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US 4,304,313 AGranted
Tractor
OwnerCornelis van der Lelyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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OwnerCornelis van der Lelyinventor
Estimating the term…
An agricultural type tractor with lifting devices on the front, rear and both sides for agricultural implements. Each pair of rear drivable wheels which are in tandem pivot about a common axle and each pivotable pair of such wheels is driven by a separate hydraulic motor, with each motor, however, connected to a common control whereby the velocity of the wheels on one side can be increased while the velocity of those on the other is decreased for steering around curves and the like. The arrangement also provides a hydraulically lockable differential to avoid the spinning of one set of the drivable wheels while the other set does not move due to an obstruction or the like. Outboard of each set of drivable wheels is a rotatable supporting element which is mounted from the tractor's frame so as to be displaceable outwardly and upwardly relative to the adjacent 0010 set of drivable wheels. Each supporting element has two wheel members which receive an endless chain tread. One of the wheel members on each side has a displaceable hub portion which is connectable to the adjacent drivable wheel. Such a connection can also be accomplished by displacing the wheel members and arrangements are disclosed whereby through the levers, eccentrics and/or chains the pair of wheel members may be displaced first substantially outwardly relative to the adjacent drivable wheels and then upwardly and vice versa.
A tractor comprising a frame, a prime mover carried by said frame, at least one drivable wheel which engages under all operative conditions the underlying ground for exerting tractive forces thereon for causing the tractor to move over the ground, said drivable wheel having an axle mounted on said frame which is connectable to said prime mover, at least one supporting element outboard of said wheel, link means connecting said supporting element to said frame whereby it is movable vertically relative to said wheel, said wheel and said supporting element each having axes of rotation and substantially equal radii from their respective said axes to their corresponding peripheries, gripping extensions extending outwardly from the periphery of said supporting element which increase the gripping engaging thereof with the ground to greater than that of said wheel, and coupling means for drivingly connecting said supporting element to said wheel, first parts of said coupling means mounted on said supporting element a first distance away from its said axis and second parts of said coupling means mounted on said wheel a second distance away from its said axis, said first and second distances being substantially equal, said first and second parts of said coupling means being respectively movable together relative to each other in a direction substantially parallel to said axis of rotation of said wheel for drivingly connecting said supporting element and said drivable wheel, said axes of rotation coinciding when said supporting element and said wheel are so drivingly connected, said first parts being movable axially relative to said supporting element, high pressure fluid communicating into said coupling means actuatable by the tractor's driver for causing said axial movement of said first parts whereby said parts of coupling means may be selectively either rigidly connected or entirely disconnected and spaced apart without any intervening connection between said wheel and said supporting element.
A tractor comprising:
A tractor comprising a frame, a prime mover connected to said frame, at least one drivable ground engaging wheel mounted on each side of said frame each of which is operatively connected to said prime mover, a pair of rotatable supporting elements mounted from said frame whereby one of said supporting elements is disposed laterally adjacent and outboard one of said ground engaging drivable wheels on each side of said frame, displacing means for displacing each said supporting element both outwardly and upwardly relative to the corresponding adjacent said drivable wheel, each said supporting element being mounted on said frame via said displacing means, each said supporting element comprising a pair of wheel members, said wheels and said wheel members having substantially the same diameters, an endless track laying type chain tread received around said wheel members, and coupling means for selectively operatively connecting at least one of said wheel members of each said supporting element to the corresponding laterally adjacent said ground engaging drivable wheel whereby the periphery of said wheel and said tread around the adjacent said wheel member are in a side-by-side ground engaging relationship, said one wheel member and said corresponding adjacent wheel being selectively operatively connected by said coupling means at a location radially spaced substantially away from the axes of rotation of said one wheel member and said corresponding adjacent wheel.
A vehicle having a driver's seat, a frame, at least one ground engaging wheel mounted from said frame which is driven by said motor, linkage means, a rotary supporting member carried by said frame outboard of said wheel by said linkage means whereby it is movable by said linkage means from a position relatively higher than said wheel wherein said rotary supporting member is spaced above the underlying ground to a position wherein the axes of rotation of said wheel and said rotary supporting member substantially coincide and said wheel and said rotary supporting member engage the underlying ground in a side-by-side relationship, said wheel and said rotary supporting member having substantially equal radii from their respective axes of rotation to their respective peripheries, movable coupling means for establishing a selective driving connection between said wheel and said rotary supporting member, and control means within reach of said driver's seat for actuating said coupling means.
A vehicle having a motor, a frame, at least one ground engaging wheel mounted from said frame which is drivable by said motor, linkage means, a rotary supporting member carried by said frame outboard of said wheel by said linkage means whereby it is movable by said linkage means from a position relatively higher than said wheel wherein said rotary supporting member is spaced above the underlying ground to a position wherein the axes of rotation of said wheel and said rotary supporting member substantially coincide and said wheel and said rotary supporting member engage the underlying ground in a side-by-side relationship, said wheel and said rotary supporting member having substantially equal radii from their respective axes of rotation to their peripheries, a hub in said rotary supporting member including a rotatable hub portion and a non-rotatable hub portion, a coupling member in said hub adapted to couple said wheel and said rotary supporting member when in said side-by-side relationship, said coupling member comprising a hydraulic cylinder in said rotatable hub portion which is coaxial with said axis of said rotary supporting member and defines first keyways, a coupling part directly connected with a piston received in said hydraulic cylinder, said piston including second keyways which cooperate with said first keyways to permit said piston's movement along said axis of said rotary supporting member, a guide member being provided on said wheel, said coupling part being connectable with said guide member when said wheel and said rotary supporting member are side-by-side relationship, said coupling part being displaceably axially relative to said rotary supporting member by movement of said piston in said hydraulic cylinder, said guide member being located at least partly within said coupling parts when said wheel and said rotary supporting member are coupled together and spaced therefrom when said wheel and said rotary supporting member are not so coupled.
A vehicle having a motor, a frame, at least one ground engaging wheel mounted on said frame which is driven by said motor, linkage means extending from said frame, a rotary supporting member carried by said frame outboard of said wheel by said linkage means whereby it is movable by said linkage means from a position relatively higher than said wheel wherein said rotary supporting member is spaced above the underlying ground to a position wherein the axes of rotation of said wheel and said rotary supporting member substantially coincide and said wheel and said rotary supporting member engage the underlying ground in a side-by-side relationship, said wheel and said rotary supporting member having substantially equal radii from their respective axes to their respective peripheries, said wheel being mounted on a first swing frame and said rotary supporting member being mounted on a second swing frame included in said linkage, a further wheel being mounted on said first swing frame and a further rotary supporting member being mounted on said second swing frame whereby the distance between the axes of rotation of said wheels is substantially equal to the distance between the axes of rotation of said rotary supporting members, an endless track being carried around said rotary supporting members.
A vehicle having a motor, a frame, at least one ground engaging wheel mounted from said frame which is driven by said motor, linkage means, a rotary supporting member carried by said frame outboard of said wheel by said linkage means whereby it is movable by said linkage means from a position relatively higher than said wheel wherein said rotary supporting member is spaced above the underlying ground to a position wherein the axes of rotation of said wheel and said rotary supporting member substantially coincide and said wheel and said rotary supporting member engage the underlying ground in a side-by-side relationship, said wheel and said rotary supporting member having substantial equal radii from their axes of rotation to their respective peripheries, stop means included in said linkage means for limiting the downward movement of said rotary supporting member to said position wherein the axes of rotation of said wheel and said rotary supporting member substantially coincide, hub means in said rotary supporting member, said linkage means comprising a support which rotatably supports said hub means, said hub means comprising coupling means which is disposed coaxially around the axis of rotation of said rotary supporting member and movable relative to said hub means towards said wheel to engage a coupling member, said coupling member being rigidly connected to said wheel for establishing a driving connection between said wheel and said rotary supporting member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.