Patent Publication Number: US-2023148032-A1

Title: Mid mower auto-connection device

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0154910, filed Nov. 11, 2021, the entire content of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present disclosure relates to a mid mower device mounted to a portion between front wheels and rear wheels of a working vehicle to perform grass mowing. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a mid mower auto-connection device capable of reducing a mounting/removing time of a mid mower with respect to a working vehicle, and of providing the user&#39;s convenience in response to mounting/removing of the mid mower. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In general, a mower is a device that can mow grass and the like to an appropriate length, and refers as a machine receiving power from an internal power source or an external power source and rotating a rotatable blade to perform grass mowing. 
     For example, in a mower that can mow grass by receiving power from a working vehicle (agricultural machine) such as a tractor, the mower is mounted to a front portion or a rear portion of the tractor or mounted to a portion between front wheels and rear wheels of the tractor and receives rotating power of a power take off (PTO) shaft of the tractor to operate a plurality of rotatable blades installed therein to efficiently mow grass. In addition, the mower has improved quality of the work thereof and is configured such that the cut grass is evenly distributed and discharged to the outside without being locally discharged, thereby preventing the growing grass from being crushed by the mowed grass and dying b. 
     As an example, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2019-0074333 disclosed a mid mower device capable of mounting a mower to a portion between front wheels and rear wheels of a working vehicle and travelling the working vehicle and performing grass mowing through rotatable blades installed at the mower. 
     In the above-described document of Korean Patent Application Publication, a mower unit is mounted to a lower portion of a vehicle body between the front wheels and the rear wheels, an elevation and inclination cylinder is provided to adjust a degree of inclination of the mower unit, and a sensor part for confirming the terrain slope of a working location and a controller for controlling operation of the elevation and inclination cylinder in response to the terrain slope measured by the sensor part are provided. Accordingly, the inclination adjustment of the mower unit is possible in response to the terrain slope of the working location. 
     In the case of the mid mower mounted to the portion between the front wheels and the rear wheels of the working vehicle and performing grass mowing as described above, the mid mower is mounted to the working vehicle in a method in which the front wheels of the working vehicle moves over the mid mower placed on the ground and then the mid mower disposed between the front wheels and the rear wheels of the working vehicle is coupled to the working vehicle. 
     However, in the case of the conventional mid mower as described above, in order to connect the mid mower located between the front wheels and the rear wheels of the working vehicle to a lower portion of the working vehicle, a user needs to connect multiple connection links provided both of the mid mower and the working vehicle to each other, and to connect power transmission shafts provided in the mid mower and the working vehicle to each other. Therefore, a mounting time of the mid mower is excessive, and there is a need for the user to manually connect various connection links or power transmission shafts to each other, so that a lot of inconvenience is caused when the mid mower is installed at the working vehicle. 
     Documents of Related Art 
     (Patent Document 1) Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2019-0074333 (Jun. 28, 2019) 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present disclosure has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the related art, and the present invention is intended to propose a mid mower auto-connection device, which is configured to automatically perform mounting/removing of a mid mower in a process where a working vehicle moves forward/rearward over the mid mower, so that a mounting/removing time of the mid mower is significantly reduced and inconvenience caused by manual work in the mounting/removing of the mid mower is reduced, thereby increasing the use convenience. 
     In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a mid mower auto-connection device connecting a working vehicle to a mid mower, the mid mower auto-connection device including: front fixation brackets fixed to front portions of a vehicle body frame of the working vehicle; a front shaft coupled to ends of front links protruding toward a front space of the mid mower, and removably coupled to the front fixation brackets; rear fixation brackets fixed to rear portions of the mid mower; rotation links rotatably mounted to the vehicle body frame, and respectively including rear shafts removably coupled to the rear fixation brackets; a female connector shaft connected to a portion of a gear box of the mid mower via a universal joint, and including a female connector part at an end thereof; and a male connector shaft connected to a power take off (PTO) shaft of the working vehicle via a universal joint, and including a male connector part at an end thereof, the male connector part being removably coupled to the female connector part. 
     The female connector shaft may be formed longer than the male connector shaft. 
     The female connector part and the male connector part may have a spline coupling structure in which slip movement in a shaft direction may be possible but a rotating force in a circumferential direction may be transmitted. 
     The mid mower auto-connection device may include a support member rotatably mounted to the mid mower, and configured to support the female connector shaft from below. 
     The mid mower auto-connection device may include a rotatable shaft rotatably mounted to the mid mower with the support member being fixed to one portion thereof, and including a fixation rod part at another portion thereof, the fixation rod part being configured to move in conjunction with the support member. 
     The mid mower may include a rotation-preventing bracket engaged with the fixation rod part and configured to temporarily restrain rotational movement of the rotatable shaft. 
     When the mid mower moves upward, the support member may be separated from the female connector shaft by a downward pressure of the female connector shaft. 
     The mid mower auto-connection device may include: a support frame coupled to a portion of the gear box of the working vehicle, in which the PTO shaft is located; a rotatable bracket to which the male connector shaft is rotatably mounted, the rotatable bracket being coupled to one portion of the support frame to be vertically rotatable; and a spring configured to elastically connect the support frame to the rotatable bracket. 
     A bearing may be provided at the rotatable bracket to rotatably support the male connector shaft. 
     According to the configuration of the mid mower auto-connection device of the present disclosure configured as described above, in the process where the working vehicle moves forward or rearward over the mid mower, the mid mower can be automatically mounted to/removed from the lower portion of the working vehicle. Therefore, a time of mounting/removing of the mid mower can be significantly reduced, and in mounting/removing of the mid mower, there is no need for the user to conventionally perform a locking/releasing work of a connection link or a connection/removal work of a power transmission shaft in a manual manner before or after mounting of the mid mower, so that the use convenience can be improved. In addition, since the mechanical configuration for mounting/removing the mid mower with respect to the working vehicle is very simple, the manufacturing cost of the product can be significantly reduced. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a side view showing a mounting state of a mid mower to a working vehicle via a mid mower auto-connection device according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is an exploded-perspective view showing a main part structure of the mid mower auto-connection device according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  3    is an assembly view of  FIG.  2   . 
         FIG.  4    is a side view of  FIG.  3   . 
         FIG.  5    is a detail view showing a structure of the mid mower according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    is a perspective view showing the mid mower, wherein a female connector shaft is supported by a support member. 
         FIG.  7    is a perspective view showing a state in which a male connector shaft is mounted to a support frame coupled to a portion of a gear box of the working vehicle. 
         FIG.  8    is a detail view showing a structure in which a rotatable bracket, to which the male connector shaft is mounted, is rotatably installed at a support bracket. 
         FIG.  9    is an example view successively showing a mounting process in which the mid mower is mounted to the working vehicle via the mid mower auto-connection device of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinbelow, an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings such that the present disclosure can be easily embodied by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. 
     However, the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiment described hereinbelow. Furthermore, the same reference numerals marked throughout the detailed description refer to the same or similar elements throughout. 
     Hereinbelow, a mid mower auto-connection device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings. Here, a direction of forward moving of a working vehicle is defined as a forward direction, and a direction of rearward moving of the working vehicle is defined as a rearward direction. 
     Referring to  FIGS.  1  to  5   , the mid mower auto-connection device according to the present disclosure includes front fixation brackets  220  fixed to front portion of a vehicle body frame  210  of a working vehicle, a front shaft  112  disposed at a front side of a mid mower  100  and removably coupled to the front fixation brackets  220 , rear fixation brackets  120  fixed to rear portions of the mid mower  100 , rear shafts  232  respectively coupled to ends of rotation links  230  mounted to the vehicle body frame  210  and removably coupled to the rear fixation brackets  120 , a female connector shaft  140  connected to a portion of a gear box  102  of the mid mower  100  via a universal joint  130 , and a male connector shaft  260  connected to a power take off (PTO) shaft (not shown) of the working vehicle via a universal joint  250  and removably coupled to the female connector shaft  140 . 
     The pair of front fixation brackets  220  is mounted to the opposite front lateral surfaces of the vehicle body frame  210  and the front fixation brackets  22  are fastened to the front shaft  112  of front links  110  disposed at the front side of the mid mower  100 . 
     Openings  222  are respectively formed in front portions of the front fixation brackets  220  and have forward opening shapes so that the front shaft  112  fixed to ends of the front links  110  is inserted thereinto. Here, in order to easily insert the front shaft  112  into the openings, entrance portions of the openings  222  may be formed to have widths vertically inclined and extending. 
     In addition, the front links  110  with the front shaft  112 , the front shaft  112  being fastened to the front fixation brackets  220  of the vehicle body frame  210 , are coupled to front portions of the mid mower  100 . In this case, the front links  110  are projected toward the front side of the mid mower  100  by a predetermined length and the ends thereof are bent to be inclined upward. In addition, the ends of the front links  110  are coupled to the front shaft  112  engaged with the front fixation brackets  220 . 
     With the above-described structure, when the mid mower  100  is mounted to the working vehicle  200 , front wheels  202  of the working vehicle  200  move forward over the mid mower  100 , the front shaft  112  of the mid mower  100  is inserted into and engaged with the openings  222  of the front fixation brackets  220  of the vehicle body frame  210  so that coupling between the front shaft  112  and the front fixation brackets  220  can be achieved. 
     Meanwhile, the rear fixation brackets  120  are fixed to the rear portions of the mid mower  100  and the rear fixation brackets  120  are engaged with and coupled to the rear shafts  232  fixed to the ends of the rotation links  230  of the vehicle body frame  210 . 
     Here, first ends of the rotation links  230  are rotatably coupled to lateral surfaces of the vehicle body frame  210  at a predetermined gap rearward from the front fixation brackets  220 , and second ends thereof are coupled to the rear shafts  232  engaged with the rear fixation brackets  120  fixed to the mid mower  100 . 
     Openings  122  are formed in rear portions of the rear fixation brackets  120  and have rearward opening shapes so that the rear shafts  232  coupled to the ends of the rotation links  230  are inserted thereinto. 
     In this case, the openings  122  of the rear fixation brackets  120  are formed to have the opening direction opposite to the opening direction of the openings  222  of the front fixation brackets  220 , and the entrance portions of the openings  122  of the rear fixation brackets  120  are also formed to have constant vertically inclined and extending widths as in the openings  222  of the front fixation brackets  220 . 
     Here, the rear shafts  232  are respectively coupled to the ends of the two rotation links  230  coupled to the opposite lateral surfaces of the vehicle body frame  210 , but the above-described front shaft  112  has a structure in which one front shaft is provided and coupled to the ends of the front links  110 . 
     Therefore, a coupling structure is provided such that the one front shaft  112  is engaged with the pair of front fixation brackets  220  at the front side of the mid mower  100  and the pair of rear shafts  232  fixed to the ends of the rotation links  230  is engaged with the pair of rear fixation brackets  120  fixed to the mid mower  100  at the rear side of the mid mower  100 . 
     With the above-described structure, when the front wheels  202  of the working vehicle  200  move forward over the mid mower  100 , the one front shaft  112  located at the front side of the mid mower  100  is coupled to the pair of front fixation brackets  220  of the vehicle body frame  210 , and simultaneously, the pair of rear shafts  232  coupled to the ends of the rotation links  230  of the vehicle body frame  210  is respectively coupled to the pair of rear fixation brackets  120  located at the rear side of the mid mower  100 . Accordingly, the mid mower  100  is disposed between the front wheels  202  and rear wheels  204  of the working vehicle  200  and simultaneous fastening between the mid mower and the vehicle body frame  210  is achieved at four different positions of the vehicle body frame  210 , so that a stable fixed state is maintained below the vehicle body frame  210  without movement. 
     Meanwhile, the mid mower  100  includes the gear box  102  mounted thereto and capable of receiving power from the PTO shaft (not shown) mounted to the working vehicle  200  and driving a plurality of rotation blades (not shown) provided therein, and includes the female connector shaft  140  connected to an input shaft of the gear box  102  via the universal joint  130 . In addition, an end of the female connector shaft  140  has a female connector part  142  that may be engaged with and coupled to a male connector part  262  to be described below. 
     Furthermore, the working vehicle  200  includes the male connector shaft  260  connected to the PTO shaft (not shown) protruding from a gear box  240  therein via the universal joint  250 , and an end of the male connector shaft  260  has the male connector part  262  inserted into the female connector part  142  and removably coupled to the female connector part  142 . 
     When the working vehicle  200  moves forward, the female connector shaft  140  and the male connector shaft  260  are fastened to each other by a docking operation between the female connector part  142  and the male connector part  262  and thus power transmission is achieved. When the working vehicle  200  moves rearward, the female connector part  142  and the male connector part  262  are separated from each other and thus power transmission is cut off. 
     In this case, the female connector part  142  and the male connector part  262  may be coupled to each other in a spline coupling structure in which slip movement in a shaft direction is possible but a rotating force in a circumferential direction is transmitted. Then, according to forward and rearward movements of the working vehicle  200 , the female connector part  142  and the male connector part  262  are easily coupled to or separated from each other, and with the female connector part  142  and the male connector part  262  being engaged and coupled to each other, relative movement in the circumferential direction is impossible. Therefore, power of the PTO shaft can be transmitted whole toward the mid mower  100  via the male connector shaft  260  and the female connector shaft  140  engaged with each other. 
     Here, the female connector shaft  140  has a structure extending long rearward from the gear box  102  located at the center portion of the mid mower  100 . In other words, the female connector shaft  140  may be formed to have a sufficiently long length so that the female connector part  142  is located to an outer portion of a rear end of the mid mower  100 . On the other hand, the male connector shaft  260  connected to the PTO shaft via the universal joint  250  is formed to have a length relatively shorter than the female connector shaft  140 . 
     Because, in the case in which the length of the male connector shaft  260  mounted to the working vehicle  200  is formed longer than the length of the female connector shaft  140 , when the working vehicle  200  moves forward to connect the male connector shaft  260  to the female connector shaft  140  of the mid mower  100 , docking of a long male connector shaft  260  to a short female connector shaft  140  is relatively not easy due to movement, etc. of the working vehicle  200 . In addition, even when the working vehicle  200  is independently operated without the mid mower  100 , operation of the working vehicle is inefficient with the long male connector part  262 . 
     Meanwhile,  FIG.  6    is a detail view showing a structure in which the female connector shaft of the mid mower is supported by a support member. 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , the support member  150  is rotatably installed to the mid mower  100  to support the female connector shaft  140  from below. 
     The support member  150  has a plate shape, and an arc-shaped support groove  152  is formed on an upper portion thereof in contact with the female connector shaft  140 , and the arc shape of the support groove  152  corresponds to an outer circumferential surface shape of the female connector shaft  140 . 
     In addition, a lower end of the support member  150  is fixed to a portion of a rotatable shaft  160  rotatably mounted to the mid mower  100 , so that when the rotatable shaft  160  rotates, the support member  150  may rotate in conjunction with the rotation of the rotatable shaft  160 . 
     Furthermore, the rotatable shaft  160  includes a fixation rod part  162  of which one end is perpendicularly bent upward. Corresponding thereto, the mid mower  100  includes a rotation-preventing bracket  170 , and the rotation-preventing bracket  170  temporarily restrains the fixation rod part  162  to prevent the support member  150  supporting the female connector shaft  140  from below from spontaneously rotating. 
     In this case, the rotation-preventing bracket  170  may have a clip shape of which portions coupled to the fixation rod part  162  are elastically opened from each other or closed to each other. 
     Accordingly, when the fixation rod part  162  is engaged with the rotation-preventing bracket  170 , since the rotation of the rotatable shaft  160  is not performed, the support member  150  may stably support the female connector shaft  140  while being in a standing state. 
     In this case, when the fixation rod part  162  is engaged with the rotation-preventing bracket  170 , the upper portion of the support member  150  supporting the female connector shaft  140  is not perpendicular to the ground and has a shape inclined toward the rear side of the mid mower  100  at a predetermined angle. The female connector shaft  140  may also maintain a fixed state with a shape that is not in parallel to the ground and is inclined upward toward the rear side of the mid mower  100  at a predetermined angle. 
     Here, since an angle between the female connector shaft  140  and the ground varies in response to standing angles of the support member  150 , an inclination angle of the female connector shaft  140  can be properly adjusted via the support member  150  so as to achieve the optimum angle at which docking between the female connector shaft  140  and the male connector shaft  260  is easily performed. 
     In addition, when the mid mower  100  moves upward, slip between the female connector shaft  140  and the support member  150  occurs due to the ascending force, and a rotating force in a downward direction is generated to the support member  150 . Accordingly, as the restraining force between the rotation-preventing bracket  170  and the fixation rod part  162  is forcibly released, the support member  150  may be separated from the female connector shaft  140 . In this case, the female connector shaft  140  loses the support force applied by the support member  150  and may rotate downward by its weight. 
     Meanwhile,  FIG.  7    is a perspective view showing a state in which the rotatable bracket with the male connector shaft is mounted to the support frame fixed to a portion of the gear box of the working vehicle, at which the PTO shaft is located.  FIG.  8    is a detail view showing a state in which the female connector shaft is rotatably installed at a portion of the support frame via the rotatable bracket. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  7  and  8   , a support frame  270  is coupled to the portion of the gear box  240  of the working vehicle  200  with the PTO shaft being located at the portion, thereby rotatably supporting the male connector shaft  260 . 
     A portion of the support frame  270  coupled to the portion of the gear box  240  is shaped into a plate, and a support bracket  272  is coupled to one portion of the plate-shaped support frame  270 , and the support bracket  272  is formed to be perpendicular to the support frame  270  and bent upward. 
     In addition, a rotatable bracket  274  coupled to the male connector shaft  260  is rotatably mounted to a portion of the support bracket  272 , and the rotatable bracket  274  may rotate upward and downward around the portion coupled to the support bracket  272 . 
     Furthermore, a spring  276  is mounted between the support bracket  272  and the rotatable bracket  274 . The spring  276  elastically connects the support bracket  272  to the rotatable bracket  274 , and prevents the rotatable bracket  274  from spontaneously rotating upward. 
     In other words, the spring  276  serves to prevent the male connector shaft  260  coupled to the rotatable bracket  274  from tipping upward at a predetermined angle or more and to maintain an aligned state such that the male connector shaft  260  is maintained at an angle capable of easily fastening the male connector shaft  260  to the female connector shaft  140 . In addition, a bearing  278  is mounted to an inner portion of the rotatable bracket  274  to rotatably support the male connector shaft  260 . 
     Hereinbelow, a process in which the mid mower  100  is mounted to the working vehicle  200  via the mid mower auto-connection device of the present disclosure having the above-described structure will be described. 
       FIG.  9    is an example view successively showing a mounting process in which the mid mower is mounted to the working vehicle via the mid mower auto-connection device of the present disclosure. 
     First,  FIG.  9 ( a )  is a view showing a state before the mid mower  100  is mounted to the vehicle body frame  210  of the working vehicle, and in mounting of the mid mower  100 , the working vehicle  200  is located at the rear space of the mid mower  100 . 
     In the state of  FIG.  9 ( a ) , when the working vehicle  200  moves forward by a user (driver) for mounting of the mid mower  100 , as shown in  FIG.  9 ( b ) , the front wheels  202  of the working vehicle  200  stride over the mid mower  100 . 
     As described above, as shown in  FIG.  9 ( c ) , when the front wheels  202  of the working vehicle  200  are in contact with the ground by completely striding over the mid mower  100  and the working vehicle moves further forward, as shown in  FIG.  9 ( d ) , portions of the front fixation brackets  220  fixed to the front portions of the vehicle body frame  210  are fastened to portions of the front shaft  112  of the front links  110  protruding forward of the mid mower  100 . Meanwhile, at the rear space of the mid mower  100 , the rear shafts  232  fixed to the ends of the rotation links  230  are fastened to the rear fixation brackets  120  fixed to the rear portions of the mid mower  100 . Accordingly, as the mid mower  100  is fastened to the working vehicle  200  between the front wheels  202  and the rear wheels  204  of the working vehicle  200  at the two front points and the two rear points of the vehicle body frame  210  at the same time, the solid fastening state of the mid mower  100  without movements in all directions may be maintained below the vehicle body frame  210 . 
     At the same time, as the male connector part  262  formed at the end of the male connector shaft  260  of the vehicle body frame  210  is inserted into the female connector part  142  formed at the end of the female connector shaft  140  of the mid mower  100  and docking between the male connector part  262  and the female connector part  142  is achieved, mounting of the mid mower  100  is completed, and the male connector shaft  260  and the female connector shaft  140  can maintain the connected state in which power transmission is possible from the PTO shaft toward the mid mower  100 . 
     As described above, in mounting of the mid mower  100 , in the process in which the working vehicle  200  moves forward over the mid mower  100  placed on the ground, after the front fixation brackets  220  of the vehicle body frame  210  are fastened to the front shaft  112  of the mid mower  100 , and simultaneously, the rear shafts  232  of the vehicle body frame  210  are fastened to the rear fixation brackets  120  of the mid mower  100 , the male connector part  262  and the female connector part  142  dock on each other, and thus the mounting of the mid mower  100  can be completed by the simple process of fastening between the male connector shaft  260  and the female connector shaft  140 . 
     On the contrary to this, in releasing connection of the mid mower  100  from the working vehicle  200 , when the working vehicle  200  moves rearward on the contrary to the mounting of the mid mower, in a process in which the front wheels  202  move rearward over the mid mower  100 , coupling between the front fixation brackets  220  of the vehicle body frame  210  and the front shaft  112  of the mid mower  100  is released, and simultaneously, coupling between the rear shafts  232  of the rotation links  230  and the rear fixation brackets  120  of the mid mower  100  is released. Continuously, after a process of releasing coupling between the male connector shaft  260  and the female connector shaft  140 , a separation work of the mid mower  100  from the working vehicle  200  can be completed. 
     As described above, in the process in which the working vehicle  200  moves forward or rearward over the mid mower  100  placed on the ground, since mounting/removing work of the mid mower  100  is simply performed in a short time via the mid mower auto-connection device of the present disclosure, there is no need for the user to perform a locking work with respect to each connection part or an additional manual work of fastening the female connector shaft to the male connector shaft before and after the stage of mounting of the mid mower, as in the conventional device, so that there is an effect that user convenience can be significantly improved. 
     Although the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure has been disclosed in detail only with respect to the above specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions, and substitutions are possible, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and it is understood that the various modifications, additions, and substitutions belong to the accompanying claims.