Deere & Company

John J Hoch

James E Hardzinski

David K Stricker

A hydrostatic transmission control mechanism includes a hand lever engagable by an operator, and a member to which the hand lever is directly mounted. The member is pivotally mounted to the vehicle and is operatively coupled with the transmission for adjusting the speed of the vehicle as the operator shifts the hand lever. The member includes a generally curved and concave cam surface which interacts with a neutral return cam follower to provide a relatively large effective lever arm extending between the member's pivot axis and the direction of force applied to the cam surface by the cam follower when the member is in positions corresponding to high vehicle velocity, thereby allowing the member to be pivoted back to its neutral position with only a relatively small force.

Control linkage for a hydrostatic transmission

A mechanism connecting a rate control with a brake control for preventing the rate control from being shifted from a non-driving mode to a driving mode when the brake control means is in its parked mode, including a rod-like member having an offset portion biased to block an accelerator arm of the rate control, and a cam member in contact with the offset portion for allowing the offset portion to shift to its blocking position when the brake control is shifted to the parked mode, and for shifting the offset portion to a position whereat the accelerator arm is free to shift between the driving and non-driving modes when the brake control is in the unbraked mode.

Accelerator pedal and brake mechanism

A vehicle which has a foot actuated speed control and linkage, a hand actuated control for selecting the forward or reverse mode, a brake pedal and linkage, and a mechanism connecting the speed control linkage and the mode control. The connecting mechanism comprises a rod coupled to an idler arm of the speed control linkage and a swingable connecting arm. The arm comes in contact with a selection arm of the mode control linkage to prevent the mode from being shifted when the speed control is depressed, and to limit the speed in reverse. A stop rod swings down over an arm of the speed control linkage as a parking brake is applied to block the movement of the speed control.

A vehicle has a rear mounted, air cooled engine. The engine has a fore-and-aft crankshaft and a cooling air fan is mounted to the front end of the crankshaft for drawing air in through an inlet in the front of a shroud for the engine. A transverse, vertical baffle is mounted so that its lower edge is in sealed engagement with the top of a forward portion of the shroud. A screen is mounted to the front side of the baffle and is shaped to cooperate with the baffle to define an open bottomed cavity which leads into an air duct mounted so as to channel air from the cavity to the shroud inlet. The screen is located just rearwardly of a seat mounted on the vehicle.

Cooling air duct and screen arrangement for an air cooled engine

A bracket assembly constructed according to one embodiment includes a pair of identical L-shaped brackets arranged for selectively positioning a seat at three different heights. An alternate embodiment of the bracket assembly includes a pair of tubular brackets which are rectangular in cross section and optionally mountable to a horizontal frame surface with either their long side or their short side against the surface for selectively positioning a seat in a low or a high position.

Bracket assembly for adjustably mounting a seat

A fuel tank is grounded to a vehicle chassis by means including a metal filler neck portion forming a sole electrical conducting portion of the tank, a metal vent tube connected between the metal filler neck portion and a metal tank mounting bracket secured to the vehicle chassis and a ground cable or wire connected to the filler neck portion and dangling into the tank.

Static discharge prevention system for a largely non-metallic fuel tank

An oil cooler is mounted to a radiator so as to be in series therewith. The oil cooler is provided with a framework having four holes therein arranged in a rectangular pattern. In one embodiment, the holes are transverse, with a lower pair being axially aligned, and in another embodiment the holes are vertical, with the pairs of holes at the opposite transverse sides being vertically aligned. Mounted on the radiator are four spring metal straps which respectively carry pins received in an associated hole. In the one embodiment, removal of the upper pair of pins permits the cooler to pivot about the lower pair while, in the other embodiment, removal of the pair of pins at one side of the cooler will permit the cooler to pivot about the pins at the other side.

Mounting connecting an oil cooler to a radiator

A lawn mower is provided with a control mechanism for a propel drive clutch. The control mechanism includes a deadman control lever which operates to hold a clutch-control lever in a clutch-engage position only when the deadman control lever is held in a lever-holding position. Upon release of the deadman control lever, the latter automatically moves to a lever-release position which permits the clutch-control lever to automatically move to a clutch-disengage position.

Two-stage deadman control for walk-behind mower

A walk-behind mower includes a pair of vertically adjustable front wheels supported on a unitary axle having an offset central portion, which serves as a bumper to protect the mower deck from striking foreign objects when the wheels are set for lower cutting heights and which serves as a safety guard to prevent anyone's feet or other objects from engaging the cutting blade when the wheels are set for higher cutting heights.

Combined axle, bumper and safety guard for walk-behind mower

The support wheels and drag stake of a walk-behind rotary tiller are connected to the main frame of the tiller at a location rearwardly of the tiller tines through means of a mounting bracket, which is mounted for pivotal movement between and to be releasably secured in a first position, wherein the wheels are disposed in a downward position relative to the tiller frame for transport while the drag stake is in an inactive elevated position, and a second position, wherein the drag stake is disposed for retarding the forward progress of the tiller while the wheels are in an elevated position for contacting the ground only after the tines have reached the desired tilling depth.

Growing community of inventors

Beaver Dam, WI, United States of America

John J Hoch