J. I. Case Company

James E Dawson

Gary L Cochran

Maurice M Klee

Gary D Stromberg

Ralph C Lanphere

Robert T Peterson

Robert M Anderson

Dean O Baum

A movable cab structure and operator's compartment for a front end loader which permits complete access to all parts of the front end loader for easy servicing, repair or replacement work. In one embodiment, each base frame side member of the front end loader includes an elongated rail, a stop, and a bracket having a roller mounted thereon. Each side wall of the operator's compartment also includes an elongated rail and a roller which is mounted to the side wall by a bracket. As the operator's compartment is moved forwardly, the rails on the compartment side walls engage the rollers on the base frame side members while the rollers on the compartment side walls engage the underside of the rails on the base frame side members. The operator's compartment may then be easily moved forwardly to an extreme position until the rollers on the compartment side walls engage stops on the base frame side members. In a second embodiment, the cab structure is movable longitudinally on the side walls of the operator's compartment to an out-of-the-way position. Each compartment side wall includes a roller on its forward end for engaging an inwardly turned lip extending along the length of the cab structure. Each side of the cab structure includes a rear roller which rides along the upper end of a respective compartment side wall. In yet another embodiment of the invention, each base frame side member includes an upstanding flange member which forms a rail wherein the entire operator's compartment is capable of longitudinal movement. Rollers are uniquely arranged with respect to the rail to provide a simple effective mechanism that permits the operator's compartment to be moved forwardly.

Operator compartment assembly

Skid steer loader

A modular machine including several removable components which are structurally interconnected in a manner to result in a rigid unit which is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to service or repair. The modular machine includes as its basic components a base frame assembly, an operator's control station, and a cab assembly. The base frame assembly comprises an open frame construction including opposed rectangular end members and opposed hollow rectangular side members. Ground-engaging wheels are mounted to the side members by using a unitized axle assembly including a hub and sprocket which extends into the interior of a side member. A fluid motor is mounted to the inner wall of each side member for driving the ground-engaging wheels connected to that side member. The operator's control station includes a front wall portion and rearwardly extending side wall portions. A generally U-shaped frame extends downwardly from the front and side wall portions for engagement within a complementary cavity formed by stepped inner walls on the side members of the base frame assembly. The cab assembly consists of an operator's seat attached to a box-like frame with the box-like frame being pivotally attached to the operator's control station. The cab assembly may be conveniently removed from the operator's control station or rotated to an out-of-the-way position thereby permitting complete access to the interior of the operator's control station. The base frame assembly, operator's control station and cab assembly may be conveniently disassembled to permit complete access to all parts of the machine for easy servicing, repair or replacement.

Modular loader frame structure

A bucket leveling mechanism that automatically operates a tilt cylinder for pivoting the bucket so that the attitude of the bucket remains substantially constant as the bucket lift arms are raised. Two push-pull cable assemblies are provided; one cable assembly senses the rotation of the bucket and the other cable assembly senses the pivotal movement of the lift arms. The cable assembly for the bucket is attached between the bucket and a wedge shaped block that operates a spool control valve for the bucket tilt cylinder. The lift arm cable assembly is attached to a lift arm at one end and includes an opposite roller end that engages one side of the wedge shaped block, with the block being sandwiched between the control valve spool and roller end of the lift arm cable assembly. The wedge shaped block includes a cam surface that is movable between the control valve spool and roller end of the lift arm cable assembly in proportion to the relative movement of the bucket and lift arms. When the lift arms are raised to a predetermined height where the bucket would normally roll back past a level position, the roller end of the lift arm cable assembly acts upon the wedge shaped block to push the cam surface against the control valve spool to thereby automatically actuate the bucket tilt cylinder for rotating the bucket toward a level position. The wedge shaped block also provides a positive stop that prevents the operator from manually overriding the level position of the bucket when the lift arms are fully raised.

Bucket leveling mechanism

Growing community of inventors

Burlington, IA, United States of America

James E Dawson