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US 4,903,538 AGranted
Drive housing for a mowing machine
AssigneeC. van der Lely N.V.
InventorsEdwin ver der Lely, Cornelis J. Gerardus
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AssigneeC. van der Lely N.V.
InventorsEdwin ver der Lely, Cornelis J. Gerardus
Estimating the term…
A mowing machine has a plurality of drive housings that are associated with the cutting units. Each unit has a carrying shaft that rotates a carrying unit which includes a carrying arm, cutting blades, and a covering disc. The carrying shaft is connected by gearing, located within the sealed drive housing, to the mowing machine's drive shaft. When the machine is in operation, the resulting friction within the drive housing causes the lubricants and air therein to expand. A channel is provided in the carrying shaft that opens at its lower end into the drive housing and at its upper end at the top of the carrying shaft under a conically configured cup spring, into a space which is not sealed from ambient pressures. The channel thus functions as a pressure vent to the otherwise sealed drive housing and permits the lubricants and air therein readily to expand and contract. The cup spring protects the channel from receiving any substantial amounts of dust or like contaminants in the air in the vicinity of the mowing machine.
A drive housing for a mowing machine comprising;
A drive housing for a mowing machine comprising an outer wall which is configured to receive and contain an input drive shaft, an output drive shaft for operating a cutting unit of the mowing machine, means for transferring power from said input drive shaft to said output drive shaft, said output drive shaft extends upwardly from the drive housing and receiving at its upper aspect a ring member, pressure venting channel means extending through said output drive shaft from the interior of the housing into a space under said ring member which is not sealed with respect to the ambient pressure outside the housing, said pressure venting channel providing the only passage for the intake and output of air between the interior of the housing and air at ambient pressure outside the housing, said ring member protecting said pressure venting channel means from dust or similar particulate matter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.