Mounting of an accessory on an ATV
AssigneeQuadivator Inc.
InventorsDarin Hubscher, Jon Close
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ATV has an accessory mounted at a front end providing a working tool, such as a blade, brush or snow blower, by a frame which extends underneath the ATV from a hitch coupling at the rear to a mounting plate which is clamped up under the belly pan of the ATV by a pair of straps at the front. The plate can be adjusted in height and position along the frame and can tilt front to rear to accommodate different makes of machine. The tilting can accommodate tilting of the frame if it is carried at the rear on wheels and floating relative to the hitch. The working tool is mounted on a stub frame portion pivotal upwardly and downwardly at the front of the frame. The working accessory can be adjusted side to side to change angle by a manually operable screw which drives a gear on the tool.
Claims30
An accessory for mounting on an all terrain vehicle, the vehicle having a frame, two front wheels and two rear wheels connected to the frame for supporting the frame in movement over the ground, an engine mounted on the frame generally between the front and rear wheels and along a center line of the vehicle, a belly pan attached to the frame and extending from a position underneath the engine forwardly to a front end of the vehicle for protecting the engine against impact damage and a hitch at the rear of the frame;
- the accessory comprising:
- a frame member which is shaped and arranged to extend longitudinally of the vehicle underneath the vehicle from a forward end of the frame member which is arranged to project forwardly from the front end of the vehicle to a rearward end of the frame member which is arranged to project rearwardly from the rear end of the vehicle;
- a working member attached at the forward end of the frame member so as to be at least partly supported thereby in front of the vehicle for operating in a working action in front of the vehicle;
- a hitch coupling, at the rearward end of the frame member for attachment to the hitch;
- a mounting plate for engaging the belly pan;
- a lifting arrangement attached to the frame member in front of the mounting plate and including coupling members thereon for engaging a fixed location on the vehicle at a position thereon at the front thereof and above the mounting plate and lifting elements for applying a pulling force from the coupling members to the frame member to pressure the mounting plate against the belly pan.
An all terrain vehicle having a working accessory mounted thereon comprising:
- a vehicle having a frame, two front wheels and two rear wheels connected to the frame for supporting the frame in movement over the ground;
- an engine mounted an the frame generally between the front and rear wheels and along a center line of the vehicle;
- a belly pan attached to the frame and extending from a position underneath the engine forwardly to a front end of the vehicle for protecting the engine against impact damage;
- and an accessory comprising:
- a frame member which is shaped and arranged to extend longitudinally of the vehicle underneath the vehicle from a forward end of the frame member which is arranged to project forwardly from the front end of the vehicle to a rearward end of the frame member which is arranged to project rearwardly from the rear end of the vehicle;
- a working member attached at the forward end of the frame member so as to be at least partly supported thereby in front of the vehicle for operating in a working action in front of the vehicle;
- a hitch coupling at the rearward end of the frame member for attachment to the hitch;
- a mounting plate for engaging the belly pan;
- a lifting arrangement attached to the frame member in front of the mounting plate and including coupling members thereon for engaging a fixed location on the vehicle at a position thereon at the front thereof and above the mounting plate and lifting elements for applying a pulling force from the coupling members to the frame member to pressure the mounting plate against the belly pan.
An accessory for mounting on an all terrain vehicle, the vehicle having a frame, two front wheels and two rear wheels connected to the frame for supporting the frame in movement over the ground, an engine mounted on the frame generally between the front and rear wheels and along a center line of the vehicle, a belly pan attached to the frame and extending from a position underneath the engine forwardly to a front end of the vehicle for protecting the engine against impact damage and a hitch at the rear of the frame;
- the accessory comprising:
- a frame member which is shaped and arranged to extend longitudinally of the vehicle underneath the vehicle from a forward end of the frame member which is arranged to project forwardly from the front end of the vehicle to a rearward end of the frame member which is arranged to project rearwardly from the rear end of the vehicle;
- a transverse blade attached at the forward end of the frame member so as to be at least partly supported thereby in front of the vehicle for operating in a working action in front of the vehicle;
- a coupling at the rearward end of the frame member for attachment to the vehicle;
- a mounting assembly for fixedly mounting the frame member on the vehicle at a position forwardly of the rear end such that the forward end of the frame member is fixed relative to the vehicle;
- a stub frame portion extending forwardly from the frame member for supporting the blade;
- a housing attached to a rear of the blade, the housing having a top plate and a parallel bottom plate with the stub frame portion located therebetween;
- a forward end of the stub frame portion being pivotally connected to a forward end of the housing for pivotal movement of the bade in a side to side direction to change an angle of the blade relative to a direction along a center line of the vehicle;
- a rear end of the housing having mounted thereon an adjustment mechanism for locating the rear end of the housing relative to the stub frame portion to set the angle of the blade.
An accessory for mounting on an all terrain vehicle, the vehicle having a frame, two front wheels and two rear wheels connected to the frame for supporting the frame in movement over the ground, an engine mounted on the frame generally between the front and rear wheels and along a center line of the vehicle, a belly pan attached to the frame and extending from a position underneath the engine forwardly to a front end of the vehicle for protecting the engine against impact damage and a hitch at the rear of the frame;
- the accessory comprising;
- a frame member which is shaped and arranged to extend longitudinally of the vehicle underneath the vehicle from a forward end of the frame member which is arranged to project forwardly from the front end of the vehicle to a rearward end of the frame member which is arranged to project rearwardly from the rear end of the vehicle;
- a transverse blade attached at the forward end of the frame member so as to be at least partly supported thereby in front of the vehicle for operating in a working action in front of the vehicle;
- a coupling at the rearward end of the frame member for attachment to the vehicle;
- a mounting assembly for fixedly mounting the frame member on the vehicle at a position forwardly of the rear end such that the forward end of the frame member is fixed relative to the vehicle;
- and a pair of extension pieces each for attachment to a respective end of the blade so as to extend outwardly from the respective end of the blade and defining a common surface with the blade.
An accessory for mounting on an all terrain vehicle, the vehicle having a frame, two front wheels and two rear wheels connected to the frame for supporting the frame in movement over the ground, an engine mounted on the frame generally between the front and rear wheels and along a center line of the vehicle, a belly pan attached to the frame and extending from a position underneath the engine forwardly to a front end of the vehicle for protecting the engine against impact damage and a hitch at the rear of the frame;
- the accessory comprising:
- a frame member which is shaped and arranged to extend longitudinally of the vehicle underneath the vehicle from a forward end of the frame member which is arranged to project forwardly from the front end of the vehicle to a rearward end of the frame member which is arranged to project rearwardly from the rear end of the vehicle;
- a working member attached at the forward end of the frame member so as to be at least partly supported thereby in front of the vehicle for operating in a working action in front of the vehicle;
- a coupling at the rearward end of the frame member for attachment to the vehicle;
- a mounting assembly for fixedly mounting the frame member on the vehicle at a position forwardly of the rear end such that the forward end of the frame member is fixed relative to the vehicle;
- the working member being mounted for adjustment movement relative to the frame member;
- and an adjustment actuating assembly for actuating movement of the working member comprising:
- a screw having a screw mounting for mounting the screw on a part of the vehicle accessible by the rider of the vehicle so as to be manually rotatable by a rider;
- an elongate torque member having a first end connected to the screw for communicating rotation from the screw into rotation around a longitudinal axis of the torque member;
- and an actuator attached to a second end of the torque member so as to receive the rotation and to actuate the adjustment movement in response thereto.
An accessory for mounting on an all terrain vehicle, the vehicle having a frame, two front wheels and two rear wheels connected to the frame for supporting the frame in movement over the ground, an engine mounted on the frame generally between the front and rear wheels and along a center line of the vehicle, a belly pan attached to the frame and extending from a position underneath the engine forwardly to a front end of the vehicle for protecting the engine against impact damage and a hitch at the rear of the frame;
- the accessory comprising:
- a frame member which is shaped and arranged to extend longitudinally of the vehicle underneath the vehicle to a rearward end of the frame member which is arranged to project rearwardly from the rear end of the vehicle;
- a working member attached to the frame member so as to be at least partly supported thereby for operating In a working action with the vehicle;
- a mounting assembly for attaching the frame member and the working member on the vehicle at a position forwardly of the rear end such that the forward end of the frame member is fixed relative to the vehicle;
- at least one ground wheel on the frame member arranged so as to support the rear end of the frame member from the ground such that the height of the frame member varies relative to the hitch of the vehicle as the ground level changes;
- and a hitch coupling at the rearward end of the frame member for attachment to the hitch of the vehicle;
- the hitch coupling being adjustable such that the height thereof from the frame member can be adjusted;
- and the hitch coupling being arranged to float such that the hitch coupling remains attached to the hitch to provide pulling force thereon while the frame member varies in height relative to the hitch as the ground level changes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.