Drive assembly for lawn care vehicle

A lawn care vehicle comprising:

• a motor;
• a mobility assembly to provide mobility of the lawn care vehicle;
• a working assembly operably coupled to the motor to perform a working function responsive at least in part to operation of the motor;
• and
• a drive assembly selectively coupling the motor to the mobility assembly to provide the mobility to the lawn care vehicle responsive at least in part to operation of the motor, the drive assembly comprising a worm gear assembly comprising a worm engaged with a worm gear, the worm being operably coupled to the motor and the worm gear being selectively coupled to a shaft of the mobility assembly;
• and
• an engagement assembly comprising a dog clutch configured to selectively engage and disengage the worm gear,
• wherein the drive assembly is configured to move between a first configuration and a second configuration, wherein in response to the drive assembly being in the first configuration, the dog clutch is engaged with the worm gear, and wherein the worm gear assembly and the shaft of the mobility assembly are operably coupled via the dog clutch and the worm gear assembly is configured to selectively transfer power from the motor to the mobility assembly to provide mobility to the lawn care vehicle,
• wherein in response to the drive assembly being in a second configuration, the dog clutch is disengaged from the worm gear, and wherein the worm gear assembly and the shaft of the mobility assembly are decoupled and the worm gear assembly is prevented from transferring the power from the motor to the mobility assembly.

A drive assembly for a vehicle, the drive assembly selectively coupling a motor of the vehicle to a mobility assembly of the vehicle to provide mobility to the vehicle responsive at least in part to operation of the motor, the drive assembly comprising:

• (i) a worm gear assembly comprising a worm engaged with a worm gear, the worm being operably coupled to the motor and the worm gear being selectively coupled to a shaft of the mobility assembly;
• wherein the drive assembly is configured to move between a first configuration and a second configuration, wherein in response to the drive assembly being in the first configuration, the worm gear assembly and the shaft of the mobility assembly are operably coupled and the worm gear assembly is configured to selectively transfer power from the motor to the mobility assembly to provide mobility to the lawn care vehicle,
• wherein in response to the drive assembly being in a second configuration, the worm gear assembly and the shaft of the mobility assembly are decoupled and the worm gear assembly is prevented from transferring the power from the motor to the mobility assembly,
• (ii) an engagement assembly configured to be selectively engaged with the worm gear assembly, wherein the drive assembly is movable from the first configuration to the second configuration in response to disengagement of the engagement assembly from the worm gear assembly,
• wherein the engagement assembly comprises a selection lever configured to rotate between an engaged position and a disengaged position, and wherein the engaged position corresponds to the first configuration of the drive assembly and the disengaged position corresponds to the second configuration of the drive assembly, and
• wherein the engagement assembly further comprises a dog clutch, wherein in response to the selection lever being in the engaged position, the dog clutch is configured to engage the worm gear assembly thereby operably coupling the worm gear assembly to the shaft of the mobility assembly, and wherein in response to the selection lever being in the disengaged position, the dog clutch is configured to be disengaged from the worm gear assembly and the worm gear assembly is decoupled from the shaft of the mobility assembly.