Patent Application
20080001004
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Referring now to
The crop sprayer 100 also includes an engine 106 which is mounted on a forward portion of the chassis 102 in front of the cab 104. The engine 106 may be any type of engine such as a diesel engine commercially available from Cummins Engine Co. Inc., of Columbus, Ind. or Deere & Company of Moline Ill. Moreover, while the embodiment of
The crop sprayer 100 further includes a storage tank 108 which stores liquid chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers that are to be sprayed on a field. The storage tank 108 is mounted on the chassis 102 at a location which is aft of the cab 104. The crop sprayer 100 also includes a boom assembly 110 which may be deployed and is operable to distribute the chemicals in the storage tank 108 over a wide area in a field. In particular, the liquid chemicals are distributed by a number of nozzles (not shown) which are spaced along the boom assembly 110 through which the liquid chemicals are sprayed as the crop sprayer 100 is propelled along the rows associated with the field. In alternative embodiments, the storage tank and boom assembly may be located at different locations on the crop sprayer such as at the front end of the crop sprayer.
The chassis 102 is supported by two front wheels 112 and 114 and two rear wheels 116 and 118. The chassis 102 is supported by the two front wheels 112 and 114 through support brackets 120 and 121, respectively. The brackets 120 and 121 are fixedly attached to an axle 124 which in turn is fixedly attached to the chassis 102. The axle 124 is located directly above the axes of rotation of the wheels 112 and 114 when the wheels 112 and 114 are steered to a straight forward direction. As shown in
As shown in
Propulsion for the crop sprayer 100 is provided through a drive train assembly 130 shown in
The engine 106 generates rotational mechanical energy which is transferred to the clutch assembly 132 by a crankshaft 140 of the engine 106. The engine 106 includes a throttle 142. The throttle 142 is operable to control rotational speed of the crankshaft 140 of the engine 106. In particular, the throttle 142 controls the amount of air that is advanced into a combustion chamber (not shown) of the engine 106. As the amount of air advanced into the combustion chamber is increased, the flow of fuel injected into the combustion chamber is similarly increased. By increasing the amount of fuel and air combusted in the combustion chamber of the engine 106, the rotational speed of the crankshaft 140 of the engine 106 is increased. A signal is sent over a signal line 144 to control the position the throttle 142 during operation of the engine 106 so as to control the rotational speed of the crankshaft 140.
The clutch assembly 132 is positioned between the engine 106 and the main drive shaft 136. The clutch assembly 132 includes a torque converter which has a forward clutch 146 and a reverse clutch 148. The forward clutch 146 is operable to selectively couple and decouple the crankshaft 140 of the engine 106 to the drive shaft 136. In particular, when the forward clutch 146 couples the crankshaft 140 to the drive shaft 136, the drive shaft 136 is caused to rotate in a clockwise rotational direction, as indicated by the arrow 150. Whereas, when the forward clutch 146 decouples the crankshaft 140 from the drive shaft 136, the drive shaft 136 is not caused to rotate in the direction of the arrow 150.
The forward clutch 146 is actuated so as to couple the crankshaft 140 to the drive shaft 136 in response to an electric signal being received via a signal line 152. In particular, when an “on” signal is received by the forward clutch 146 via the signal line 152, the forward clutch 146 couples the crankshaft 140 to the drive shaft 136 so as to rotate the drive shaft 136 in the clockwise rotational direction. When an “off” signal is received by the forward clutch 146 via the signal line 152, the forward clutch 146 decouples the crankshaft 140 from the drive shaft 136.
Similarly, the reverse clutch 148 is operable to selectively couple and decouple the crankshaft 140 of the engine 106 to the drive shaft 136. In particular, when the reverse clutch 148 couples the crankshaft 140 to the drive shaft 136, the drive shaft 136 is caused to rotate in a counterclockwise rotational direction, as indicated by the arrow 154. When the reverse clutch 148 decouples the crankshaft 140 from the drive shaft 136, the drive shaft 136 is not caused to rotate in the counterclockwise rotational direction indicated by the arrow 154.
The reverse clutch 148 is actuated so as to couple the crankshaft 140 to the drive shaft 136 in response to an electric signal being received via a signal line 156. In particular, when an “on” signal is received by the reverse clutch 148 via the signal line 156, the reverse clutch 148 couples the crankshaft 140 to the drive shaft 136 so as to rotate the drive shaft 136 in the counterclockwise rotational direction. When an “off” signal is received by the reverse clutch 148 via the signal line 156, the reverse clutch 148 decouples the crankshaft 140 from the drive shaft 136.
The transmission 134 is interposed between the clutch assembly 132 and the drive shaft 136. The transmission 134 in this embodiment is a four speed transmission which is operative to provide four separate gear ratios between the crankshaft 140 and the drive shaft 136. The transmission 134 allows the operator to selectively change the gear ratio between the clutch assembly 132 and the drive shaft 136. In particular, when an “up-shift” signal is received by the transmission 134 via the signal line 158, the transmission 134 decouples the previously selected gear from the forward clutch 146 and couples the gear with the next highest gear ratio to the forward clutch 146 so as to rotate the drive shaft 136 at a higher rotational speed but with less torque. When a “down-shift” signal is received by the transmission 134 via the signal line 158, the transmission 134 decouples the previously selected gear from the forward clutch 146 and couples the gear with the next lowest gear ratio to the forward clutch 146 so as to rotate the drive shaft 136 at a lower rotational speed but with more torque. Thus, the change of gear ratios allows the engine 106 to provide torque to the main drive shaft 136 for a variety of operating conditions. In particular, a gear ratio may be selected that provides high torque at low crankshaft speeds whereas a different gear ratio may be selected that provides low torque at high crankshaft speeds.
The signal lines 144, 152, 156 and 158 extend between a microprocessor 160 and the respective component. The microprocessor 160 is part of a crop sprayer control assembly 162 which is located in the cab 104.
The rear differential 138, which is part of the axle assembly 122 as well as a part of the drive train assembly 130, receives the rotational movement of the drive shaft 136. The rear differential 138 splits the power from the drive shaft 136 between other components of the axle assembly 122 which are operably connected to the rear wheels 116 or 118 in order to propel the crop sprayer 100 in the forward direction and the reverse direction. More specifically, the rear differential 138, which in this embodiment is located just forward of and at about the same height as the axle 130, splits the power from the main drive shaft 136 between a left differential output shaft 164 (
Continuing with
Similarly, as shown in
Accordingly, as the main drive shaft 136 rotates, the rear differential 138 is forced to rotate. The rear differential 138 splits the power from the main drive shaft 136 and causes the left differential output shaft 164 and the right differential output shaft 166 to rotate. The rotation is mechanically passed through the universal joints 186 and 170 to the transfer shafts 184 and 174 and on to the universal joints 190 and 182, respectively. The rotation of the universal joints 190 and 182 forces the wheel drive shafts 188 and 178 to rotate, thereby rotating the rear wheel 118 and the rear wheel 116, respectively.
The relative position of the foregoing components is shown more clearly in
Alternatively, a rear differential may be located behind the rear axle. In such an embodiment, clearance at the rear of the crop sprayer is maximized by directing the main drive shaft of the crop sprayer above the rear axle, although the main drive shaft may be directed beneath the axle. In either of these embodiments, the transfer drive shaft associated with a rear differential located behind a rear axle will extend in a forward direction along a lengthwise axis as well as in a downward direction.
Returning to
Thus, in the above described embodiment, rotational movement of a drive shaft is transferred to a wheel drive shaft without penetrating an axle and without the use of a gear box. Moreover, the reduction in clearance resulting form the disclosed configuration is minimal and the configuration does not necessitate a split axle.
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same should be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character. It is understood that only the preferred embodiments have been presented and that all changes, modifications and further applications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected.
