Slip controlling belt tension system
AssigneeHusqvarna AB
InventorsDouglas Greulich, Matthew Albinger, Sean Dwyer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A yard maintenance device having a working assembly selectively rotatable based on operation of an engine of the device may include a belt drive system. The belt drive system may include at least one driven pulley operably coupled to the working assembly, a drive shaft operably coupled to the engine, a drive belt configured to selectively couple the drive shaft to the at least one driven pulley, a tension adjustment assembly, and a control unit. The tension adjustment assembly may be configured to operably couple to at least one component of the belt drive system to adjust a position thereof to modify tension of the drive belt. The control unit may be configured to provide electronic control of the tension adjustment assembly.
Claims20
A lawn care device comprising:
- a cutting deck housing at least one blade;
- an engine configured to selectively provide for rotation of the at least one blade responsive to selective coupling of the engine to the at least one blade;
- and
- a PTO switch that is operable to engage or disengage a PTO clutch to provide the selective coupling between the engine and the at least one blade via a belt drive system,
- wherein the belt drive system comprises:
- at least one blade pulley operably coupled to the at least one blade;
- a drive shaft operably coupled to the engine;
- a drive belt configured, responsive to engagement of the PTO clutch, to couple the drive shaft to the at least one blade pulley;
- a tension adjustment assembly configured to operably couple to at least one component of the belt drive system to adjust a position thereof to modify tension of the drive belt;
- and
- a control unit configured to receive an indication of engine RPM and blade RPM to provide electronic control of the tension adjustment assembly to define a slip value to be applied to the drive belt, the slip value being selected based on a comparison between the engine RPM and the blade RPM.
A belt drive system for a yard maintenance device having a working assembly selectively rotatable based on engagement or disengagement of a PTO clutch to provide selective coupling between an engine and the working assembly via the belt drive system, the belt drive system comprising:
- at least one driven pulley operably coupled to the working assembly;
- a drive shaft operably coupled to the engine;
- a drive belt configured to selectively couple the drive shaft to the at least one driven pulley;
- a tension adjustment assembly configured to operably couple to at least one component of the belt drive system to adjust a position thereof to modify tension of the drive belt;
- and
- a control unit configured to receive an indication of engine RPM and blade RPM to provide electronic control of the tension adjustment assembly to define a slip value to be applied to the drive belt, the slip value being selected based on a comparison between the engine RPM and the blade RPM.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.