Claims
- 1. A terrain traversing vehicle comprising:
- a vertically movable mower mounted to said vehicle;
- a deck member provided on said mower;
- a plurality of vertical cutter shafts supported by said deck member;
- a plurality of cutting blades corresponding to each of said plurality of cutter shafts, said plurality of cutting blades being parallel to a cutting surface;
- belting means for rotating said plurality of cutter shafts in a clipping direction;
- a clipping passage provided in communication with said mower for transferring clippings in a lateral direction away from said vehicle;
- horizontally rotatable impeller means mounted on a distal end of said clipping passage for discharging clippings from said clipping passage;
- collection means for receiving discharged clippings;
- said impeller means including impeller members rotatably supported inside a housing case by a lateral impeller shaft, said lateral impeller shaft being supported at one end by an outer wall of the housing case and communicating at an opposing end with said clipping passage;
- outlet means for communicating with said collection means; and
- shaft power transmission means and belt transmission means for driving said impeller members, wherein said shaft power transmission means includes a power take off shaft for branching power from said belting means to one of said plurality of cutter shafts positioned closest to said impeller means, a transmission shaft and a power receiving shaft operatively connected to said power take off shaft, wherein said belt transmission means includes pulleys and a belt parallel to the outer wall of the housing case;
- said housing case being angled rearwardly at each side of said vehicle with respect to a line transverse to the vehicle travelling direction, wherein each of said power take off shaft, transmission shaft and power receiving shaft are arranged, respectively away from said vehicle in line with said housing case and said belt transmission means is operatively connected to the power receiving shaft outboard of said housing case.
- 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a transmission case having bevel gears is provided at a widthwise midportion of said mower deck and an input shaft having its axis directed toward the direction of advance of the vehicle is attached to one of the bevel gears, said power take off shaft having a bevel gear in mesh with the bevel gears of said transmission case.
- 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission shaft for operatively connecting the power take off shaft to the power receiving shaft includes universal joints.
- 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power receiving shaft and the lateral impeller shaft have their axes positioned parallel to each other.
- 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lateral impeller shaft includes a free end at the widthwise midportion of the case housing and has its axis positioned transverse to the direction of transport of the clippings through said clipping passage, the lateral impeller shaft being positioned within the range of height of the outlet means and having impeller members attached thereto in a radial arrangement, the impeller members having inner edges extending radially outwardly of the lateral shaft impeller toward an inlet of said impeller means.
- 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the housing case accommodating said impeller members is circular in side elevation and has an outlet formed at the upper side of said housing case tangentially thereof.
- 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power vehicle is of the two-axle four-wheel type and is provided with the mower under the vehicle body between front and rear wheels of the vehicle body and with said collection means at the rear portion of the vehicle body for discharging clipping rearward and upward.
- 8. A terrain travelling vehicle comprising:
- a vertically movable mower;
- means for suspending said mower from the vehicle;
- a deck member provided to cover the surface area of said mower;
- a plurality of vertical cutter shafts supported by said deck member;
- a plurality of cutting blades corresponding to each of said plurality of vertical cutter shafts, said cutting blades being substantially parallel to a cutting surface;
- belting means for rotating said plurality of vertical cutter shafts in a clipping direction;
- a clipping passage provided in communication with said mower for transferring clippings in a lateral direction away from said vehicle;
- horizontally rotatable impeller means for discharging clippings from said clipping passage;
- collection means for collecting discharged clippings, said collection means including duct members extending from said impeller means to said collection means;
- said impeller means including impeller blades rotatably supported inside a housing case by a lateral shaft, said lateral shaft being supported at one end by an outer wall of the housing case and communicating at an opposing end with said clipping passage;
- outlet means for communicating with said duct members of said collection means; and
- shaft power transmission means and belt transmission means for driving said impeller blades, wherein said shaft transmission means includes a power take off shaft for branching power from said belting means to one of said plurality of cutter shafts positioned closest to said impeller means, a transmission shaft and a power receiving shaft operatively connected to said power take off shaft, and wherein said belt transmission means includes pulleys and a belt parallel to the outer wall of the housing case;
- said housing case being angled rearwardly with respect to a line transverse to the vehicle travelling direction, each of said power take off shaft and said power receiving shaft are arranged, respectively, away from said vehicle in line with said housing case, said belt transmission means being operatively connected to the power receiving shaft outboard of said housing case, and said power take off shaft being branched through a rotary shaft and operatively connected to one of said plurality of cutter shafts positioned closest to said impeller means; and
- a transmission case projecting from said mower deck and outwardly of said means for supporting, whereby raising and lowering of said deck member does not interfere with said transmission case.
- 9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the transmission shaft for operatively connecting the power take off shaft to the power receiving shaft has universal joints.
- 10. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the power receiving shaft and the lateral impeller shaft have their axes positioned parallel to each other.
- 11. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the lateral impeller shaft has a free end at the widthwise midportion of the housing case and has its axis positioned transverse to the direction of transport of the clippings through the clipping passage, the lateral impeller shaft being positioned within the range of height of the outlet means and having the impeller blades attached thereto in a radial arrangement, the impeller blades having inner edges extending radially outwardly of the lateral impeller shaft toward an inlet of said impeller means.
- 12. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the housing case accommodating the impeller blades is circular in side elevation and has an outlet formed at the upper side of said housing case tangentially thereof.
- 13. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the rotary shaft has a rotary member at its lower end and is retained in alignment with the vertical cutter shaft by the rotary member, the rotary member being supported by a bearing on the transmission case.
- 14. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the mower is liftably attached to the front end of the vehicle body by a pair of opposite link means, and the transmission case supporting the rotary shaft is positioned outwardly of the link means.
- 15. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the power vehicle is of the two-axle four-wheel type, and the mower is liftably attached to the front end of the vehicle by link means, the front wheels and the rear wheels being drive wheels, the rear wheels being steerable wheels.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
62-120689[U] |
Aug 1987 |
JPX |
|
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 889,364, filed on July 25, 1986, pending.
US Referenced Citations (15)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1251570 |
Oct 1967 |
DEX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
889364 |
Jul 1986 |
|