Specifically, the first connection fulcrum 18 is arranged closer to the rear between the front wheel portion 12 and the rear arm portion 14 .

The rear arm portion 14 is arranged on a rear extension line of the front wheel arm portion 13 in the front-rear direction. Specifically, the rear arm portion 14 connects the front end side to the rear end side of the front wheel arm portion 13 at the pivot connection portion 19 .

Also, the rear arm portion 14 is swingably connected to the deck portion 10 at a second connection fulcrum 20 behind the front end side. In addition, the rear end of the rear arm portion 14 is connected to the lifting arm 15 so as to be rotatable about the left-right direction as a rotation axis. As a result, the rear arm portion 14 swings in conjunction with the swinging motion of the front wheel arm portion 13 .

On the other hand, the elevating arm 15 is connected to the traveling vehicle body 2 and raises and lowers the deck section 10 by power supplied from the body-side cylinder 32 of the traveling vehicle body 2 . Specifically, the front end 15a of the lifting arm 15 is rotatably connected to the deck portion 10 at the fulcrum shaft 22, and is rotatably connected to the rear arm portion 14 via the horizontal mechanism 21 on the rear side. be done. As a result, the deck section 10 moves up and down as the lift arm 15 moves up and down.

When the elevating arm 15 is raised and lowered, the front portion of the deck portion 10 and the front wheel arm portion 13 are lifted, and the front wheel portion 12 is separated from the ground G. At this time, the front wheel arm portion 13 and the rear arm portion 14 assume an upwardly convex posture at the rotary connecting portion 19 .

On the other hand, when the lifting arm 15 is lowered from this state, the front wheel portion 12 first touches the ground G. As shown in FIG. As soon as the front wheel portion 12 touches the ground G, the convex shapes of the front wheel arm portion 13 and the rear arm portion 14 become gentle.

Thus, the height of the front side of the deck portion 10 is substantially fixed. When the elevation arm 15 is further lowered after the height of the deck section 10 is substantially fixed, the horizontal mechanism 21 and the front end 15a of the elevation arm 15 are each rotated. to release energy.

At this time, if the horizontal mechanism 21 is of a screw type, the angle of the deck portion 10 with respect to the ground G is determined by the degree of fastening of the screw.

Here, reference numeral 16c in FIG. 2 denotes a connecting shaft, which is an example of the connecting shaft of the present invention, and is attached to the front portion of the deck portion 10 so as to be rotatable. It is a member rotated by a cutting height cylinder 17 as will be described later.

A plate-shaped arm portion 25 is fixed to each of the left and right sides of the connecting shaft 16c. As shown in FIG. 4, a tip 26a of a connecting rod 26 is rotatably connected to the upper end of the arm portion 25. As shown in FIG. Further, the rear end 26b of the connecting rod 26 is rotatably connected to the pulling portion 15b (pin 31) of the lifting arm 15. As shown in FIG. The pulling portion 15b is located at a predetermined distance from the fulcrum shaft 22 at the front end 15a of the lifting arm 15. As shown in FIG. A front end 26a and a rear end 26b of the connecting rod 26 are detachable.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rear end 26b of the connecting rod 26 is provided with an elongated hole 26c. there is This structure facilitates removal of the connecting rod 26 . In addition, in order to cope with aging of the deck portion 10, it is desirable to adjust the length of the connecting rod 26 by making the structure of the tip 26a of the connecting rod 26 a combination of male and female threads ( not shown).

1 to 3, the lifting arm 15 is not pulled by the connecting rod 26, but the lifting arm 15 is pulled by the connecting rod 26 in FIG.

Next, a mechanism for rotating the connecting shaft 16c will be described. That is, the link mechanism 16 including the connecting shaft 16c as a part will be described mainly with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the state in which the cover 24 of FIG. 2 is removed, viewed from the other side. Link mechanisms 16 having the same structure are provided on the front left and right sides of the deck portion 10, respectively. It is composed of two connecting metal fittings 16f, a second connecting bolt 16g, and a third connecting metal fitting 16h. Among these members, the first connecting metal fitting 16d, the first connecting bolt 16e, the second connecting metal fitting 16f, the second connecting bolt 16g, and the third connecting metal fitting 16h are examples of the predetermined members of the present invention.

That is, on the cutting height cylinder 17 side, a first connector 16a having a 9-shaped cross section (the upper part is a box shape and the lower part is a plate part) is provided. A connecting shaft 16c passes through the lower plate portion. The connecting shaft 16c is mounted on the front portion of the deck portion 10 across the left and right, and is shared by the left and right link mechanisms 16, 16. As shown in FIG.

Left and right ends of the connecting shaft 16c are rotatably supported by brackets 16b, 16b on the left and right sides of the deck portion 10, respectively.

First connecting fittings 16d are fixed to positions near both ends of the connecting shaft 16c. Further, a second connecting metal fitting 16f is rotatably connected to the first connecting metal fitting 16d via a first connecting bolt 16e, and a third connecting metal fitting 16f is connected to the second connecting metal fitting 16f via a second connecting bolt 16g. A connecting fitting 16h is rotatably connected.

The third connecting fitting 16 h is fixed to the front wheel arm portion 13 . On the other hand, the tip of the rod 17a of the cutting height cylinder 17 is rotatably connected to the first connecting member 16a. That is, the tip of the rod 17a is inserted into the upper box-shaped portion of the 9-shaped cross section, and is rotatably connected to the shaft 16a1 of the box-shaped portion. 171 is a DC motor for driving the cutting height cylinder 17, and 172 is an oil tank.

When the motor 171 is driven by a predetermined amount, the rod 17a of the cutting height cylinder 17 expands and contracts to a predetermined position. As a result, the shaft 16a1 of the box-shaped portion connected to the tip of the rod 17a moves, and the first connector 16a rotates to a predetermined position. Since the first connecting member 16a is fixed to the connecting shaft 16c, the connecting shaft 16c rotates by a predetermined amount. In this manner, the connecting shaft 16c rotates.

Next, the operation during maintenance will be described.

The horizontal mechanism 21 has a bracket member 21a fixed to the lifting arm 15 side and a shaft member 21b fixed to the rear arm portion 14 side, and the shaft of the shaft member 21b is removable.

Now, when the operator removes this shaft and drives the body side cylinder 32, the deck portion 10 can be freely rotated from the lifting arm 15 around the fulcrum shaft 22 as shown in FIGS. .

In this state, when the switch 27 (cutting height adjusting switch) (see FIG. 1) is operated to drive the motor 171 by a predetermined amount, the connecting shaft 16c rotates in the direction of the arrow A, thereby rotating the arm portion 25 counterclockwise. (See FIG. 2). As a result, the connecting rod 26 moves forward. As a result, the pulling portion 15b of the lifting arm connected to the rear end 26b of the connecting rod 26 is pulled forward.

Since the pulling portion 15b is separated from the fulcrum shaft 22, which is the rotating shaft of the elevating arm 15, a tensile moment is generated, and the force reduces the distance between the elevating arm 15 and the connecting shaft 16c, that is, the deck portion 10. (See H in FIG. 8). As a result, the deck portion 10 is automatically flipped up as shown in FIG. Therefore, as a reference for the flip-up angle, the hole 29 on the deck portion 10 side and the hole 28 at the tip of the lifting arm 15 in FIG. Keep In this way, maintenance can be performed easily and safely. Also, as described above, it is convenient if this pin also serves as the shaft of the removed shaft member 21b. As will be described later, when the switch 27 is operated, the front wheel portion 12 also moves by a predetermined amount, but there is no problem because it is floating.

For normal mowing, the bracket member 21a and the shaft member 21b of the horizontal mechanism 21 are connected to exhibit the horizontal maintenance function, and on the other hand, the connecting rod 26 is removed, and the front left side of the deck portion 10 in FIG. It is fitted in the fixture 30 provided at the position of . You don't have to worry about losing it. That position is desirable because it is easy to get off the riding lawn mower when flipping up and it is unobtrusive.

Next, fine adjustment of the height when mowing grass will be described. In that case, the cutting height cylinder 17 is used to adjust the height of the deck portion 10 with respect to the ground G as follows.

When the motor 171 is driven by a predetermined amount by the cutting height adjustment switch 27 (see FIG. 1), the rod 17a of the cutting height cylinder 17 extends and retracts to a predetermined position as described above. As a result, the shaft 16a1 of the box-shaped portion connected to the tip of the rod 17a moves, and the first connector 16a rotates to a predetermined position. Since the first connecting member 16a is fixed to the connecting shaft 16c, the connecting shaft 16c rotates by a predetermined amount. As a result, the first connecting fittings 16d fixed to both ends of the connecting shaft 16c rotate. The rotation causes the second connecting fitting 16f to rotate via the first connecting bolt 16e. This rotation causes the third connecting metal fitting 16h to rotate and move to a predetermined position via the second connecting bolt 16g. The front wheel arm portion 13 is moved by the rotational movement of the third connecting fitting 16h.

For example, when the rod 17a of the cutting height cylinder 17 is extended, the first connector 16a rotates as indicated by arrow B. As shown in FIG. The fixed connecting shaft 16c rotates in the direction of the arrow A by the rotation. By this rotation, the first connecting metal fitting 16d is turned downward, the second connecting metal fitting 16f is pulled down accordingly, and the third connecting metal fitting 16h is also moved downward. As a result, the front wheel arm portion 13 moves downward. As a result, the front wheel portions 12, 12 also move downward.

Here, the connecting shaft 16c is pivotally supported by the deck portion 10 by means of the bracket 16b, and the fact that the front wheel portion 12 moves downward due to the rotation of each of the above-mentioned members means that the front wheel portion 12 side is used as a reference. The part 10 side moves upward. That is, if the lower end of the front wheel portion 12 is in contact with the ground G, the lower end of the deck portion 10 will be positioned higher than the ground G, resulting in a higher cutting height.

Conversely, when the rod 17a of the cutting height cylinder 17 is contracted, the front wheel arm portion 13 moves upward due to the reverse rotation, and takes a low position with respect to the ground G.

Thus, the cutting height cylinder 17 serves both to adjust the cutting height of the deck portion 10 and to electrically drive the flip-up during maintenance, which is convenient. This cutting height cylinder 17 is an example of the actuator of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for riding lawn mowers because the lawn mower can be easily flipped up for maintenance.

1 mower unit 2 traveling vehicle body 4, 5 front wheels, rear wheels 10 deck portion 11 grass cutting mechanism 12 front wheel portion 13 front wheel arm portion 14 rear arm portion 15 lifting arm 15a front end 15b pulling portion (pin 31)
16 link mechanism 16c connecting shaft 17 cutting height cylinder (actuator)
171 motor 20 connecting fulcrum 21 horizontal mechanism 21a bracket member 21b shaft member 22 fulcrum shaft 25 arm portion 26 connecting rod 26a tip 26b rear end 27 cutting height adjustment switch 30 fixture

Claims (4)

a running vehicle;
a mower unit provided on the traveling vehicle body;
an elevating arm that is rotatably connected to the mower unit by a predetermined fulcrum shaft provided on a deck portion of the mower unit and that moves the mower unit up and down;
an actuator provided in the mower unit and operated by a driver's operation;
a connecting shaft provided at a front portion of the deck portion of the mower unit and rotated by the actuator;
an arm portion provided on the connecting shaft; and a connecting rod that connects a pulling portion of the elevating arm at a predetermined distance from the fulcrum shaft,
The attitude of the mower unit is changed by rotating the connecting shaft by the actuator to rotate the arm portion to move the connecting rod and change the distance between the connecting shaft and the pulling portion of the lifting arm. It can be in a jumping posture,
A riding lawn mower, wherein the connecting rod is detachable. The mower unit is provided with a horizontal mechanism for maintaining its horizontal state,
The elevating arm is connected to the fulcrum shaft of the mower unit and is connected to the mower unit via the horizontal mechanism,
When the connecting rod is attached to the mower unit and the connecting shaft is rotated by the actuator to bring the mower unit into a flip-up posture, the lifting arm moves the mower unit through the horizontal mechanism. 2. The riding lawn mower of claim 1, which disconnects from. a front wheel portion having auxiliary wheels provided in front of the deck portion;
A front wheel arm portion attached to the deck portion and having a front end connected to the front wheel portion,
The connecting shaft is connected to the front wheel arm portion via a predetermined member,
When the connecting rod is detached from the mower unit and the lifting arm is connected to the mower unit via the horizontal mechanism, the front wheel arm portion can be moved by driving the actuator to rotate the connecting shaft. 3. The riding lawn mower according to claim 2, wherein said training wheel can be moved up and down via a mower unit to adjust the height of said mower unit with respect to the ground. 4. The riding lawn mower according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a fixture capable of fixing said connecting rod is provided on said mower unit.

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