Mower sheave fan and drive cover port arrangement
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorGordon E. Heuer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mower deck with fan structure rotatable with the blade spindle for creating an air turbulence to prevent debris buildup around the spindle and to exhaust debris away from and cool the mower drive train area. In one embodiment, an attachment including a plurality of vanes is connected to the lower side of the driven spindle sheave to create an air disturbance around the spindle. In another embodiment, the sheave is apertured and includes integral vanes projecting downwardly from the apertures. The fan structure draws air in from a first drive cover port located above the blade spindle and exhausts air and airborne debris through a second port in a high pressure side of the cover.
Claims15
Mower deck structure including a housing and a blade-supporting spindle mounted for rotation in the housing, a spindle drive, a sheave connected to the spindle;
- and
- means creating an air turbulence around the spindle for preventing debris buildup around the spindle, wherein the means creating an air turbulence around the spindle includes fan structure connected for rotation with the spindle, said fan structure including protrusions extending from the sheave in the direction of the spindle axis.
Mower deck structure including a housing and a blade-supporting spindle mounted for rotation in the housing, a spindle drive including a sheave fixed to the spindle for rotation therewith, and fan structure connected to the sheave for creating a flow of air around the spindle to direct debris away from the spindle.
Mower deck structure including a housing and a blade-supporting spindle mounted for rotation about an axis in the housing, a spindle drive including a sheave fixed to the spindle for rotation therewith, and fan structure for creating a flow of air around the spindle to direct debris away from the spindle, the fan structure comprising:
- a blade-like element including a planar central portion with an aperture adapted for receiving the spindle therethrough, and opposite end portions including vanes offset from the central portion;
- and
- means supporting the element for rotation with the shaft about the shaft axis with the vanes projecting in the axial direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.