Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha

Douglas C Foote

James E Grinde

A four-wheel drive recreational vehicle having an independent front suspension system and a clutch arrangement for normally driving the vehicle from the front wheels only, but capable of sensing slippage of the rear wheels to thereby couple the engine's output shaft to the front wheels as well. The front wheels are equipped with tires which are more narrow than those used on the rear wheels, but the tread width of the front wheels is made larger than that of the rear wheels to thereby provide adequate space for the driving connections between the front differential and the wheels so that only modest bending forces are experienced by the U-joint coupling the driven shaft between the front differential and the wheels' driven axles.

Off-the-road four-wheel drive vehicle

An off-the-road recreational vehicle is described which has at least one steerable front wheel, two driving rear wheels, an engine unit mounted in the vicinity of the center of the vehicle frame for transmitting power from the engine's shaft to the rear driving wheels through a transmission mechanism and a rider's seat arranged above and rearward of the engine unit. To convert the recreational vehicle to a work vehicle, a hydraulic pressure generating mechanism, including a hydraulic pump and a hydraulic fluid reservoir provided with the pump being driven by the engine's shaft at a point upstream of the vehicle's transmission. A manually-operable hydraulic pump clutch is interposed between the engine's shaft and the hydraulic pump for selectively engaging and disengaging the pump from the engine. A quick-disconnect coupler mechanism is disposed along the length of a hydraulic line which is used to connect the hydraulic pump to a working hydraulic accessory detachably secured to the vehicle's frame. The coupler is of a type which prevents the hydraulic working fluid from flowing out of the lines when the quick-disconnect coupler is uncoupled. The hydraulic accessory would typically include a hydraulic motor and a tool of some sort driven by that hydraulic motor. The hydraulic motor may be a part of the accessory itself or, alternatively, may be a part of the vehicle so as to be used with a variety of working attachments.

Off-the road vehicle for recreational and work applications

Disclosed is a vehicle which is constructed to include a pair of steerable right and left front skis suspended from a front portion of a frame. Further included are a pair of right drive wheels and a pair of left drive wheels which are suspended from a rear portion of said frame and adapted to be driven by said engine. Each of the drive wheels has a wide, low-pressure tire. The front ski and rearwardly located driving wheels on each side of the frame are aligned longitudinally to achieve a base having substantially uniform width from front to back.

Growing community of inventors

Coon Rapids, MN, United States of America

Douglas C Foote