Detachable hub and sprocket for use with a mechanical drive transmission of an agricultural implement
AssigneeCNH America LLC
InventorChad M. Johnson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sprocket and hub assembly for use with a mechanical drive assembly of an agricultural implement includes a generally flat disc having an outer edge and a generally center mount portion. A series of teeth are radially defined around the outer edge of the disc. The assembly further includes a hub removably mounted to the generally center mount portion of the disc. The hub has a shaft engagement portion for removably coupling the hub to a driven shaft of the mechanical drive assembly. In one embodiment, the agricultural implement includes a retainer designed to hold a set of differently sized sprockets that can be interchangeably coupled to the driven shaft by the hub.
Claims19
A sprocket assembly for use with a mechanical drive assembly of an agricultural implement, comprising:
- a generally flat disc having an outer edge, a generally center mount portion and a generally circular mounting aperture extending therethrough, the mounting aperture adapted for receipt on an end portion of a driven shaft of the mechanical drive assembly;
- a series of teeth radially defined around the outer edge of the disc;
- and
- a hub removably mounted to the generally center mount portion of the disc, the hub including a shaft engagement portion having a non-circular mounting aperture therethrough for removably coupling the hub to the driven shaft of the mechanical drive assembly;
- and wherein the generally center mount portion includes a series of keyways and the hub includes a series of pins designed to be retained in the series of keyways when the hub is mounted to the disc.
A mechanical drive assembly for an agricultural implement in which rotation of a ground engaging wheel is used to provide power to a device of the agricultural implement, comprising:
- an output shaft designed to rotate with rotation of the ground engaging wheel;
- a transmission unit coupled to the output shaft and the ground engaging wheel, and designed to control rotational speed of the output shaft relative to rotational speed of the ground engaging wheel, the transmission unit including:
- a driven shaft having a first end and a second end;
- a first rotatable member supported on and rotatable about the driven shaft, the first rotatable member having a first pitch diameter;
- a first hub removably mounted to the first rotatable member and adapted to couple the first rotatable member to the first end of the driven shaft such that rotation of the first rotatable member causes rotation of the driven shaft, the hub including a shaft engagement portion having a non-circular mounting aperture there through for removably coupling the hub to the shaft of the mechanical drive assembly,
- a second rotatable member supported on and rotatable about the driven shaft, the second rotatable member having a second pitch diameter;
- a second hub removably mounted to the second rotatable member and adapted to couple the second rotatable member to the second end of the driven shaft for rotational movement therewith such that the second rotatable member rotates in response to rotation of the driven shaft, the hub including a shaft engagement portion having a non-circular mounting aperture there through for removably coupling the hub to the shaft of the mechanical drive assembly;
- a driving member interconnected between the ground engaging wheel and the first sprocket and configured to cause rotation of the first rotatable member and hub with rotation of the ground engaging wheel;
- and
- a driven member interconnected between the second rotatable member and the output shaft and configured to cause rotation of the output shaft with rotation of the driven shaft.
A kit of sprocket assemblies for use with a mechanical drive assembly of an agricultural implement, comprising:
- a mounting rod;
- a set of sprockets removably stored on the mounting rod, each sprocket having a generally flat disc with an outer edge and center mount portion;
- and
- a hub interchangeably usable with each of the sprockets, and configured to be removably mounted to the center mount portion of a disc and further configured to couple the sprocket to a drive shaft of the mechanical drive assembly;
- wherein the discs of at least two sprockets of the set of sprockets have diameters, the diameters of the discs of the at least two sprockets of the set of sprockets being different.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.