Clark Equipment Compnay

James E Asche

Larry E Albright

Thomas J Roan

Jeffrey A Dahl

Orlan J Loraas

Gary W Weddle

Dan A Frederick

Wally L Kaczmarski

Scott B Jacobson

Verne C Watts

Charles E Deyo

Lance S Tuhy

Jon P Spomer

Laura A Marstad

Jeffrey A Abel

Joseph R Volk

A skid steer loader has an operator's cab mounted thereon pivoting about a horizontal pivot adjacent a forward edge of the frame of the loader and at the forward edge of the operator's cab. In a working position the cab overlies a portion of the frame that has operating components therein, and the cab can be pivoted to raise the rear of the cab to pivot it forwardly to an open position to permit access to components beneath the cab when its in its working position. The cab has positive latches for holding it in its working position, and an automatic stop to hold it in its open position. The latches are operated by levers on the back wall of the cab that are moved between a latched and unlatched position, and when they are in their unlatched position, a cover for the engine components cannot be closed.

Skid steer loader with front pivoting cab having a no tool latch

Skid steer loader with extendable lift arms

Skid steer loader with lift arms

An air handling system for the cab of a skid steer loader has an airflow housing mounted on the exterior of the cab and on a rear wall thereof. The housing is within the profile of the loader, that is, below the upper wall of the cab and within the side frame members. The housing has an air inlet above the engine compartment, and includes a heater core and an air conditioning evaporator, both of which act as heat exchangers mounted in a plenum chamber in which two fans are mounted. Ducts lead from the plenum chamber to the interior of the cab. The ducts connected to the air handling housing open through ports in the rear wall of the cab into the interior, and interior or the cab ducts carry the air from the plenum chamber to desired locations of the operator's cab for heating, air conditioning or ventilating.

Heating, ventilating and air conditioning system for a skid steer loader

Operator cab for skid steer loader

A seat assembly and a power machine includes a seat having a front portion, a back portion, and first and second side portions. A base plate supports the seat, and a hinge is pivotably connected between the first side portion of the seat and the base plate. The second side portion of the seat is connected to the base plate to allow limited movement of the second side portion of the seat relative to the base plate. A spring is coupled to the seat and to the base plate and urges the second side portion of the seat away from the base plate. A Hall effect sensor housing supports a Hall effect sensor and is operably mounted to one of the base plate and the seat. A magnet is operably mounted to another the base plate and the seat and is positioned to cooperate with the Hall effect sensor so that the Hall effect sensor provides a sensor indicative of a position of the second side portion of the seat.

Side pivot seat

An operator presence sensor for an operator's seat on equipment, such as skid steer loaders and the like, provides a signal to indicate when the seat is occupied. The operator presence is sensed by permitting seat rails to pivot about their forward end against leaf springs designed to support the seat weight plus a known fraction of an operator's weight so that the rear of the seat is raised when the seat is unoccupied and when an operator occupies the seat the springs deflect and the rear of the seat moves down, resting on a seat support pan. An electronic sensor detects seat position to provide a position signal.

Operator presence sensor for operator's seat

A retractable boom stop includes a channel shaped stop member mounted for pivotal and rectilinear movement relative to the boom arm of a skid steer vehicle. The stop member is movable between an inoperative position adjacent the boom arm and an operative position interposed between the boom arm and lift cylinder. In the operative position the stop member prevents an extensible rod of the lift cylinder from retracting to lower the boom arm. The stop member is secured in the inoperative and operative positions by a retaining pin. A tension spring carried by the stop member and releasably securable to the boom arm automatically retracts the stop member out of the operative position to allow the lift cylinder to be retracted.

Retractable boom stop

A gas spring for supporting a cab enclosure pivotably mounted to the body of a skid-steer vehicle. A stop tube is mounted to a piston rod and is telescopically cooperable with a cylinder body. Two parallel slots extend in a transverse direction through the stop tube. A stop slide has a pair of legs which are adapted to slide within the slots of a stop tube. A release portion of the stop slide is sized to permit the cylinder body to pass between the legs, while a stop portion is sized to prevent the cylinder body from passing between the legs. A spring urges the stop slide toward a stop position at which the stop portion of the stop slide is aligned with the cylinder body when the piston rod is extended. The cab enclosure is thereby latched to a tilt-back position. To lower the cab enclosure, the stop slide must be manually moved to a release position at which the release portion is aligned with the cylinder body, thereby permitting the cylinder body to pass between the legs of the stop slide with the piston rod retracted therein. A release cable coupled between a forward end of the cab enclosure and the stop slide can be actuated to conveniently move the step slide to its release position.

Gas spring with latching stop mechanism for use on skid-steer loaders

A hydraulically actuated digging mechanism is removably securable to the tilt frame of a mobile shovel loader when the loader bucket is removed from the tilt frame; and a pair of stabilizer links are removably attachable to the tilt frame and to the lift arms of the shovel loader to support the weight of the digging mechanism without dependence upon the tilt actuator of the shovel loader, and to prevent accidental raising of the lift arms.

Growing community of inventors

Milnor, ND, United States of America

James E Asche