Abstract:
A fender ( 3   b ) for a wheel on an agricultural vehicle having a cab, said fender comprising an inner contour ( 3   d ) proximal to the vehicle for attachment to the cab and a distal outer contour ( 3   e ) wherein the outer contour is radially inclined with respect to the inner contour.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates to a wheel fender on an agricultural vehicle such as an agricultural tractor. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Agricultural tractors are provided with front and rear wheel fenders. The rear wheel fenders are usually attached directly to the tractor cab by bolts and the front wheel tractors are usually attached to brackets which are attached to the frame or chassis of the tractor. 
         [0005]    The fender typically comprises a curved sheet of material having a width and two opposing longitudinal edges. The fender is typically narrower than the width of a standard tyre fitted to the tractor although certain tyres such as those used for row crop work may be narrower. The fender has an inner contour which when mounted to the tractor is proximal to the tractor and an opposing outer contour distal from the tractor. The outer contour is provided with a lip and the inner contour is provided with a flange. The lip on the outer contour extends radially inwards towards the wheel. The flange on the inner contour provides a means for attaching the fender to the tractor and the lip on the outer contour provides a means for attaching a fender extension or fender cover to the already mounted fender. 
         [0006]    In order to reduce the pressure applied to the soil and therefore reduce the amount of ground compaction, for example when seeding, it may be necessary to mount wider tyres to the tractor or to use two tyres on one wheel hub. In such a case it is necessary to fix a fender extension to the existing fender, so that the width of the fender plus fender extension extends over the increased tyre width. The lip of the already mounted fender therefore does not extend over the increased width of the tyre or tyres and instead is in radial alignment with a part of the newly attached tyre or tyres. If the tractor is subjected to roll movement, it is possible that the lip of the outer contour of the fender, or another part of the fender comes into contact with the tyre causing damage to the tyre and fender and affecting the movement of the tractor. 
         [0007]    It is desirable to provide a cab on a tractor which provides the driver with a great a view as possible through the side windows. It is therefore desirable to mount the fenders a low as possible to the cab so that a large a pane of glass as possible can be mounted to the sides of the cab. With this arrangement the distance between the lip and/or fender and the tyre is small and the lip and/or part of the fender may come into contact with the tyre when the tractor is subjected to roll movement. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a wheel fender for an agricultural vehicle which obviates or at least alleviates the problems associated with the prior art. 
         [0009]    According to the invention there is provided a fender for a wheel on an agricultural vehicle having a cab as claimed in claim  1 . Since the lip of the outer contour of the wheel fender is positioned at a greater radial distance from the wheel than the prior art allows, the tractor can undertake greater roll movement before the lip comes into contact with the tyre, or tyres. Moreover, the invention allows a fender to be mounted to a cab at a lower level than the prior art allows thus enabling a larger surface area of glass to be mounted to cab and improving driver visibility. Preferred features of the invention are set out in the dependent claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0010]    The invention will now be described, by example only with reference to the following drawings in which: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1   a  is a side view of a tractor fitted with a front and rear wheel fender, 
           [0012]      FIG. 1   b  is a more detailed perspective view of the rear wheel fender of  FIG. 1   a,    
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view along line A-A of  FIG. 1   a  showing a wheel fender arrangement in accordance with the invention, 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a more detailed view of  FIG. 2 , 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view along line D-D of  FIG. 2 , 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view along line A-A of  FIG. 1   a  showing one embodiment of the wheel fender only, and 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view along line A-A of  FIG. 1   a  showing a second embodiment of the wheel fender only. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]      FIG. 1   a  is a side view of a tractor  1  having a cab  2 , front and rear wheels  5   a  and  5   b  with respective front and rear wheel fenders  3   a  and  3   b.  Rear wheel fender  3   b  is provided with a fender extension  4  which is shown more clearly in  FIG. 1   b.    
         [0019]      FIG. 1   b  is a more detailed perspective view of  FIG. 1   a  showing the rear wheel fender  3   b  which has an inner contour  3   d  proximal to the tractor. The fender has an outer contour  3   e  which is distal from the tractor. The inner contour is provided with a flange  3   g  for attaching the fender to the tractor. Flange  3   g  is attached to the tractor cab  2 . The outer contour is provided with a lip  3   h  (not visible in  FIG. 1   b ). The lip  3   h  on outer contour  3   e  extends radially inwards towards the wheel  5   b  substantially perpendicular to the plane of the outside surface  3   i  of the fender. The flange  3   g  on inner contour  3   d  provides means for bolting the fender  3   b  to the cab  2 . The lip  3   h  on the outer contour provides means for connecting a fender extension  4  to it. (In the case of the tractor fitted with a narrow tyre, a fender cover may be attached to lip  3   h  instead of a fender extension. This is done mainly for aesthetic reasons). The tractor  1  is also provided with a fender bracket  3   c  which provides a base onto which a light or mirror may be mounted. 
         [0020]    The fender has four edges. Two arced edges of differing lengths and two edges of the same length defining the width of the fender. 
         [0021]    By inner and outer contours it is meant the arced edges of the fender  3   b  from which the flange  3   g  and lip  3   h  extend respectively. 
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view of  FIG. 1   a  along line A-A showing a fender arrangement in accordance with the invention. It is easier to see that a wheel  5   b  wider than the width of fender  3   b  has been fitted. This has the consequence that fender extension  4  must be fitted to lip  3   h  to increase the overall width of the fender. Since a wheel wider than the width of fender  3   b  has been fitted, lip  3   h  protrudes radially inwards towards the wheel in alignment with a part of the wheel. However, in accordance with the invention, the fender  3   b  is radially inclined so that the under surface  3   j  of fender  3   b  at the outer contour  3   e  is spaced further away from the wheel  5   b  than the under surface of the inner contour  3   d.  In other words the radius of the outer contour  3   h  is greater than the radius of the inner contour  3   d.  This has the effect that lip  3   h  is not as close to the wheel  5   b  as with the prior art and therefore the tractor can tolerate greater roll movement before the lip  3   h  interferes with the wheel  5   b.    
         [0023]      FIG. 3  shows the area referenced B in  FIG. 2  in greater detail. Because the fender  3   b  is radially inclined from the inner contour  3   d  to the outer contour  3   e,  the free end of lip  3   h  of the outer contour  3   e  is spaced further away from the wheel  5   b  (indicated as distance Y in  FIG. 3 ) than the distance of inner contour  3   d  from wheel  5   b  (indicated as distance X in  FIG. 3 ). Distance Y is measured perpendicular to a surface of the outer contour and distance X is measured perpendicular to a surface of the inner contour. Lip  3   e  extends radially inwardly towards the wheel  5   b.  It can be seen that if the fender  3   b  was not radially inclined the lip  3   h  would protrude closer to the wheel than both flange  3   g  and inner contour  3   d  and thus interfere with the wheel  5   b  during roll movement of the tractor. 
         [0024]      FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view along line D-D of  FIG. 2  showing the space between the outer contour  3   e  of the fender and the wheel  5   b  is greater than the space between the inner contour  3   d  and the wheel  5   b.    
         [0025]      FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view of the rear wheel fender along line A-A of  FIG. 1   a  showing the shape of the rear right hand side fender only. As can be seen, flange  3   g  is radially inclined at a gentle angle until inner contour  3   d.  From inner contour  3   d  the fender is radially inclined at a steeper angle and has a convex outer surface  3   i.  Outer contour  3   e  is provided with a lip  3   h  which is radially inclined towards the wheel. Lip  3   h  is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the outer surface  3   i  of fender  3   b.    
         [0026]    In the shown embodiment lip  3   h  is perpendicular to the plane of outer surface  3   i.  It is envisaged that the lip  3   h  may be parallel or inclined in any specific angle towards outer surface  3   i  without leaving the scope of the invention. 
         [0027]      FIG. 6  shows a cross sectional view of a second embodiment of the fender in which the flange  3   g  and upper surface  3   i  of the fender  3   b  are inclined at the same angle. In this embodiment fender  3   b  is not provided with a lip. 
         [0028]    The use of a fender in accordance with the invention has the advantage that the tractor can experience greater roll movement without the fender coming into contact with a tyre than the prior art allows. 
         [0029]    Moreover the fender can be fitted to the cab at a lower height than the prior art allows (thus giving the driver a clearer view through the side windows of the cab.)