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US 6,470,991 B1Granted
Tractor with front suspension
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsDennis Aaron Bowman, Christopher Alan Schafer, Dennis Lee Jeffries, Jeffery Kahle Brown
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tractor with a front wheel suspension and mechanical front wheel drive wherein the front wheel drive differential case includes an engine oil sump replacing the need for a separate engine oil sump and wherein the suspension control arms are mounted to the differential case through integrally formed mounting structures in the differential case. These mounting. structures reduce the number of front end components thereby improving the packaging of the suspension, steering and front wheel drive. The elimination of the oil: pan allows the front axle ground clearance to be increased while improving ground visibility in front of the tractor over the hood.
Claims14
A tractor comprising:
- rear wheels;
- front wheels;
- a chassis to which the front and rear wheels are mounted, the chassis including a cast front wheel drive differential case with front drive shafts extending laterally therefrom on each side to drive the front wheels;
- left and right upper and lower control arms having inboard ends mounted to the chassis for pivotal motion about upper and lower axes respectively for up and down motion of outboard ends of the control arms;
- left and right steering knuckles pivotally attached to the outboard ends of the left and right control arms respectively for pivotal motion about turning axes, the steering knuckles each carrying a final drive assembly driven by the respective drive shaft and to which the front wheels are mounted;
- the cast differential case having an upper mounting boss and a lower mounting boss integrally cast therein to which the upper and lower control arms are attached;
- and
- wherein the lower control arm has a front and a rear attachment branch at the inboard end thereof, the front branch having a forked end with two spaced legs on opposite sides of the lower mounting boss and a single pivot pin extending through the front branch of the lower control arm and through the lower mounting boss.
5 more elements
A tractor comprising:
- rear wheels;
- front wheels;
- an engine having an engine block with a lower end;
- a chassis to which the front and rear wheels are mounted, the chassis including a cast front wheel drive differential case with front drive shafts extending laterally therefrom on each side to drive the front wheels;
- left and right upper and lower control arms having inboard ends mounted to the chassis for pivotal motion about upper and lower axes respectively for up and down motion of outboard ends of the control arms;
- and
- left and right steering knuckles pivotally attached to the outboard ends of the left and right control arms respectively for pivotal motion about turning axes, the steering knuckles each carrying a final drive assembly driven by the respective drive shaft and to which the front wheels are mounted;
- wherein the cast differential case has an upper mounting boss and a lower mounting boss integrally cast therein to which the upper and lower control arms are attached and the differential case is attached to the lower end of the block and forms an oil sump for engine lubricating oil.
5 more elements
A tractor comprising:
- rear wheels;
- front wheels;
- a chassis to which the front and rear wheels are mounted, the chassis including an engine having an engine block and a cast front wheel drive differential case attached to a lower end of the engine block, the differential case forming an oil sump at an upper end thereof for engine lubricating oil;
- left and right front drive shafts extending laterally from the differential case to left and right final drive assemblies coupled to the left and right front wheels to drive the front wheels;
- left and right upper and lower control arms having inboard ends mounted to the differential case for pivotal motion about upper and lower axes respectively for up and down motion of outboard ends of the control arms;
- and
- left and right steering knuckles pivotally attached to the outboard ends of the left and right control arms respectively for pivotal motion about turning axes, the steering knuckles carrying the final drive assemblies.
4 more elements
An agricultural tractor comprising:
- front wheels;
- an engine having an engine block with a lower end;
- an independent suspension assembly carrying the front wheels, the suspension assembly including, for each of left and right sides, upper and lower control arms having inboard and outboard ends, and a spring member operable to absorb energy upon movement of the control arms;
- and
- a front-wheel drive differential housing secured to the lower end of the engine block and forming an oil sump for engine lubricating oil wherein the differential housing is a platform for mounting of the inboard ends of the control arms and for mounting the spring member.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.