Vehicle transmission assembly

In a vehicle transmission assembly wherein axles of left and right rear wheels are supported rotatably by a transmission casing disposed between said left and right rear wheels, and wherein a hydrostatic transmission for changing the vehicle speed non-stepwisely is provided using, as a support, a plate member which is secured to a front of said transmission casing so as to close an opening in a front wall of said casing, said hydrostatic transmission having a hydraulic pump and a hydraulic motor which are disposed respectively on said plate member such that said hydraulic pump is positioned at a higher level than said hydraulic motor, the improvement characterized in:

• that said hydraulic motor (18) is disposed on a front of said plate member (15) and includes a motor shaft (18a) drivingly connected through a speed-reducing bevel gearing (19) to a speed-reduction shaft (20) which is disposed within said transmission casing (11) and extends laterally of said casing, said left and right rear wheel axles (12) being drivenly connected to said speed-reduction shaft;
• that said hydraulic pump (17) is disposed within said transmission casing (11) and is fashioned to an axial plunger-type pump which includes a pump shaft (17a) supported rotatably by said plate member (15), a cylinder block (21) disposed on a rear of said plate member and fixedly mounted on said pump shaft, plural plungers (22) slidably disposed in said cylinder block and extending rearwardly from said block, and a tiltable swash plate (23) disposed rearwardly of said cylinder block, said plungers engaging said swash plate;
• and
• that a second opening (24) is formed in one of side walls (11a) of said transmission casing (11) for assembling a transmission mechanism to be disposed between said speed-reduction shaft (20) and said left and right rear wheel axles (12) such that said second opening extends upwardly so as to permit to assemble said swash plate (23) into said transmission casing through said second opening, left and right support shafts (23a, 23b) of said swash plate being rotatably supported by the other side wall (11b) of said transmission casing and by a side cover (25) which is secured to an outer surface of said one side wall (11a) so as to close said second opening.