Maintenance apparatus with conditional motor drive for caster wheels

A maintenance apparatus, comprising:

• a frame;
• a mow deck secured to the frame and comprising an implement;
• a drive wheel secured to the frame rotatable about a drive wheel rotation axis;
• a power source secured to the frame providing mechanical power to the drive wheel or to the implement of the mow deck;
• a caster wheel secured to the frame by way of a caster arm, the caster arm having a spin axis securing the caster wheel to the caster arm and facilitating rotation of the caster wheel within the caster arm, and the caster arm having a swivel axis securing the caster arm to the frame facilitating rotation of the caster arm and caster wheel;
• a motor having a selectively activated and deactivated motor drive with variable magnitude output connected to the swivel axis of the caster arm and configured to, when activated, apply a rotational force to the swivel axis;
• a gauge for measuring a condition pertaining to the maintenance apparatus;
• and
• a controller for receiving an output from the gauge indicative of whether the condition is satisfied and configured to activate the motor in response to the gauge indicating the condition is satisfied, further comprising:
• a second drive wheel secured to the frame and rotatable about the drive wheel rotation axis;
• the power source comprises a first power source motor coupled to the drive wheel and a second power source motor coupled to the second drive wheel, wherein:
• the gauge measures a difference in power output at the first power source motor and the second power source motor, and
• the motor applies the rotational force to the swivel axis of the caster arm in proportion to the difference in power output in response to a signal from the controller resulting from the difference in power output satisfying the condition.

A method for a maintenance apparatus that comprises a drive wheel, a caster wheel with a non-zero caster trail and connected to a selectively activatable motor, a power source and an implement, comprising:

• obtaining a measurement of a force acting upon a component of the maintenance apparatus in response to driving and operating the implement of the maintenance apparatus;
• comparing the measurement of the force to a condition stored at a power controller and determining whether the measurement of the force satisfies the condition;
• converting the measurement of the force upon the component to a torque upon a caster wheel of the maintenance apparatus in response to determining the measurement of the force satisfies the condition, wherein the torque upon the caster wheel creates a rotational force upon the caster wheel;
• and
• signaling the selectively activatable motor to apply the torque and the rotational force upon the caster wheel in response to determining the measurement of the force satisfies the condition.

A vehicle, comprising:

• a frame;
• a drive wheel secured to the frame rotatable about a drive wheel rotation axis;
• a power source secured to the frame providing mechanical power to the drive wheel;
• a caster wheel secured to the frame by way of a caster arm, the caster arm having a spin axis securing the caster wheel to the caster arm and facilitating rotation of the caster wheel within the caster arm, and the caster arm having a swivel axis securing the caster arm to the frame facilitating rotation of the caster arm and caster wheel;
• a motor having a selectively activated and deactivated motor drive with variable magnitude output connected to the swivel axis of the caster arm and configured to, when activated, apply a rotational force to the swivel axis;
• a steering device for generating an orientation signal pertaining to an orientation of the vehicle;
• a controller that receives the orientation signal from the steering device and is configured to determine a steering angle of the vehicle that corresponds to the orientation signal and to activate the motor and select the magnitude of the variable magnitude output to turn the caster arm according to the steering angle, and
• a gauge for measuring a condition affecting the vehicle, and wherein the controller selects the magnitude of the variable magnitude output further in response to the measurement of the condition satisfying a threshold value, wherein:
• the controller is configured to deactivate the motor in response to a second measurement of the condition less than a second threshold value, that is lower in magnitude than the threshold value.