Patent ID: 7699734
Filing Date: 2010-04-20
Classification: A01D,F16H,Y10T

Abstract:
1. In an agricultural implement having a driveable mechanism for performing operations as the implement moves across a field, the improvement comprising: a drive operable to supply power to the driveable mechanism, said drive including a rotating assembly that comprises a stub shaft presenting spaced apart proximal and distal ends, a drive element fixed relative to the stub shaft so as to be spaced between the proximal and distal ends thereof, and a rotating member fixed relative to the stub shaft so as to be positioned distally from the drive element, said rotating member being larger in diameter than said drive element, said drive including an endless element wrapped at least partly around the drive element so as to be drivingly interconnected therewith, the endless element presenting a cross-sectional dimension; and a component spaced adjacent the rotating member to cooperatively present a gap therebetween, wherein the gap defines a maximum distance between the component and the rotating member that is less than the cross-sectional dimension of the endless element, said rotating member including a radially inwardly extending peripheral notch configured to receive at least a portion of a cross-section of the endless element therein so that, upon rotation of the rotating member with the at least a portion of the cross-section of the endless element received in the notch, the endless element is moveable past the component to thereby be removeable from the rotating assembly in the distal direction, said component presenting a gap-defining margin that is spaced radially from the axis of rotation of the rotating member, said notch having a deepest point that is radially closer to the axis of rotation of the rotating member than is said gap-defining margin by an amount that permits said portion of the cross-section of the endless element to clear said gap-defining margin of the component when said portion of the cross-section of the endless element is received within the notch and the notch is rotated past the gap-defining margin.