JPH0361402A - Mobile lawn mower - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable automatic traveling of the subject lawn mower by equipping steering shafts, a steering knuckle, wrapping connectors, a steering sector wheel and a motor as a steering system for steering driving wheels and driven wheels. CONSTITUTION:An engine 2, a lawn cutter unit 5 having a mower cutter 3 rotationally driven by the engine 2 and the bottom part suspending the lawn cutter unit 5 and having driving wheels 7 and driven wheels 6 are equipped. A steering system 10 for steering the driving wheels 7 and the driven wheels 6 is composed of plural steering shafts 37 supported to a traveling unit frame 9 of a traveling unit 8, steering knuckle 38 supporting the driving wheels and driven wheels fixed to the shaft 37, wrapping connectors 39, 44 and 45 attached to the shaft 37 and synchronously rotating the respective shafts 37, a steering sector gear 41 fixed to an arbitrary one of the shafts 37 and a steering motor 49 attached to the frame 9 and rotating the gear 41 in the normal and reverse directions.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a self-blade lawn mower that can be driven by itself by remote control etc., and particularly to a self-blade lawn mower that has an improved structure of a steering device. Regarding.

(Prior art) Conventional lawn mowers have an engine mounted on the mower case, and this engine rotates the cutter inside the mower case.
The most common type of mower is one in which the mower case is manually pushed and moved to mow the lawn.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Such conventional lawn mowers require a great deal of human power when mowing grass grown on a vast area of land, such as a golf course. Furthermore, mowing the lawn under the scorching summer sun is extremely hard work for the workers.

This invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a self-blade traveling lawn mower that can run with its own blade and reduce the cost of a steering device for a traveling part.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a lawn mower equipped with an engine and a mower cutter rotationally driven by the engine, and this lawn mower!
! ! The steering device has a bottom portion on which a driving wheel and a driven wheel are mounted, and a steering device for steering the driving wheel and driven wheel is rotated 6 at an appropriate position on the traveling portion frame L/- frame of the traveling portion. multiple steering shafts that are pivotally supported,
A steering knuckle is attached to each of the steering shafts and pivotally supports the driven wheels, a transmission mechanism is attached to the plurality of steering shafts to rotate each steering shaft synchronously; The present invention is characterized in that a steering sector gear fixed to one of the steering shafts, and a steering motor installed on the travel section frame for rotating the steering sector gear in forward and reverse directions are rotated to the right.

(Function) Therefore, according to the self-blade running lawn mower according to the present invention, since the lawn mower has a running section equipped with a driving wheel, the lawn mower can be operated by remotely controlling this running section. It can run on its own blade.

In addition, the steering of the driving and driven wheels is achieved by operating the steering motor and rotating the sector gear, and the winding is performed by rotating each steering shaft synchronously via a transmission mechanism, so the structure of the steering device is A simple and low-cost steering lit can be realized.

(Example> Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the output drive lawn mower according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are ll of FIG. 1.
-ff picture, cross-sectional views taken along mm line and rV, = rV line, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, an engine 2 is mounted on a mower case 1, and a mower cutter 3 (see FIG. 2) for cutting grass is disposed inside the mower case 1. The mower case 1, the engine 2, the mower cutter 3, and the crankshaft 4 constitute the lawn mower 5.

This lawn mowing section 5 has a pair of front wheels 6 and a drive wheel 6, respectively.
It is supported by a traveling section 8 having a rear wheel 7 as an f1 wheel.

In addition to the front wheels 6 and the rear wheels 7, the traveling section 8 includes a traveling section frame 9, a steering device 10, a traveling device 11, a suspension device 12 for suspending the lawn mower 5, and the like.

The running section frame 9 is a main frame 1 having a substantially U-shaped cross section and a cross-sectional shape in plan view as shown in FIG.
3, and a sub-frame 14 which is curved upward from the central position in the longitudinal direction of the main frame 13 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The subframe 14 has a pair of subframe vibes 15 connected to the bridge 1.
6, and a subframe plate 17 is fixed to the top of the subframe vibe 15 and bridge 16. In addition, the reference numeral 17A in FIGS. 1 and 2
indicates a bumper that protects the front wheel 6.

The aforementioned suspension device 12 is constructed with a suspension bolt 18 and a suspension nut 19, as shown in particular in FIGS. 2 and 7. The suspension bolt 18 is attached to the engine 2 of the lawn mower 5.
It is welded to the top of the board and is placed vertically upward. This suspension bolt 18 is screwed through both the subframe plate 17 and the bearing pedestal 20 fixed to the subframe plate 17. This suspension bolt 1
A suspension nut 19 is screwed into the tip portion of 8. A bearing 21 is interposed between the suspension nut 19 and the bearing pedestal 20. Therefore, the load of the lawn mower 5 is as follows:
From suspension bolt 18! ! The signal is transmitted to the frame nut 19 and further transmitted to the subframe 14 via the bearing 21 and supported by the subframe 14.

A lock nut 22 is screwed onto the suspension bolt 18 below the subframe plate 17.

Further, a handle 23 is provided at the distal end of the suspension nut 19 so as to be fitable therein. To lower the mower 5, first loosen the lock nut 22, then rotate the handle 23 in the six directions of the arrows, and finally tighten the lock nut 22 toward the subframe plate 17. Raising the lawn mower 5 is also carried out in the same manner. This suspension nut 19
The height of the lawn mower 5 is adjusted by rotation operations such as the above. Two points in Figure 2! II level! 23A indicates the lowest position of the lower end of the mower case 1, and the position of the mower case 1 in the figure indicates the highest position of the mower case 1.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, a vibration prevention device 24 is installed between the front wheel 6 side of the main frame 13 and the mower case 1. In other words, mainframe 1
Two pairs of upper and lower main frame side brackets 25 are installed on the front wheel 6 side of the vehicle. A holder 26 shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 is vertically installed below the main frame side bracket 25. As shown in FIGS. Further, a mower case side bracket 27 is fixed to the front wheel 6 side of the mower case 1, and a bar 28 is vertically provided on the mower case side bracket l-27.

By inserting this bar 28 into the holder 26,
Horizontal deflection of the lawn mowing section 5 relative to the running section 8 is prevented. Moreover, the bar 28 is provided so as to be slidable in the vertical direction within the holder 26, so that it does not become a hindrance when adjusting the height of the lawn mower 5.

Next, the steering device 10 will be explained.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a front wheel steering bracket 29 and a rear wheel steering bracket 30 are fixed to both corner portions on the front wheel 6 side and both corner portions on the rear wheel 7 side of the main frame 13, respectively. Ru.

As particularly shown in FIG. 3, the rear wheel side steering bracket 30 includes a plate 31 fixed to the lower surface of the main frame 13, and another plate 32 attached horizontally from approximately the vertical center of the main frame 13. A cylindrical steering boss 33 is fixed to both plates 31 and 32. As shown in FIG. 4, the front wheel steering bracket 29 also has two plates 34, similar to the rear wheel steering bracket 30.
, 35, and a steering boss 36 are fixed to each other.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rear wheel steering shaft 37 is vertically disposed within the steering boss 33 of the rear wheel steering bracket 30 via a bearing, and is horizontally rotatable. A rear wheel steering knuckle 38 also shown in FIG. 6 is fixed to the lower end of this rear wheel steering shaft 37, and the rear wheel 7 is disposed on this rear wheel steering knuckle 38. Further, a rear wheel steering sprocket 39 is spline-coupled to the upper part of the rear wheel steering shaft 37. A bolt 40 is threaded onto one of the rear wheel steering shafts 37 to prevent the rear wheel steering sprocket 39 from being removed. As shown in FIG. 3, the rear steering sprocket 39 is connected to the other rear wheel steering shaft 37.
A steering sector gear 41 is spline-coupled above.

The bolt 40 is inserted from above this steering sector gear 41.
are fitted to prevent the rear wheel side steering sprocket 39 and steering sector gear 41 from being removed, and rotate them together.

Next, the front steering shaft 42 is vertically disposed within the steering boss 36 of the front wheel steering bracket 29 via a bearing, as shown in FIG.
It is provided so that it can be rotated horizontally.

At the lower end of this front wheel side steering shaft 42, a second
A front wheel steering knuckle 43 as shown in the figure is welded. The front wheel 6 is rotatably supported by the front steering knuckle 43 in a vertical direction. Further, a front wheel steering sprocket 44 is spline-coupled to the upper part of the front wheel steering shaft 42, and a bolt 40 prevents the front wheel steering sprocket 44 from being removed.

A steering chain 45 is wound around the rear wheel steering sprocket 39 and the front wheel steering sprocket 44, as shown in FIG. These steering sprockets 39, 44 and the steering chain 44 constitute a transmission mechanism. The steering chain 45 is also wound around a length roller 46 in the vicinity of both rear wheel side steering sprockets 39. This length roller 46 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
As shown in the figure, it is disposed on a plate 47 fixed to both upper and lower surfaces of the main frame 13 via a roller shaft 48 so as to be horizontally rotatable.

The steering chain 45 is arranged inside the main frame 13 by this length roller 46 .

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a steering motor 49 is attached to the main frame 13 near the steering sector gear 41. The steering motor 49 is a reversible motor, and is fixed to a mounting plate 50 fixed to the main frame 13, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. When the motor gear 51 of the steering motor 49 meshes with the steering sector gear 41, one rear wheel side steering shaft 37 rotates in the horizontal direction. This rear wheel side steering shaft 37
The rotation is transmitted from the rear wheel side steering sprocket 39 near the steering sector gear 41 to the other rear wheel side steering sprocket 39 and the front wheel side steering sprocket 44 via the steering chain 45,
Front wheels 6 and rear wheels 7 are synchronously steered.

At this time, when the rear wheel side steering sprocket 39 near the steering sector gear 41 rotates in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1, the other rear wheel side steering sprockets 39 also rotate in the same direction. rotates horizontally in the direction opposite to arrow B, as shown by arrow C. In this way, the front wheels 6 and the rear wheels 7 are horizontally rotated in opposite directions and steered, thereby improving the turning performance of the Lf aircraft.

The steering system @10 is configured as described above.

Now, the aforementioned traveling device xii will be explained below.

As shown in FIG. 2, a breadboard vibe 52 is fixed to the rear wheel 7 side of the main frame 13 in a vertically downward direction. A bumper 53 shown in FIG. 5 is disposed horizontally below the bumper vipe 52 and fixed with bolts. Further, a shaft holder 54 is fixed to the bread bar vibe 52, and a drive shaft 55 is rotatably held by the shaft holder 54.

This drive shirt 1-55, as shown in FIG.
The shaft support arm 56 projects from a gear case 65 (to be described later) in the left-right direction of the lawn mower and is rotatably supported by a shaft support arm 56 fixed to the inside of the rear wheel steering knuckle 38. A drive gear 57 is attached to the tip of this drive shaft 55. Further, in the drive shirt i~55, a universal joint 55A is provided at a position vertically below the rear wheel side steering shaft 37. This universal join h 55 A allows the rotational driving force of the drive shaft 55 to be smoothly transmitted to the drive gear 57 even when the rear wheels 7 are being steered. Here, the A roller is a driving roller, and the C roller is a driven roller.

On the other hand, the rear wheel 7 is rotatably supported by a rear wheel shaft 58 that passes through the rear wheel steering knuckle 38 and the shaft support arm 56 and is fixed thereto. A driven gear 59 is fixed to the rear wheel 7, and the driven gear 59 meshes with the drive gear 57. therefore,
The rotation of the drive shaft 55 drives the rear wheels 7 to rotate around the rear wheel shaft 58. The friction transmission mechanism 60 that transmits rotational force to the drive shaft 55 will be described next.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 J3, and FIG. 3, the friction transmission mechanism 60 includes an A roller 61, a B roller 62, and a C roller 63. The roller mounting 11 fixed to the mower case 1 is supported by the no. 1-64. Further, the C roller 63 is attached to a gear case 65 to which the drive shaft 55 is connected. Here, the A roller is a driving roller, and the C roller is a driven roller.

First, as shown in FIG. 8, the A roller 61 is rotatably supported by a roller shaft 66 welded to a roller mounting plate 64 together with a driven pulley 67. Further, the A roller 61 has a cylindrical shape with a bottom, and the bottom portion and the driven pulley 67 are fixed to be rotatable together with a bolt 61A or the like. Further, on the side periphery of the A roller 61, I! iI A material with a large friction coefficient is attached.

The driven pulley 67 is connected to a drive pulley 69 shown in FIG. 2 via a belt 68.

This drive pulley 69 is fixed to the crankshaft 4 and rotated by the engine 2. Therefore, due to the operation of the engine 2, the drive pulley 69,
The A roller 61 is rotated via the roller 8 and the drip feeder 67. Note that the reference numeral 68A in FIG.

Then, as shown in FIG.
Attached via. In other words, the roller shaft 71
passes through the elongated hole 70, and the B roller 62 is rotatably supported on this roller shaft 71. roller shaft 71
is positioned and fixed at an arbitrary position by tightening the nut 72.

Further, the B roller 62 has a cylindrical shape with a bottom like the A roller 61, and a knurling 62A is machined on the side circumference thereof.

A B roller positioning bolt 73 is installed at the tip of the roller mounting plate 64. This B roller positioning bolt 73 is operated after loosening the nut 72 of the roller shaft 71 to move the roller shaft 71 in the longitudinal direction of the roller mounting plate 64 and reduce the contact pressure between the B roller 62 and the A roller 61. It is something to be adjusted. After tightening the nut 72 of the roller shaft 71 during this adjustment, the B roller positioning bolt 73 is loosened so that the tip of the B roller positioning bolt 73 does not contact the B roller 62. In this way, the B roller 62 that has come into contact with the A roller 61 rotates in the opposite direction of the A roller 61 and has the same rotational force as the A roller 61.

Finally, the C roller 63 is also formed into a cylindrical shape with a bottom, and a material having a large friction coefficient such as rubber is attached to the side circumference of the C roller 63. C
The axial length of the roller 63 is set to such a length that the C roller 63 remains in contact with the A roller 61 or the B roller 62 even when the mower case 1 is moved up and down. The C roller 63 is configured so that the gear case 65 is arranged around the drive shaft 55 in the direction of the arrow in FIGS. 8 and 1 so that it can selectively contact or not contact the A roller 61 and the B roller 62. be done.

In other words, the C roller 63 is swung backward and the B roller 62
By contacting Co-
It is transmitted to the drive shaft 55 via various reduction gears in the gear case 65! The rear wheels 7 are rotated in the normal direction via the drive gear 57 and the driven gear 59 to move the lawn mower forward. Further, as the C roller 63 is swung forward and comes into contact with the roller 61, the roller 63 is moved forward.
The rotational force of 1 is the C roller 6313 and the drive shaft 5.
The rear wheels 7 are reversed through the 5th class, and the lawn mower is moved backwards. The swing mechanism 74 for swinging the C roller 63, that is, the gear case 65, will be described next.

This swinging mechanism 74 is configured with a swinging motor 75 as shown in FIGS. 5, 3, and 9. The swing motor 75 is a reversible motor, and the swing motor mounting plate 7
7, it is fixed to the damper 53. Then, the motor gear 78 of the swing motor 75 is connected to the drive shaft 55 with a T.
The sector gear 79 is engaged with the sector gear 79 fitted therein.

On the other hand, a gear case fixing plate 80 is attached to the gear case 65.
is fixed. This gear case fixing plate 80 also includes
The drive shaft 55 is inserted in a loosely fitted state. Then, the sector gear 7 is attached to this gear case fixing plate 80.
9 is fixed with bolts or the like. Therefore, when the swing motor 75 operates and the motor gear 78 rotates, the secondary gear 79 and the gear case fixing plate 80 are integrated around the drive shaft 55! , :fili moves, and as a result, the gear case 65 swings in the direction of the arrow. As a result, the C roller 63 selectively contacts or does not contact the A roller 61 or the B roller 62.

The traveling device 11 is configured as described above.

The above-mentioned swing motor 75 and the above-mentioned steering motor 49 are electrically connected to a controller (not shown) installed in the traveling section 8. This controller receives signals from a transmitter (not shown) carried by the operator and controls the operation of the swing motor 75 and the steering motor 49.

For example, to move the lawnmower forward, the swing motor 75 is rotated forward to bring the C roller 63 into contact with the B roller 62. Also,
To turn the lawn mower to the left, use steering motor 4.
9 in the normal direction, the rear wheel steering sprocket 39 is rotated in the direction of arrow B, and the front wheel steering sprocket 44 is rotated in the direction of arrow C.

According to the above embodiment, the rear wheel 7 as a drive wheel is attached to the lawn mower 5 equipped with the mower cutter 3, and the rear wheel 7 is driven by the traveling device 11, and the steering device 11
These traveling devices 11 and steering devices 10 are steered by the controller! Since the IJ In is used, it is possible to create a lawn mower that can run with its own blade, and the running and steering of this lawn mower can be controlled remotely.
You can also.

Further, the above-mentioned steering device W110 is an electric device having a steering motor 49, and transmits the rotational force of a motor gear 51 of this steering motor 49 to the steering sector gear 41, and transmits the rotational force of the motor gear 51 of the steering motor 49 to the rear wheel side steering sprocket 39 and the front wheel side steering sprocket 44. Since the rear wheel steering shaft 37 and the front wheel steering chain 42 are rotated around the same circumference through the steering chain 45 to steer the rear wheels 7 and front wheels 6, the MIJ construction of the device is compared to the hydraulic steering B'lt. This makes it possible to realize a low-cost steering device.

Further, since the steering chain 45 is wound around the front wheel side steering sprocket 44 and the length roller 46 and is disposed inside the U-shaped cross section of the main frame 13, it is not exposed to the outside and safety is improved.

Furthermore, since a universal joint 55AS is installed on the drive shaft 55 at a position vertically below the rear wheel side steering shaft 37, the rotational force of the drive shaft 55 is transferred to the universal joint even when the rear wheels 7 are steered by the steering device 10. The signal is transmitted to the drive gear 57 via the point 55A.

FIG. 10 is a partial plan view showing another embodiment of the self-blade traveling lawn mower according to the present invention. In this other embodiment,
The same parts as those in the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

The running section W181 of this other embodiment is not provided with the point detection mechanism 74 of the previous embodiment, but is configured as follows. That is, an O roller 83 and a P roller 84 are rotatably supported on the roller mounting plate 82, and the P roller 84 is provided so as to be in constant contact with the C roller 63. Further, the O roller 83 is configured to be able to rotate integrally with the driven pulley 67, and acts as a driving roller. Also, O-low 58
A sector gear 85 is loosely fitted onto the shaft of No. 3, and a switching roller 87 is disposed on an arm portion 86 of this sector gear 85. This switching roller 87 is in constant contact with the O roller 83,
Further, it is configured to selectively contact or not contact the C roller 63 or the P roller 84 by swinging the arm portion 86 in the direction of arrow E.

On the other hand, roller mounting plate l~82 or mower case 1
A swing motor 88 (reversible motor) is installed in the motor gear 89 of the swing motor 88.
It is engaged with 5. Therefore, when the traveling device 81 operates, the driving force of the engine 2 is first applied to the drive pulley 69. ■O roller 8 via belt 68 and driven pulley 67
3. With J3 and switching roller 87 rotating, operate motor gear 89. Then, the motor gear 89 rotates the sector gear 85, so the switching roller 87 swings in the direction of arrow E and selectively contacts the C roller 63 or the P roller 84.

When the switching roller 87 contacts the C roller 63, the O
The rotational force of the roller 83 passes through the switching roller 87 to the C roller 6.
3, and the lawnmower moves forward.

Further, when the switching roller 87 contacts the P roller 84, the rotational force of the O roller 83 is applied to the switching roller 87 and the P roller 84.
It is transmitted to the C roller 63 via the roller 84, and the lawn mower moves backward. Since the operation of the swing motor 88 is controlled by the controller of the above embodiment, such a traveling device 81
You can easily remotely control the forward and reverse motion of the lawn mower.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned steering device 10, the winding is explained using the rear wheel side steering sprocket 39, the front wheel side steering sprocket 44, and the steering chain 45 as transmission devices.
Winding using a belt or the like may be used as a transmission mechanism.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the self-blade traveling lawn mower according to the present invention includes a lawn mower equipped with an engine and a mower cutter that is rotationally driven by the engine, and a mower that suspends this lawn mower and is equipped with a driving wheel and a driven wheel. A steering device for steering the driving wheels and driven wheels includes a plurality of steering shafts rotatably supported at appropriate positions on the traveling section frame of the traveling section; A steering knuckle that is fixed and pivotally supports the driving wheel and the driven wheel, and a winding that is attached to the plurality of steering shafts and rotates each steering shaft synchronously is a transmission S mechanism and a steering knuckle that is attached to any one of the steering shafts. Since the lawn mower is configured to include a fixed steering sector gear and a steering motor that is installed on the running section frame and rotates the steering sector gear in forward and reverse directions, it is possible to run the lawn mower with its own blades, and , the structure of the steering device is simple,
A low-cost steering device can be realized.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a self-blade traveling lawn mower according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are If in FIG.
-If line, ■-■ line and IV-IV line, Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along v-V line in Fig. 2, Fig. 6 is taken along Vl-Vl line in Fig. 1. Cross-sectional view, Figure 7 is an enlarged view of part ■ in Figure 2, Figures 8 and 9 are part - - in Figure 1.
10 is a partial plan view showing another practical example of the present invention. 1... Mower case, 2... Engine, 3... Mower cutter, 4... Crankshaft, 5... Lawn mowing section,
6... Front wheel, 7... Rear wheel, 8... Running part, 9...
- Traveling part frame, 10... Steering device, 11
... Traveling device, 12... Hanging 1i Takumi, 13... Main frame, 14... Sub frame, 17A... Pamba, 18... Suspension pole 1-119... Suspension Nara h
, 21... Bearing, 23... Handle, 24...
...Vibration prevention device, 26...Holder, 28...Bar 59 Fig. Fig.

Claims (1)

[Claims] It has a lawn mowing section that is equipped with an engine and a mower cutter rotationally driven by the engine, and a bottom section that suspends the lawn mowing section and is equipped with a driving wheel and a driven wheel, and the mowing section is configured to steer the driving wheel and the driven wheel. The steering device includes a plurality of steering shafts that are rotatably supported at appropriate positions on the traveling section frame of the traveling section, and a steering knuckle that is fixed to the steering shaft and pivotally supports the driving wheels and driven wheels. , a winding transmission mechanism that is attached to the plurality of steering shafts and rotates each of the steering shafts synchronously; a steering sector gear that is fixed to any one of the steering shafts; and a steering sector gear that is installed on the traveling section frame and that rotates the steering sector gears. A self-blade running lawn mower characterized by having a steering motor that rotates a gear in forward and reverse directions.