Patent Description:
A mower is a tool for cutting weeds in a lawn, garden, pasture, and the like. In order to facilitate the garden workers to adjust the height of the mower freely, the mower is usually provided with a height adjusting mechanism to adjust the mowing height by adjusting the height above the ground of the output shaft. The height adjustment mechanism adjusts the height above the ground of the output shaft by a wheel shaft rod that pivotally connects the rear-wheels. The wheel shaft rod is provided with an avoidance groove that cooperates with the rear-wheel drive mechanism. Since the rear portion of the mower is usually provided with a grass discharging cavity, a movement trail of the avoidance groove is located at the bottom of the rear-wheel drive mechanism when the wheel shaft rod is rotated to adjust the mowing height.

In addition, to make the mower cut the grass neatly, the housing of the mower is typically set low at the front and high at the back. This arrangement can avoid the avoidance groove to scraping the ground when the mowing height of the mower is set to the minimum. Therefore, when both the front-wheels and the rear-wheels of the mower are provided with the drive mechanism, if the existing height adjusting mechanism is arranged on the front-wheels, the avoidance groove of the wheel shaft rod arranged on the front-wheels will scrap the ground, so that the mower cannot move.

<CIT> discloses a height of cut adjustment system for use with a walk behind mower. The height of cut adjustment system includes a single drive motor that is operable in a first direction and a second direction. The single drive motor is connected to a linkage assembly that supports the four wheels of the walk behind mower relative to the mower deck. When the single drive motor is operated in a first direction, the mower height of cut increases and when the drive motor is operated in the second direction, the height of cut is decreased.

<CIT> discloses a walk-behind lawn mower in which the front and/or the back wheels are adjustable in height in order to adjust the height of a cutting blade. <CIT> further discusses the possibility to use remote wheel height adjustment.

The disclosure provides a mower with an all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly. The all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly can adjust the mowing height freely on the premise of maintaining the lowest mowing height of an existing mower so that the defect that an existing height adjusting mechanism scrapes the ground is avoided.

The present disclosure provides a mower comprising an all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly, a housing disposed on the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly, front wheels and rear wheels, and wherein the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly comprises a front-drive unit comprising a front transmission mechanism comprising a front gear box, a front output shaft connected to the front gearbox, and a front motor supplying power to the front gearbox, a front-wheel shaft mechanism, having a pair of front height adjustment plates mounted to opposite sides of the housing and a front linkage rod that connects the pair of front height adjustment plates and wherein the front output shaft of the front transmission mechanism is pivotally mounted to the front height adjustment plates and the front-wheels are mounted to a front-wheel shaft of the front height adjustment plates; a rear-drive unit, including a rear transmission mechanism comprising a rear gearbox, a rear output shaft connected to the rear gearbox, and a rear motor supplying power to the rear gearbox, a rear-wheel shaft mechanism having a pair of rear height adjustment plates mounted to opposite sides of the housing and a rear linkage rod that connects the pair of rear height adjustment plates; and wherein the rear output shaft of the rear transmission mechanism is pivotally mounted to the rear height adjustment plates and the rear-wheels mounted to a rear wheel shaft of the rear height adjustment plates; and a height adjusting unit directly or indirectly controlling the front height adjustment plate and the rear height adjustment plate to rotate in relation to the housing of the mower in order to adjust the distance from the front transmission mechanism and the rear transmission mechanism to the ground, the front linkage is rod rotatably disposed above a plane wherein the front output shaft of the front transmission mechanism and the rear output shaft of the rear transmission mechanism are located.

As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the front linkage rod is provided with a front avoidance groove that cooperates with the front transmission mechanism, and when the distance between the front output shaft and the ground is minimum, the front avoidance groove is disposed above a plane where the front output shaft and the rear output shaft are located.

As a further improvement of the disclosure, the front linkage rod is arranged that when the front linkage rod rotates, a movement trail of the front avoidance groove is located above a plane where the front output shaft and the rear output shaft are located.

As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the front linkage rod is arranged that when the distance between the front output shaft and the ground is maxima, the front avoidance groove is located below a plane where the front output shaft and the rear output shaft are located.

As a further improvement of the disclosure, the rear linkage rod is arranged that when the rear linkage rod rotates, a movement trail of the rear avoidance groove is located below a plane where the front output shaft and the rear output shaft are located.

As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the height adjusting unit includes a transmission rod and a height adjusting handle; one end of the transmission rod is pivotally mounted on the front height adjustment plate, and the other end of the transmission rod is pivotally mounted on the rear height adjustment plate; the height adjusting handle is mounted on the front height adjustment plate or the rear height adjustment plate, and can drive the front height adjustment plate or the rear height adjustment plate to rotate around the front output shaft or the rear output shaft.

As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the height adjusting handle and the transmission rod are located on different sides of the front output shaft or the rear output shaft.

As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the height adjusting unit further comprises a height-adjusting baffle that cooperates with the height adjusting handle, the height-adjusting baffle is provided with a plurality of gear slots; the height adjusting handle is pivotally mounted on the front height adjustment plate or the rear height adjustment plate and can rotate around the front height adjustment plate or the rear height adjustment plate, after pushed along the axial direction of the front output shaft or the rear output shaft to be rotated, the height adjusting handle is disengaged from the gear slots, and the height adjusting handle can be pushed to rotate around the front output shaft or the rear output shaft, thereby driving the front-wheels or the rear-wheels to rotate around the front output shaft or the rear output shaft to adjust the distance between the front output shaft or the rear output shaft and the ground.

As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the height adjusting unit further includes a handle reset elastic element that cooperates with the height adjusting handle; after pushed along the axial direction of the front output shaft or the rear output shaft to be rotated, the height adjusting handle is disengaged from the gear slots, an elastic deformation of the handle reset elastic element occurs; and when the height adjusting handle is released, the height adjustment handle enters the gear slots under the action of the handle reset elastic element.

As a further improvement of the present disclosure, when the front height adjustment plate and the rear height adjustment plate are rotated by the height adjusting unit, the front height adjustment plate and the rear height adjustment plate are arranged to rotate along a same direction.

As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the front-drive unit further includes a front-drive gear set; and the front-drive gear set includes: a front-drive gear that is fixedly mounted on the front output shaft, and a front-driven gear that is fixedly mounted on the front-wheel and engaged with the front-drive gear; the rear-drive unit further includes a rear-drive gear set; and the rear-drive gear set includes: a rear-drive gear that is fixedly mounted on the rear output shaft, and a rear-driven gear that is fixedly mounted on the rear-wheel and engaged with the rear-drive gear.

The mower and the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly have the beneficial effects that: the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly can adjust the mowing height freely on the premise of maintaining the lowest mowing height of an existing mower so that the defect that an existing height adjusting mechanism scrapes the ground is avoided.

In order to make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the disclosure clearer, the drawings combined with embodiments will be described below in detail.

Referring to <FIG>, the disclosure provides an all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly <NUM> for a mower, a lawn mower, and the like. The all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly <NUM> includes a front-drive unit <NUM>, a rear-drive unit <NUM>, and a height adjusting unit <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the front-drive unit <NUM> includes a front transmission mechanism <NUM>, a front-wheel shaft mechanism <NUM>, a front gear set <NUM>, and front-wheels <NUM> (as shown in <FIG>). The front transmission mechanism <NUM> includes a front gearbox <NUM>, a front output shaft <NUM> that cooperates with the front gearbox <NUM>, and a motor <NUM> that supply powers to the front gearbox <NUM>. The motor <NUM> may be an electrical machine, a gasoline engine, and the like. The front-wheel shaft mechanism <NUM> includes a pair of front height adjustment plates <NUM> that are pivotally mounted on the front output shaft <NUM>, a front linkage rod <NUM> that connects the pair of front height adjustment plates <NUM>, and a front-wheel shaft <NUM> that is mounted on the front height adjustment plate <NUM> and cooperates with the front-wheels <NUM>.

The front height adjustment plate <NUM> that is pivotally mounted on the front output shaft <NUM> by a bearing (not shown). In the present embodiment, the front height adjustment plate <NUM> is a roughly regular triangle. However, in other embodiments, the front height adjustment plate <NUM> may be configured in other shapes as needed. The front linkage rod <NUM> is provided with a front avoidance groove <NUM> that cooperates with the front transmission mechanism <NUM> to avoid collision with the front transmission mechanism <NUM> when the front linkage rod <NUM> rotates. The front gear set <NUM> includes a front-drive gear <NUM> that is fixedly mounted on the front output shaft <NUM>, and a front-driven gear <NUM> that is fixedly mounted on one of the front-wheels <NUM> and engaged with the front-drive gear <NUM>, the front-wheel <NUM> that is pivotally mounted on the front-wheel shaft <NUM> and co-rotates with the front-driven gear <NUM>. When the front-drive unit <NUM> is working, the front output shaft <NUM> drives the front-drive gear <NUM> to rotate, and the front-drive gear <NUM> drives the front-driven gear <NUM> to rotate so that the front-wheels <NUM> are rotated by the front-driven gear <NUM>. In the present embodiment, the front-wheel shaft <NUM> is not coaxial with the front linkage rod <NUM>, but in other embodiments, the front-wheel shaft <NUM> and the front linkage rod <NUM> can also be disposed of coaxially.

Referring to <FIG>, the rear-drive unit <NUM> includes a rear transmission mechanism <NUM>, a rear-wheel shaft mechanism <NUM>, a rear-drive gear set <NUM>, and rear-wheels <NUM> (as shown in <FIG>). The rear transmission mechanism <NUM> includes a rear gearbox <NUM>, a rear output shaft <NUM> that cooperates with the rear gearbox <NUM>, and a motor <NUM> that supplies powers to the rear gearbox. The motor <NUM> may be an electrical machine, a gasoline engine, and the like. The rear-wheel shaft mechanism <NUM> includes a pair of rear height adjustment plates <NUM> which are pivotally mounted on the rear output shaft <NUM>, a rear linkage rod <NUM> that connects the pair of rear height adjustment plates <NUM>, and a rear-wheel shaft <NUM> that is mounted on the rear height adjustment plate <NUM> and cooperates with the rear-wheels <NUM>.

The rear height adjustment plate <NUM> that is pivotally mounted on the rear output shaft <NUM> by a bearing (not shown). The rear linkage rod <NUM> is provided with a rear avoidance groove <NUM> that cooperates with the rear transmission mechanism <NUM> to avoid collision with the rear transmission mechanism <NUM> when the rear linkage rod <NUM> rotates. The rear-drive gear set <NUM> includes a rear-drive gear <NUM> that is fixedly mounted on the rear output shaft <NUM>, and a rear-driven gear <NUM> that is fixedly mounted on one of the rear-wheel <NUM> and engaged with the rear-drive gear <NUM>. The rear-wheels <NUM> are pivotally mounted on the rear-wheel shaft <NUM> and co-rotate with the rear-driven gear <NUM>. When the rear-drive unit <NUM> is working, the rear output shaft <NUM> drives the rear-drive gear <NUM> to rotate, and the rear-drive gear <NUM> drives the rear-driven gear <NUM> to rotate so that the rear-wheels <NUM> rotate under the effect of the rear-driven gear <NUM>. In the present embodiment, the rear-wheel shaft <NUM> is not coaxial with the rear linkage rod <NUM>, but in other embodiments, the rear-wheel shaft <NUM> and the rear linkage rod <NUM> can also be disposed of coaxially.

Referring to <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>, the height adjusting unit <NUM> directly or indirectly controls the rotation of the front height adjustment plate <NUM> and the rear height adjustment plate <NUM> so that the front-wheel shaft <NUM> and the rear-wheel shaft <NUM> rotate around the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM> respectively, thereby adjusting the distance above the ground of the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM>. The height adjusting unit <NUM> includes a transmission rod <NUM>, a height adjusting handle <NUM>, a height adjusting baffle <NUM>, a handle reset elastic element <NUM> which cooperates with the height adjusting handle <NUM>, and a gear reset elastic element <NUM> which cooperates with the transmission rod <NUM>. One end of the transmission rod <NUM> is pivotally mounted on the front height adjustment plate <NUM>, and the other end of the transmission rod <NUM> is pivotally mounted on the rear height adjustment plate <NUM> so that the front height adjustment plate <NUM> and the rear height adjustment plate <NUM> rotate synchronously.

The height adjusting handle <NUM> is pivotally mounted on the rear height adjustment plate <NUM> and can rotate around the rear height adjustment plate <NUM>. The height adjusting baffle <NUM> is used to cooperate with the height adjusting handle <NUM>, and a plurality of gear slots <NUM> which cooperate with the height adjusting handle <NUM> are disposed on the height adjusting baffle <NUM>. In the embodiment, the number of the gear slots <NUM> is <NUM>, so that the user can finely locate the rotation angle of the height adjusting handle <NUM>. One end of the gear reset elastic element <NUM> is fixedly mounted on the transmission rod <NUM>, and the other end of the gear reset elastic element <NUM> is mounted on the housing of the lawn-mower or the push mower. The height adjusting handle <NUM> is pushed along an axial of the rear output shaft <NUM> such that the height adjusting handle <NUM> is disengaged from the gear slots <NUM>, at this point, an elastic deformation of the gear reset elastic element <NUM> occurs, the user can push the height adjusting handle <NUM> to rotate around the rear output shaft <NUM>, thereby driving the rear height adjustment plate <NUM> and the front height adjustment plate <NUM> to rotate, thereby driving the rear-wheel shaft <NUM> and the front-wheel shaft <NUM> to rotate around the rear output shaft <NUM> and the front output shaft <NUM> respectively, to achieve the purpose of adjusting the distance above the ground of the rear output shaft <NUM> and the front output shaft <NUM>.

After the height adjustment is completed, the height adjusting handle <NUM> is pushed into the gear slots <NUM>, at this point, the handle reset elastic element <NUM> is restored to the original state. When the distances above the ground of the rear output shaft <NUM> and the front output shaft <NUM> are adjusted from small to large, an elastic deformation of the gear reset elastic element <NUM> occurs under the effect of the transmission rod <NUM>; when the distances above the ground of the rear output shaft <NUM> and the front output shaft <NUM> are adjusted from large to small in the direction of the arrow shown in <FIG>, in another word, the state which is shown in <FIG> is adjusted to the state shown in <FIG>, then the gear reset elastic element <NUM> is gradually restored to the original state.

In the present embodiment, the height adjusting handle <NUM> is mounted on the rear height adjustment plate <NUM>, but in other embodiments, the height adjusting handle <NUM> may also be mounted on the front height adjustment plate <NUM>. In the present embodiment, the height adjusting handle <NUM> and the transmission rod <NUM> are located on different sides of the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM>, but in other embodiments, the height adjusting handle <NUM> and the transmission rod <NUM> can also be located on the same side of the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM>. In the present embodiment, when the front height adjustment plate <NUM> and the rear height adjustment plate <NUM> are rotated by the height adjusting unit <NUM>, the front height adjustment plate <NUM> and the rear height adjustment plate <NUM> are arranged to rotate along a same direction, but in other embodiments, the front height adjustment plate <NUM> and the rear height adjustment plate <NUM> can also be arranged to rotate along the opposite directions.

<FIG> and <FIG> are the schematic views of the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly, when the distances above the ground of the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM> are minimum. <FIG> and <FIG> are the schematic views of the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly when the distances above the ground of the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM> are maxima. As shown in <FIG>, to prevent the front linkage rod <NUM> from scraping the ground, the front linkage rod <NUM> is arranged so that when the front linkage rod <NUM> rotates, a movement trail of the front avoidance groove <NUM> is located above a plane where the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM> are located.

Preferably, the front linkage rod <NUM> may also be arranged that when the distance between the front output shaft <NUM> and the ground is maxima, the front avoidance groove <NUM> is located below the plane where the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM> are located; when the distance between the front output shaft <NUM> and the ground is minimum, the front avoidance groove <NUM> is disposed above the plane where the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM> are located. In this way, the front linkage rod <NUM> can be effectively prevented from scraping the ground during height adjustment. The rear linkage rod <NUM> is arranged that when the rear linkage rod rotates <NUM>, a movement trail of the rear avoidance groove <NUM> is located below the plane where the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM> are located. In this way, the rear linkage rod <NUM> can avoid collision with the grass discharging cavity of the mower or the lawn mower.

Compared with the prior art, the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly <NUM> put a movement trail of the front avoidance groove <NUM> at least partly above a plane where the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM> are located, so that the front linkage rod <NUM> does not scrape the ground during the height adjustment process, so that the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly <NUM> can adjust the mowing height freely on the premise of maintaining the lowest mowing height of an existing mower, so that the defect that an existing height adjusting mechanism scrapes the ground is avoided.

Referring to <FIG>, the present disclosure also discloses a mower <NUM> includes the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly <NUM>, a housing <NUM> which is pivotally mounted on the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly <NUM>, and a cutting assembly (not shown). The housing <NUM> is pivotally mounted on the front output shaft <NUM> and the rear output shaft <NUM> by bearings. The cutting assembly is mounted on the housing <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A mower (<NUM>) comprising
an all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly (<NUM>),
a housing (<NUM>) disposed on the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly (<NUM>),
front wheels (<NUM>), and
rear wheels (<NUM>), wherein the all-wheel drive self-propelled assembly (<NUM>) comprises:
a front-drive unit (<NUM>), comprising:
a front transmission mechanism (<NUM>) comprising a front gear box (<NUM>), a front output shaft (<NUM>) connected to the front gearbox (<NUM>), and a front motor (<NUM>) supplying power to the front gearbox (<NUM>),
a front-wheel shaft mechanism (<NUM>), having a pair of front height adjustment plates (<NUM>) mounted to opposite sides of the housing (<NUM>) and a front linkage rod (<NUM>) that connects the pair of front height adjustment plates (<NUM>) and wherein the front output shaft (<NUM>) of the front transmission mechanism (<NUM>) is pivotally mounted to the front height adjustment plates (<NUM>) and the front-wheels (<NUM>) are mounted to a front-wheel shaft (<NUM>) of the front height adjustment plates (<NUM>);
a rear-drive unit (<NUM>), comprising:
a rear transmission mechanism (<NUM>) comprising a rear gearbox (<NUM>), a rear output shaft (<NUM>) connected to the rear gearbox (<NUM>), and a rear motor (<NUM>) supplying power to the rear gearbox (<NUM>),
a rear-wheel shaft mechanism (<NUM>), having a pair of rear height adjustment plates (<NUM>) mounted to opposite sides of the housing (<NUM>) and a rear linkage rod (<NUM>) that connects the pair of rear height adjustment plates (<NUM>), andwherein the rear output shaft (<NUM>) of the rear transmission mechanism (<NUM>) is pivotally mounted to the rear height adjustment plates (<NUM>) and the rear-wheels (<NUM>) are mounted to a rear-wheel shaft (<NUM>) of the rear height adjustment plates (<NUM>); and
a height adjusting unit (<NUM>), which directly or indirectly controls the front height adjustment plate (<NUM>) and the rear height adjustment plate (<NUM>) to rotate in relation to the housing (<NUM>) of the mower (<NUM>) in order to adjust the distance from the front transmission mechanism (<NUM>) and the rear transmission mechanism (<NUM>) to the ground, wherein
the front linkage rod (<NUM>) is rotatably disposed above a plane wherein the front output shaft (<NUM>) of the front transmission mechanism (<NUM>) and the rear output shaft (<NUM>) of the rear transmission mechanism (<NUM>) are located.