Skid steer vehicle with axle housings directly driven by a hydraulic motor
AssigneeCase Corporation
InventorsTroy D. Bateman, Anthony J Lamela
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A skid steer vehicle has a drive system that includes hydraulic motor coupled to a speed-reduction gearbox. One or more drive shafts extend fore-and-aft from the gearbox and are coupled at each end to two axle housings. Each axle housing includes two reduction gear sets and an axle. Each of the axles extends outward from the vehicle and a wheel is fixed to its outer end. A spur gear on a parallel shaft inside the axle housing engages a spur gear on the axle and drives it to provide one gear reduction. A bevel gear in the axle housing engages a bevel gear on the parallel shaft to provide another gear reduction. The vehicle has a drive system located on each side of the vehicle to collectively drive four wheels.
Claims18
A skid steer vehicle, comprising:
- a chassis having first and second sidewalls;
- an engine mounted to the chassis and having at least first and second hydraulic pumps;
- and
- first and second drive systems, disposed adjacent to the first and second sidewalls, respectively, each drive system including:
- a hydraulic motor having an output shaft with first and second ends and an axis of rotation;
- a first axle housing coupled to the first end of the output shaft that includes at least first, second and third reduction gear sets and a first axle that extends laterally outward away from the first axle housing;
- a second axle housing coupled to the second end of the driveshaft that includes at least fourth, fifth and sixth reduction gear sets and a second axle that extends laterally outward away from the second axle housing;
- and
- two wheels, each wheel being driven by one of the first and second axles;
- wherein the hydraulic motor of the first drive system is fluidly coupled to the first hydraulic pump to be driven thereby and further wherein the hydraulic motor of the second drive system is fluidly coupled to the second hydraulic pump to be driven thereby.
A drive system for a skid steer vehicle, comprising:
- a hydraulic motor having an output shaft with an axis of rotation;
- a first axle housing coupled to the first end of the driveshaft that includes at least first, second and third reduction gear sets and a first axle that extends laterally outward away from the first axle housing;
- a second axle housing coupled to the second end of the driveshaft that includes at least fourth, fifth and sixth reduction gear sets and a second axle that extends laterally outward away from the second axle housing;
- and
- two wheels, each wheel being driven by one of the first and second axles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.