Motor vehicles – Motor as source of power for other machine
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-30
2003-05-20
Dickson, Paul N. (Department: 3618)
Motor vehicles
Motor as source of power for other machine
C074S011000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06564891
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a power take-off assembly for a working vehicle in which a rear- or front-PTO shaft is particularly provided in addition to a mid-PTO shaft in a very simple manner whereby an essential part of the vehicle can be made common to a working vehicle having only a mid-PTO shaft and a working vehicle having a mid-PTO shaft and a rear- or front-PTO shaft.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,099,936 and 5,901,605 techniques that a rear-PTO shaft is additionally provided to a working vehicle having a mid-PTO shaft in a simple manner.
Of these patents, U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,936 discloses a working vehicle in which a transmission casing having left and right rear wheel axles is disposed between left and right rear wheels and in which there is provided a mid-PTO shaft which extends from the inside of the transmission casing through a front wall of the casing. For providing a rear-PTO shaft, a rear cover of the transmission casing of a working vehicle having only a mid-PTO shaft is removed and, in place of it, a power take-off casing which includes in it a rear-PTO shaft extending rearwardly of the power take-off casing and a transmission mechanism for transmitting power to the rear-PTO shaft is mounted on a rear end of the transmission casing. An input member of the transmission mechanism is operatively connected to a final drive gear, which is rotatably mounted on the mid-PTO shaft, through a clutch which is shifted selectively to a position where the final gear is coupled only to the mid-PTO shaft, another position where the final gear is coupled to both of the mid-PTO shaft and the input member, and a further position where the final gear is coupled only to the input member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,605 discloses a working vehicle in which there is provided a transmission casing including therein a mid-PTO shaft which extends from the inside of the transmission casing forwardly of the casing an electromagnetic clutch which is disposed between coaxially arranged input and output shafts for selectively coupling the shafts, and a speed reduction gearing which transmits power from the output shaft to the mid-PTO shaft. For converting a working vehicle having only a mid-PTO shaft into a working vehicle having a mid-PTO shaft and a rear-PTO shaft, a rear cover of the transmission casing is exchanged for a new rear cover and a transmission shaft in the reduction gearing is exchanged for a clutch shaft and, at the same time, positions of a part of gears in the reduction gearing are changed. The rear-PTO shaft is supported by the new rear cover and by a rear-PTO cover which is secured to a rear surface of the new rear cover, and there is provided on the clutch shaft a clutch which is shifted selectively to a position where power is transmitted only to the mid-PTO shaft, another position where power is transmitted to both of the mid-PTO shaft and the rear-PTO shaft, and a further position where power is transmitted only to the rear-PTO shaft.
Therefore, for converting a working vehicle having only a mid-PTO shaft into a working vehicle having a mid-PTO shaft and a rear-PTO shaft, each of the above-referenced U.S. patents requires removal or exchange of the rear cover of the transmission casing so that the converting operation is troublesome. Particularly, the rear cover of the transmission casing is used for supporting transmission shafts or gear-supporting shafts in the transmission casing, which makes the converting operation troublesome. The converting operation is very troublsome with respect to the power take-off assembly disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,605 because it requires position-changing operation of a part of gears in the reduction gearing as well.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a novel power take-off assembly for a working vehicle in which a rear- or front-PTO shaft is provided in a manner such that converting operation from a working vehicle having only a mid-PTO shaft into a working vehicle having a mid-PTO shaft and a rear- or front-PTO shaft can be made very easily. Another object of the invention is to provide a novel power take-off assembly for a working vehicle in which a rear- or front-PTO shaft is provided in a manner such that a working vehicle having only a mid-PTO shaft can be offered to numerous users requring no rear- or front-PTO function with a low cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a power take-off assembly for a working vehicle in which a transmission casing (
3
) having left and right drive wheel axles (
4
a
) is disposed between left and right drive wheels (
4
) and in which there is provided a mid-PTO shaft (
9
) which extends from the inside of the transmission casing (
3
) through an axial end wall (
3
a
) of the transmission casing located at an inner side of the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The power take-off assembly according to the present invention is characterized in:
that a power take-off casing (
47
) is mounted on an outer surface of an axial end wall (
3
c
) of the transmission casing (
3
) located at an outer side of the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the power take-off casing (
47
) including in it a second PTO shaft (
12
), which extends from the power take-off casing toward a direction opposite to the mid-PTO shaft (
9
), and a transmission mechanism (
50
) for transmitting power to the second PTO shaft (
12
);
that an input member (
52
) of the transmission mechanism (
50
) is operatively connected to a drive mechanism (
46
) for the mid-PTO shaft (
9
) in the transmission casing (
3
) through an opening (
44
) in the axial end wall (
3
c
) in the transmission casing (
3
) located at the outer side of the longitudinal direction of the vehicle; and
that a clutch (
60
) for selectively cutting-off the transmission of power to the second PTO shaft (
12
) is provided.
The above-referenced second PTO shaft is a rear-PTO shaft extending rearwardly of the power take-off casing when the above-referenced drive wheels are left and right rear wheels between which the transmission casing is disposed, whereas the second PTO shaft is a front-PTO shaft extending forwardly of the power take-off casing when the drive wheels are left and right front wheels between which the transmission casing is disposed.
Because the power take-off assembly according to the present invention is structured such that, while the structure of the transmission casing (
3
) remains unchanged, a power take-off casing (
47
) including therein a second PTO shaft (
12
) and a transmission mechanism (
50
) therefor is mounted on the outer surface of an end wall (
3
c
) of the transmission casing located at an outer side of the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and an input member (
52
) of the transmission mechanism is operatively connected to the drive mechanism (
46
) for the mid-PTO shaft (
9
) through an opening (
44
) in the axial end wall, the axial end wall (
3
c
) is made common to a working vehicle having only a mid-PTO shaft and a working vehicle having a mid-PTO shaft and a second PTO shaft, so that the axial end wall can be used commonly to both kinds of the working vehicles for supporting transmission shafts or gear-supporting shafts. Accordingly, in converting a working vehicle having only a mid-PTO shaft into a working vehicle having a mid-PTO shaft and a second PTO shaft, removal or exchange of a rear cover corresponding to such an axial end wall, which is required in the above-referenced two U.S. patents, is no more required and the converting operation can be perfomed very easily, while the axial end wall is used for supporting shafts as it is, only by mounting the power take-off casing onto the outer surface of the axial end wall and by connecting the input member to the drive mechanism for the mid-PTO shaft. For converting a working vehicle having a mid-PTO shaft and a rear- or front-PTO shaft into a working vehicle having only a mid-PTO shaft, it is satisfactory that the power take-off casing (
47
) is rem
Ishii Norihiro
Kawada Hirohiko
Nagata Kentaro
Tottori Hiroshi
Dickson Paul N.
Fleming Faye M.
Kanzaki Kokyukoki Mfg. Co. Ltd.
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